Ask-a-Dave's-Gardener: Help-need to cut back a False Violet, 0 by tapla

tapla wrote:
Streptocarpus saxorum

No need to be fancy, just take a set of HD scissors and cut the pendulous stems off flush with the edge of the pot, then snip off the top so it's slightly domed shape. If it takes you more than 3 minutes, the scissors are too dull or you're making more of the chore than necessary.

In all honesty, how this plant performs for you next year is going to be very significantly impacted by whether or not you repot; and by repot, I mean pretty much bare-rooting the plant, pruning the roots, and giving it a fresh change of soil. Potting up only partially/temporarily reduces the limitations imposed by root congestion - repotting eliminates the limitations entirely, up to about the next point in time where the root/soil mass can be lifted from the pot intact. Once the roots become that congested, only repotting will lift the limitations levied by root congestion.

Al



This message was edited Oct 11, 2015 1:33 PM