African Violets -- Sure Winners

Years ago I was very proud of the African violets that I grew. I thought it might be fun and rewarding to grow them once again. These are very easy and rewarding plants that need minimal care as long as you understand them and their needs.

In nature they grow on the floor of the forests under the shade of the canopy. So we know to keep them out of the hot boiling sun. and in dappled sunlight or in a partially shaded window. Most people water them from the bottom as water droplets on a delicate leaf will act as a magnifying glass and will cause an ugly burn. Howerver they do need to be watered from the top every now and then in order to leach out any salts and chemicals. Every week or so they enjoy a bit of special African violet fertilizer. You can even give them a dop or two of fertilizer with each watering if you wish. Just check the amount of fertilizer suggested on the bottle. It is always better to give less fertilizer but more ofter. See how your plants respond to their feeding and listen to them.

Just today I learned something new on AVInternaltinal (Yahoo Groups). It is a good idea to remove the old leaves from the bottom of the plant. Carefully bend the leaves to the side while gently pulling the old leaf. It will break off cleanly from the crown leaving no stub. This is supposed to promote new growth. You can remove up to 3 leaves a month from the bottom row. I am going to try this, so wish me an my plants luck.

I also learned that the old leaves have already produced blooms and will not do so again so we need new growth in order to have more flowers.

I'll post again with some tricks that I have use to train African violets to grow in perfect rosettes.