I have been drooling over all the beautiful varieties shown here on DG and have always gravitated towards them in stores. I am not so good with houseplants, but can resist no longer . Could I get a suggestion as to what would be a good first? Or if there are particularly finnicky ones I should stay away from? Not sure how pricey they are but I would prefer to invest as little as possible in the first one just in case. Thanks in advance for any help.
Starter African Violet
one of my first violets was a purchase from walmart . . . it was beautiful - pink and white blooms.
Any of the violets you get from walmart, home depot, lowes, etc. would be good starter plants. The prices at these places seem to average $4-6. If you do get one from any of those places, though, I would highly recommend repotting them into lighter potting mix, and into a smaller pot. Those places tend to use soil instead of mix and it gets heavy on the roots when wet . . . AND they tend to use overlarge pots.
How you water . . . if this is going to be your first, I would recommend watering from the bottom . . . remove excess water after 15 minutes. Once you get comfortable with your plant(s), you can start experimenting with capillary matting, wicking, etc.
Oh . . . no direct sunlight, but filtered light is ok. You can grow on widowsill, but again, no direct sun . . .
You can always order a plant, but if you are impatient (and I DO like seeing blooms in person), then purchasing local is not a bad start.
Hope that helps a little . . .
Thanks so much. Tomorrow is grocery/errand day so I think I'm going to try to pick one up along with a pot & mix. I'm think I'm addicted without even having one yet lol. Hopefully I'll learn fast so I can start a collection.
Welcome to the group!!! These are highly addictive so beware :) You were given some great info from Nichole to get you started. If you are going to buy some A.V. potting mix, you will still want to add some perlite to lighten it a bit. The bag will say for African Violets but it is still too heavy of a mix. Please show us your new baby tomorrow when you bring her home!!
Connie
And a warning . . . if you get the Miracle Gro violet mix, they have plant food already added in the mix. This works for some people, and not for others. There is really only one way for you to find out . . .
I think I have a good idea of what to pick up for my new baby. Let me know if I missed anything.
perlite
AV potting mix or soilless mix
self watering pot (think I read the diameter should be about 1/3 that of the plant)
fertilizer (I'm assuming there is a kind specific to AV's)
Should I repot it right away or wait a bit to let it get settled? I'm going to read up on some repotting guides tomorrow so I feel better armed. I'll definately post a pic as soon as I pick one out. My friend is also going to pick up her first one tomorrow so we can learn together so should have two pics.
I would stay away from the ceramic self watering pots right now...they are a little tricky (some let your soil get too wet and some don't let your plant get enough moisture) and you want success with your first plant. More african violets die from too much water...they like damp, not wet. Thats why repotting and adding the extra perlite into the mix is better for the plant. If you don't have a smaller plastic pot, just repot it back in the pot it comes in or you can put holes in a yoguart cup and pot your plant in something like that. When you take the plant out of the pot, get as much of that peat-soil off as you can, you can even pour water over the roots to wash some of that off...then repot. You can do this the same day you bring it home or wait a couple days, either should be fine. Most varieties sold in the store are pretty tough....until they overwater them, ha.
Oh, and welcome to our violet adiction! Its a fun madness.
tish
LewBug, you have D-mail
You guys are amazing here, beyond helpful. I'm hoping to see some baby AV's of my own very soon thanks to a very generous trade. I did pick up one today while shopping for the supplies. It was sitting there almost dead looking with a pricetag of a quarter, I know it's not the best first plant, but I felt so sorry for it. It was bone dry and light as a feather. I took it to my grandmother & she helped me clean it up a bit. She used to raise AV's & said I should give it a day or two to perk up & then repot it. She thinks it will do fine after that. It even has a baby tucked under its leaves that my three year old has claimed as "mine flower for mine bedroom". So I guess the munchkin & I both got our first one today, lol. I'll post a pic tomorrow & hopefully it will be looking less pathetic and wilted by then.
LewBug, don't fight it! You've got the fever and you got it bad!! Welcome to the clinic of no healing!!
lol welcome to the club,wait till you discover streps
LewBugCreations,
If I were you ... I'd forgo the purchase of a Violet from any local outlet.
I bought from Lowes, groceries, WalMart, etc. for years in support of my Violet habit.
The problem with these plants is that they, invariably, harbor some pest which will destroy your enjoyment of your violets, if not kill your plants.
I battled thrips, mealybugs, mites, etc. for years until I finally got tired and let them take down whole collections of formrly beautiful plants, for, not only would these pests affect the plants they hitched a ride in on, ... but they would eventually spread to every plant in the vicinity.
My major nemesis with these plants is thrips, ... which doesn't typically kill the plants, but does destroy the blooms. I have yet to purchase a box-store plant, ... which didn't have more than a 90% chance of having thrips.
Now ... there are ways to purchase box-store plants, and minimize the pest risks. First, you should always isolate any new plants from any others that have proven to be pest-free, until you determine whether they are pest-free or not.
And for thrips, the best thing is to pull any blooms and buds off of the plant immediately, and let it go without blooming for at least six weeks before letting it start to bud again.
As an alternative to these measures however, ... I suggest that you buy your violets from a reputable grower, such as Lyndon Lyon, or Bluebird Nurseries.
That way, you can get nice plants that you can choose for yourself, rather than rely on what's available at the box-stores. Also, these plants are, typically, pest-free, although I'm sure that our Violet old-timers would still advise on isolating any new plants.
When I started putting together a new collection of violets 2-3 years ago, I bought almost exclusively from these mail order vendors. I've probably purchased (50) plants, ... and not one of them has had a pest problem.
In fact, the only pest problems I encountered stemmed from when I did break down and purchase a lovely AV or two from Lowes. And what I got in return for my trouble was a bad case of mealybug which spread to a couple healthy plants before I could contain it. I did disbud my Lowes plants, and so, avoided dealing with Thrips, but ... I also had to deal with poor planting practice issues like potting in pots which were too large, ... dealing with masses of suckers, etc.
In my experience, it's been a much more satisfying experience to deal with mail-delivered plants from a dealer.
Though these plants are, mostly, smaller when they arrive, and they may not be blooming yet (though some are), ... they are much more manageable and I can get exactly what I want. Also, mail-ordered plants are a tad more expensive. I can buy violets from Lowes, etc. for $5.00 or less per plant, while for mail-order, I may pay $7.50 per plant, as long as I buy enough plants (6 or more) to defray the shipping costs.
Understand, I'm not saying that you can't make box-store violets work (many AV experts certainly can and do), ... but, for a beginner, reputable mail-order violets are a better bet, in my opinion.
Certainly ... my results have been much better. I'm finally growing violets the way I always wanted to (with longevity and beauty).
As far as plants that I've had especial success with ... check out Taffeta Blue, Blue Dragon, Private Dancer, Faded Denim, Pink Pearls, Super Duper, and Sea Drift.
These were/are all fairly vigorous growers and bloomers, and are all available from Lyndon Lyon.
I've posted photos of these in Plant Files, as well.
The photo that I'm including here ... is of Sea Drift.
Whatever you choose to do ... I wish you the best of luck.
Enjoy your Violets.
This message was edited Mar 12, 2011 7:54 AM
This message was edited Mar 12, 2011 7:58 AM
LewBugCreations,
As far as the one plant you've already obtained, ... it'll need a non-blooming period of at least six weeks, ... to starve out any hitch-hiking thrips. You'll eventually need to pull off the flowers and flower buds. With just the one plant, you may be able to wait a bit before you do so, ... but once you do, you'll need to keep it from blooming for at least six weeks.
If the plant's baby (a sucker) is any bigger than an inch around, ... you can probably cut it off the main plant now and start it in its own pot. Unless it has roots, you'll need to keep its soil a little wetter for awhile till it does root, but it's not going to stay small, and will eventually start to crowd the parent plant.
Also ... if you're interested, ... AV mail-order starts in about a month or so. Check out Lyndon Lyon's site if you want to be tempted ... LOL
This message was edited Mar 11, 2011 6:09 PM
This message was edited Mar 12, 2011 8:00 AM
Here's my 2cents...
Cheap violets are easier to learn on especially on a limited budget.
As a newbie I paid over $15 plus shipping for a LEAF and promptly killed it...lol
NO COLD water...think of it as a newborn baby.
NO air conditioning/heater vents.
NO sunny window. No dark corner.
If ya like the pretty self watering pot then just learn to grow it in those conditions...they can be tricky but I love mine & I have tons of them.
Don't be scared to repot it, pinch a leaf or anything else...it's only a plant and you can always buy more...trust me once you get the hang of it, it's easy and very addictive!
Welcome to the healthiest addiction on earth and the nicest Av group around!
MsC
Sorry I haven't had a chance to post a picture of the one I picked up, it's been hectic here. After all the advice I am going to take mine next door and place it in my grandmother's house, lol. She doesn't have any so if it has hitchhikers it can't infect any of the ones that should be arriving next week. It has perked right up though and looks wonderful. I think I'm going to buy one self watering pot for that one to try it out. As soon as I find somewhere with reasonably priced pots that is. I didn't realize how hard to find those itty bitty pots are, lol. I am stocked up on styrofoam cups in different sizes and I'm saving my yogourt cups now too.
You guys are right though, I'm pretty well sucked in now lol. Even keeping a checklist of all these tips y'all are sharing to keep handy by my new AV's.