African Violets and Gesneriads: What's Blooming?, 0 by Snowrose

Snowrose wrote:
Hi all and thank you for your kind comments :).....

I like to grow trailers myself fom a leaf as I then have more control over them from the start. Where to begin? This is what I do, so take it for what it's worth.

I find trailers grow fairly fast and I repot up as needed. Also, think about what you want to accomplish. First, I think about growing a nice full plant. This applies to all violets actually. No blooms at this point. I disbud so the plant puts it's energy to vegetative growth.... crowns and foliage only. When you are satisfied you have a nice full rounded plant, then you can let it bloom. Also important as you are growing out your plants, give them a 1/4 turn daily if possible (I go clockwise) or as often as you can to keep symmetry. All plants will grow towards the highest light source even under grow lights.

Also, always keeping in mind your purpose with a plant....for vegetative growth on all green varieties...a balanced fertilizer with a ratio of 20-20-20 is good mixed at the rate of 1/8-1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water every time you water. During the winter months in natural light 1/8 t. is probably enough as the plants won't be growing as much with the cooler temps and shorter day length. Under controlled conditions under lights, 1/4 t. per gallon is fine. For variegates, I use fertilizer with a ratio of 15-30-15. If you want to use just one, the 15-30-15 would be good for all.

Let me talk a minute about fertilizer in general....again back to what we want to accomplish. What do I want this plant to do? I will use NPK 15-30-15 as an example:
The first number 15 is the nitrogen content (N).....promote vegetative growth (leaves)
The second number 30 is the phosphorus content (P)....promotes blossoms and roots
The third number 15 is the potash (K) content....promotes overall vigor

A formulation like this has twice as much phosphorus as nitrogen and potash so would be good overall but especially for roots and bloom as well. Good for variegates as the N content isn't too much to cause too much greening up. Also, ferilizers should have trace elements for plant health especially since most of us use soiless mix.

Off topic a bit, but on Eleanor's VF 11....bear in mind, this fertilizer is very weak (so, no it can't burn....mostly water) with an analysis of 0.15 - 0.85 -0.55 which means it is basically a weak blossom booster/root stimulater as the middle number (phosphorus) is almost 6 times the nitrogen.

Had enough science? lol

Yes, VT...I have shown and am growing a few large standard hopefuls for the spring if all goes well. I don't want to jinx myself. So far so good, but we all know the timing has to be right for lots of bloom. Very fun and challenging though.

Another variegated violet trailer...'Fancy Trail'....an old Lyndon Lyons variety registered in 1979 -