Good grief, I have had this AV 8 days now, and the leaves just keep going up and up! Looks like somebody is holding a gun on it...haha. I don't get it; can anybody tell me whats going on? It still looks great, colors are good and it feels strudy, not mushy at all. I can't find this strange behavior in my plant or violet books! ChuLin
It's prolly asking for more light. Where are you growing it?
Ken told me you can put some light weight on them when they do this, you can carefully press with your hand also. I used note cards once. Not too many of course. I left them a couple of days. Then put it closer to the light. You can put something under it. Just watch and do not overdo the light.
Thanks ladies; that's kind of what I figured. I have it as close to the window (south, sbut it has filtered glass and a window screen) as I can get it...teeny tiny sills and can't sit it there. I will try the card trick and see it that helps. You'd think it would be getting enough light.....guess not! Its planted very low in the pot with "soil banks" around the base...wonder if I should remove some of the soil thats "piled up to the sides".....I haven't repotted it; I bought it like that. ChuLin
Sounds like re-potting might be helpful. Have you thought about getting a plant light? If a south window is not enough light in summer, it will really not be enough in winter. How far away from the window is it?
Hey, Phoebes, I did repot it already, and its on a table that touches the narrow windowsill. But no, none of my plants are getting enough light I don't think. So some kind of light system is a must for me, if I want to have some violet and rex begonias. That's something I will have to explore, as I am so limited in what I can do in this apartment. It will have to be a system of free-standing lamps of some sort. ChuLin
You can buy at Lowe's the free standing lamps with 3 gro lights in them.........you will have to buy the gro lights separately.
Gessiegail, thanks SO much for letting me know about Lowe's. I will go out there tomorrow and check it out! Sounds exactly what I need and can use here. ChuLin
Good luck. I saw a lot of standing lamps with several places for the round gro light bulbs to be used. They even had swinging arms to direct the light where you want it.
Chulin, if you have any counter space with cabinets directly above, you can get flourescent fixtures to hang under the cabinets, then you can put your plants directly below them. Just get rid of all those items like toasters and blenders and other useless homemaker gadgets. I have an island with cabinets over, big enough to hang a 4 ft shop light there, the plants are loving it. In fact, 90% are blooming, yet all my window plants are not blooming.
Hardware stores and places like Lowes or Home Depot have smaller flourescent fixtures made for under cabinet lighting. You can hang 2 side by side, replacing the bulbs in them for bulbs that are plant appropriate.
Also, if you have any bookshelves, you can find someone handy to hang lights in them for you, or buy a shelf unit to put lights in. Or, if you have several hundred dollars to play with, you can buy a plant cart.
The options are endless!
I love what you said about "useless gadgets on the counter".........isn't that the truth!!
HAHA, my whole kitchen is useless except the microwave and coffee pot! I DO NOT cook...gave that up when I retired. I retired myself from alot of things when I "retired"! JMP24, thanks for all the information, but I cannot attach ANYTHING to any part of the apartment...had to fight to be able to put up curtain rods, can you believe it? Anyway, I am still checking other "freestanding" options. GessieGail, do you have Episcias? I saw some absolutely gorgeous ones in an OLD A Violet book I recently got. Oh, and I checked out our Lowe's here...DUHH...didn't have anything like that...not a clue. Was I surprised...nope! ChuLin
Oh really? That's awful. I guess I understand, though. Some landlords have really been burned by destructive tenents. You can buy other types of lights, like the standing ones, but they tend to put out uneven light, or it is all concentrated in one area, so you really can't put as many plants under them as you could the shoplights.
Looks like your best bet would be to invest in either a plant cart with lights($500 and up for a nicely sized one) or you can do what I plan on doing, buy a simple 4 ft by roughly 6ft tall shelf unit, usually will have 4 shelves, then you can buy a few sets of $10 shoplights to attach to the undersides of the shelves, so the lights shine down on the next shelf down. I saw a metal shelf unit at Lowes for about $60 that was fairly attractive. For about $150 to $200 you could do it up nice, including bulbs and everything.
I am sure you'll figure something out!
hey thats exactly what i did. i have 3 large plant stands & 1 small one in my spare bedroom where i keep all my plants.works great for me.
bonnie
JMP24, what a great idea! See, my brain just does not work quite that way, but as soon as I read what you said, I went "THATS IT". Thanks so much for the tip. Bonnie, glad to hear it works for you too. What great information I get from the nice folks at DG! ChuLin
When I lived in New Braunfels and remodeled the house, I didn't have a single gro light stand as such. I simply built book shelves against two walls in the dining room just solid all the way on both walls. Then I used the 2' gro lights in the fixtures under each shelf. It worked fantastic............They were floor to ceiling book cases........built in.........so a free standing book shelf would work just as well.
So pleased to feel useful! Of course, I would love to be able to just buy a ready made plant cart...I would also love to have ahuge victorian style greenhouse complete with bog pond in the center with a big fountain and tropical birds flying around, on my house on the beach on Nantucket Island... maybe have Jude Law stop by twice a day to do the watering and give me a backrub. Yeah, that would be nice.
Think I got a little off track here -
oh yeah, I know what I was going to say - Gail, built in bookshelves with plant lights would be AWESOME. Too bad I dumped that carpenter a while back, he was very handy.
I could handle a massage every week myself!!! Or even once a year!! A big house and the rest I don't yearn for........but would love those facials and massages.
I had mine in a bookcase years ago. You can't adjust the lights very easily, but it works!
All righty then, who's gonna take pictures of their bookcase shelf units for me? As for me, I would love to have a big log home (and hire maids and so forth to take care of it, of course) that had a huge sunroom with tropical plants galore, and several of the old Victorian Wardian cases. Gosh, I love the looks of those! HAHA...dream on! Oh, let's put the home on a quiet lake someplace out in the woods. With a big pontoon boat in the water, and a Mercedes in the garage!
oh chulin, i think we would all vaca at your place!!!
Sounds like a plan to me! Now to win the lottery so I can buy the house and you can ALL come visit. Oh wait, I always forget to buy a ticket; hard to win if you don't....duhh. I've always been a dreamer; keeps me going. ChuLin
I don't want a big HOUSE, Gail...I want a big GREENHOUSE! There's a difference.
That is because you are so much younger than me..........I used to want a greenhouse more than anything. Now that I am in my late 60's I am so happy gardening inside my little house............but then, you don't live in south Texas either. A greenhouse wouldn't do much good down here........can't even use cooling pads to help our 100+ temps for months on end.......
This tiny little house stays at 72 degrees for 10 months out of the year with air conditioning....
i agree with gail. i use to want a greenhouse also, but now that i am an old bag lol i am glad for my apt.nice & comfortable all year long .
mrsbonnie
Well............Bonnie..............we are on the same page!!!!
Me three LOL!! If I had a greenhouse now I would never be able to keep up with it........but I sure woudn't mind a big ol' indoor room with a drain in the floor,lots of light,etc........Dream on until I hit the lottery ^_^!
Hi there! I was just browsing the posts, and saw the discussion of light carts. I made my own out of parts from Home Depot. Used a steel adjustable shelving unit (on wheels) and hung some 4-foot fluorescent light fixtures from the underside of the shelf above (simple metal S hooks). Put the whole works on a timer and a GFCI plug. In addition the shelves came with plastic liners, so it helps prevent drips onto the light fixtures below. The carts come in all sorts of sizes, and you can buy the size lights that will fit your cart. Its nice being on wheels as well, so you can pull it out to water the stuff in the back. I put two light fixtures per shelf, and one warm and one cool fluorescent bulb in each fixture. Currently using T12 bulbs, but plant to upgrade to T5 which put out better light using less energy.
here's a photo:
Side view:
Wow, you did a great job with that, Phxryan! (I lived in Phx for 15 years) I am so electrically challanged I could never do that, and would have no place to put it in my apartment anyhow. Thanks for sharing with us. Gessiegail, MrsBonnie and Lbrabec...we are all on the same page, I think. I used to keep up with a fulltime jod, a daughter, a 4 bdrm house, all the yardwork, and so forth. NO WAY could I do all that now. My little plant collection, my little dog, and little apartment are just about as much as I need. Gone are the days of my youth...R.I.P. HAHA ChuLin
Phoenixryan,
Your cart turned out great!! Nice to meet you ^_^.
ChuLin,
The 'good ol' days' are past for me too.......my get up and go has got up and went LOL.
Lynn
Hello.........Phoenixryan (will never remember that name....lol)............my stands are just like yours only from Lowe's and The Container Store......love mine!!!
ChuLin, the great thing about that setup is that you don't need any electrical skills, the light fixtures come with a cord ready to plug in, you just insert the light bulbs and run an "S" hook through the bars of the rack. The racks come in half height as well, and in options that are less wide.
Having lived in Phoenix, I'm sure you understand why I have to "over summer" my plants indoors, while most everyone else "over winters" theirs! Just too darn hot here to have stuff outside in summer! It's funny you live in Steven's Point, WI, as a good friend of mine from another forum lives out in a rural part of WI and drove to "the big city" (Steven's Point) to buy me some amaryllis bulbs that she saw on clearance.
In the photo you can see my first attempt at growing an African Violet. Ok, really it's my second... my grandmother used to have the most gorgeous AV. It was HUGE, and I swear it bloomed year round for her. When she passed away, it came to live with me, and either I did something terribly wrong, or it missed her, but the AV was quick to follow her to heaven!
I picked mine up on the clearance rack at Home Depot, it had finished blooming and appeared to be being abused by the Home Depot staff, so I couldn't just leave it. No idea what color it will wind up, but doesn't really matter, just nice to have a plant that reminds me of my grandmother. Hopefully I can do her proud by it!
Phx Ryan
I think I see...in fact, I know I see, two little green things growing in the pots with the leaves I planted! It's only been about 2-3 weeks, I think...I forgot to write down the date....the other 7, I don't see anything yet. Boy, I sure look all the time....which I know isn't good...but I am anxious to propogate what I have....and feel like a 'big girl' now..
I don't have a clue as what they are....just leaves my neighbors gave me.....
My violets themselves are not doing as well as last year.. in the window as the leaves on the trees have filled in.....so think I will have to move them under the grow lights..
...I will think about that tomorrow I sure appreciate all the help you all have given me..and read everybodys everyday...!
