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African Violet

How To Grow African Violets Successfully All Year Round

The African violet (Saintpaulia) first headed the pot-plant popularity polls about twelve years ago and has held the top spot ever since, with each year bringing an increasing number of friends.

Varieties of this gesneriad are numbered in the thousands, and it is one of the few florists' plants which blooms throughout the year.

Natural light will vary with the season, increasing in spring, decreasing in fall. As light increases you may have to increase the shading on your greenhouse, and vice versa. I have shading on the outside of the greenhouse and two thicknesses of tobacco cloth inside.

The thickness of this cloth is not varied with the seasons, but I add or decrease shade on the outside of the house. Low light intensity reduces the number of flowers and makes for weak growth.

Even though you do not devote your entire greenhouse to African violets, you will find it profitable to reserve at least one corner for a few dozen plants. These need not be pinched to single-crown specimens. Let them grow several crowns and become covered with bloom. Such plants make wonderful gifts.

Soil Mixtures

I doubt if there has ever been a pot plant for which so many soil formulas have been devised. Members of the African Violet Society never tire of coming up with new ones. For greenhouse culture, I like this formula: equal parts of loam, peatmoss, leaf mold, and sand, with a sprinkling of charcoal.

I realize, however, that not everyone has access to the leaf-mold and rotted manure commonly mentioned in soil recipes. So, with a little extra care in fertilizing, you can grow your Saintpaulias to perfection in this easy-to-make "synthetic" potting mixture: equal parts of shredded sphagnum, peatmoss, and sand. Plants grown in this must receive applications of liquid fertilizer every week.

A monthly application of M teaspoonful of dried, processed, sheep manure worked into the mixture for plants in 4-inch pots will enhance their development. Use less manure for smaller pots, more for larger ones. Some growers like to mix loam, peatmoss, and sand and, to a bushel of this mixture, add one 4-inch potful of superphosphate and one 6-inch potful of dried sheep manure.

Soil or synthetic mixtures should be sterilized. If you are planting in the type without loam it is unnecessary to place drainage material in the pot; with a soil mixture containing loam, drainage is a necessity. About 1/2 inch of pot chips to a 4-inch pot is ample.

Watering and Fertilizing

Always water the plants with tepid water. Leaves will be spotted when water colder than the surrounding air hits them. These whitish spots give the plants a diseased look. If you are certain that the plants growing in solid mixtures have a good root system, it is advisable to start fertilizing them about a month after potting up. If you like organic fertilizers, try one of the fish emulsions. Rapidgro, Hyponex, Plant Marvel, Blossom Booster, and others also give good results.

Potting

The size of the pot you use for your plants will depend on how you want to sell them. If you plan to sell small plants,

probably not yet in bloom, pot directly from the flat into 2-inchers. Let them grow in the pots for 10 days to 2 weeks; they will be established nicely. Plants being grown for bloom will need to be shifted from the 2-inch pots to 3- and 4-inchers.

Shading

If your greenhouse is devoted exclusively to Saintpaulias, you will have to shade it: Saintpaulias do not thrive in bright sunshine. But if, like me, you grow both shade- and sun-loving plants, the placement of your African violets will require thought.

In my greenhouse, they grow mostly in flats under the top deck. Since I do not sell specimen plants but do sell leaves and seeds, I keep most of my "stock plants" growing and blooming in the flats, thus saving space, watering time, pots, and the labor of potting. In these flats of porous soil, watering is needed only once a week during the winter and twice a week in summer.

Winter temperature in my greenhouse is 72 to 75 degrees during the day, with the usual 10-degree drop at night. (Some authorities recommend a minimum of 60 at night and 70 degrees or more during the day.)

If you can't get enough shading on your house to keep violet foliage pleasingly green, you can tack up a few layers of cheesecloth or tobacco cloth to exclude the bright sun rays. Simply string a wire across the inside of the house and another at the top of the sidewalls; then drape the material over the wires.

Light

The late Dr. Kenneth Post, authority on florist crop production, recommended "a maximum of 1500 foot-candles of light, a minimum of 1,000" for greenhouse-grown Saintpaulias. If you are not familiar with foot-candles as a measure of light, have a friend with a photometer measure the light for you. Aim for 1200 to 1300 foot-candles during the brightest part of the day, and you'll find your plants budding and blooming without cease.

For growth under fluorescent lights in the greenhouse, keep a distance of about 11 inches between light tubes and the larger plants' pot rim; 4 to 6 inches for seedlings and small plants.

Thus, whatever the time of year or the occasion, if you grow African violets you will always have flowering plants to offer your customers. To you, the greenhouse owner, this constant bloom means extra money in the cash register.

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How to restart an African Violet

African Violet An Indoor Plant

African violets can bloom any time of the year. They are indoor plants, and as such, are not under the constraints that other plants are to bloom seasonally. Some growers say their violets actually can bloom 12 months of the year; in other words, all the time. I, myself have found that after blooming for six to eight weeks my violets need to take a "rest" period of one to three months.

But, usually my violets are in bloom twice a year, sometimes three, and at six to eight weeks at a time that sums up to about five to six good months of blooms, not too shabby! They are especially lovely when blooming during the cold of winter, when their deep green foliage and bright colorful blooms are in contrast to the white snow or the gray landscape, outside the window. One thing that will contribute to violets' potential to bloom year-round is to fertilize them every time they are watered. That, along with enough sunlight, humidity and warmth is the best recipe for African violets.

It is not uncommon for violets to "sport". In other words, your white violet puts up a purple blossom, or pink blossom or some other color. When the hybridizer created your particular variety, they cross pollinated two violets, more than likely, one of them was purple. So your violet has reverted back to one of its parents. Will it go completely purple? That's a good possibility. Why? Well some are just more "unstable" than others. I would guess the plant you bought was probably an Optimara violet.

Optimara violets are grown by a huge commercial grower in Nashville, Tenn. It was started by the Holtkamp family when they were in Germany. Eventually they came to this country and the family has carried on with violets for years and years. They are the biggest or at least one of the biggest commercial violet hybridizers and growers in the nation.

They produce plants for the home grower that uses window light. Folks like me that have ten lighted plant stands and a big room grow for show, I do grow Optimara violets, some of their plants make great show plants. However, when I do get one, I figure it has at least a 50% chance of sporting to a different color.

That makes it not blooming true so I couldn't show it under the name that was given because the plant would not match the description they gave to the African Violet Society of America to register it. Complicated I know but that's the rules and since I'm also an African Violet judge, I have to know those rules.

When a violet sports to a different color, it doesn't mean you have done anything wrong. Although environment can be a factor, it is more likely that the plant is just not stable. Sometimes you get pretty interesting color combinations from the plant that sports. Sometimes it will change colors and never go back to the original color. In fact, all the plants that I have grown that sported never went back to the original color. You never know what you'll wind up with sometimes.

As for repotting. If it has been over six months since you acquired the plant or since you have repotted, it would be a good idea to repot. But repotting into a pot that is too large will cause the roots to stay too soggy and your plant will not thrive. Violets like "tight feet" and they don't like soggy roots. So overpotting and overwatering is a no,no. The general rule is the pot should be 1/3 the size of the plant. For example: If your plant is 12 inches across from leaf tip to leaf tip, then it should be in a four inch pot. The soil you use is important also.

Most of the soils labled for African Violets is junk! Way too heavy for violets. So I would try to find a very light soil. Sunshine makes a good one, Optimara makes a good one. You can use one labeled for violets but be sure to add at least 50% or more perlite to the mix. That makes it lighter. You can usually find everything you need at Wal-Mart or a good nursery might have what you need. Most good violet soils are 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 perlite and 1/3 vermiculite. But you should be able to find a "ready made" one.

The most important factor in getting African Violets to bloom is light-Insufficient light is probably the most common reason for failure of African violets to flower. They need at least six to eight hours per day in order to flower. South or west windows will give you the best light this time of the year. You can also use artificial lighting.

They do best in daytime temperatures of 70 to 90 and nighttime temps of 65-70. They also like high humidity, which you can offer by placing the pot into a pebble tray-fill a small tray with pebbles and place the pot into this tray. Keep filled with water, this will create humidity around the plant. Never mist an African Violet or any plant with 'hairy' leaves.

Allow the soil to become dry to the touch between waterings. Pour water until it is coming out of the drain holes. Try not to splash water onto the leaves. Add a 20-20-20 fertilizer at least once a month. I believe it is Miracle Grow that makes one just for African Violets.

About the Author

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for http://www.SendFlowers4.info/. SendFlowers4.info is a great place to shop for flowers, gift baskets, and plants when you are looking for a special gift. Start here to search by "Special Occasion": http://www.SendFlowers4.info/category/occasions.html.

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