African Violets and Gesneriads: Are species AVs more or less difficult to grow?, 1 by RainGazer

RainGazer wrote:
jmp, Funambule is a beauty when it blooms! You'll love it! I have NO idea what my deal with AVs is. It's a running joke amongst those who have known me for the past few years that I simply cannot grow AVs. I can root anything, grow anything from seed, snatch anything back from the brink of death, but not AVs. The very few that I actually get to survive never bloom. I've tried natural light in windows facing all directions, artificial lights (2 and 4 bulbs, T8s and T12s, and all the different cool/warm combinations), a hundred different potting mixes, as many fertilizers as are available in the free world, and a few just plain crazy ideas (anybody remember the Sprite bottle self-watering pot I made?? LOL). Funambule is in a ceramic self-watering pot and is doing quite well. It doesn't bloom as often as other people's AVs do, but it does bloom, which is a huge feat for me. I'm completely satisfied with its performance! LOL

I mentioned in a previous post in this thread that AV Star Trick is alive but won't bud up. Well, imagine my surprise when I noticed a small bud on it this evening! It's in an Oyama self-watering pot, and is nowhere near as large as Funambule. I think next time I'm at Walmart I'll get a ceramic one similar to the one Funambule is in to repot Star Trick into. I'm thinking I'll put young AV plants in the Oyama pots to get them started, then when they're mature and ready to start blooming, I'll repot them to the ceramic pots. Maybe that will help.

Here's AV Star Trick. Hopefully I'll have flower pictures to show you one day soon.