Spoiled African Violet?

HI Sh1025,Susuan & red princess,
You can get Av's at all of the places you mentioned.Plus some groceries stores carry a small supply as well. Ebay is a great place to get them,too. They are so easy to grow for me that I am addicted to them.lol They are fun to propagate from a leaf too. I had excellent luck with my first leaves I put down and now I have too many.lol
They are cheap at he local stores but when you get into the named varieies they can get a little pricey. They grow very well under lights and in my home so they became the perfect winter garden project.
Trading leaves can be fun too and a cheap way to boost your colection..but becareful they are very addictive.
Keep us posted on the new ones you get and share how you grow them in your area, too
MsCritterkeeper

We have been having really good luck in the East facing windows. This was fairly large when we got in a 4" pot, but it has really taken off in a 6" AV pot (ceramic pot with the bottom portion unglazed, that fits inside another glazed pot.) They reportedly like to have their roots crowded and to be watered from underneath.

Wow! Look at those delicate white blooms-- I dont think I've seen a pure white one ever. And that is a LOT of blossoms. Good for you.

I'm glad you got this thread going again, I finally took pics of my AVs. One of them has been blooming for about 2 weeks. It's in a North facing window. Strange the difference between your luck and mine.

Its the first time ever that I've gotten an AV to rebloom. Mind you, its the first time I've ever been interested in getting one to bloom again- but at any rate I'm loving it. Here it is.

Here is another one-- I think it's getting ready to bloom again. The leaves are greening up and the undersides are turning pink. Is that what you think its doing?

Another interesting thing about this one-- the variegation (dont know how else to describe it) on the outside leaves. It had never shown this characteristic before and I'm wondering if it was sick for a while or maybe not good enough conditions during winter. Have you ever seen one do this before?

I'm glad to see some more post to this thread too!
I thought this African Violet thread was just going to die...lol

Both of your Violets are beautiful! Well Done!
I just killed one exactly like yours PotEmup...:>( Shame on me.
So I am so glad to see the pic of yours.I think I have a baby from a leaf I pulled so time will tell.

Art...I say this with great caution because pictures are hard to tell much from ...but I think the outer leaves are just older first leaves that need to be pulled.??? Time will tell if they get limp and continue to loose color then they should be pulled. Other than that it is a beautiful plant and congratulations on getting it to bloom again for you.
It does feel good doesn't it!

Check out eBay they have been running tons of pretty good deals on African Violets. I have bought several leaf collections to start and found several sellers that are great to deal with.Good solid plants and shipped very well.If you are interested email me and I will give you their ids so you can shop.

Thanks for the new pics...loved em
Lottie

I'm glad the thread didn't die too!!! But....my mini's haven't done as well. Out of the four I bought from the company on-line only two have survived, and they have grown into strange shapes with no blooms. One is growing taller with many leaves, looks like a green ball. The other is flat with funny rippled shape leaves and it looks like two new plants are growing out of the middle. *sigh* Now the no-name ones I bought at the grocery store are going like gang-busters, and one has a bunch of white blooms. I'm beginning to think they don't like the air conditioning because the ones doing well are in the bathroom window where it is warmer.
Pati

I found one mini on a trip at a litte place, but it is not doing too well. First thing I knocked it over when I got it home and had to redo the whole thing. It hasn't bloomed but hopefully it will soon. All of mine bloom like crazy. It is hard to find them, but I don't buy from the internet. Guess I'm just chicken. I want to get some of the trailing kind too. Wish they would have them in the places where they usually have the regular kind. Jenny

Here is our bath - combination of AV, Gloxinia and our attempt at not killing a couple of orchids. The AV are in dandy pots. The best price I found for them was at http://www.theforneyfarm.com/id31.html They are a commercial version of what MsCritterkeeper has devised. They incorporate a wick, that draw the water up into the soil from the bottom.

Potemup,
Now that looks like a little piece of heaven you have there ! Where's my bubble bath ?? ;)
I bet they all love that area.Do they bloom well in there for you? I have a few orchids, too that I'm trying NOT to kill..lol
I love your water pots but my budget is kinda tight with everything else I do so :
"Poverty is the mother of invention" ya know.

Pati, The ones that died,sounds like they might be getting a draft of cold air, you never know with the little guys.
I have found them to be very healthy & vigorous for me. So it could just be their location or even maybe something they had when you got them??? If you are wick watering the little guys, here's what I have learned with mine..they like to dry out a little so every so often take the wick out of the water so it can kinda breath a day or two...otherwise they can get rootrot very easy.Just lost one like that myself.lol
The one that is growing really well but taller, just needs to be repotted sounds like to me...they grow a lot faster than the SemiMinis or Standards so you have to repot a lot more often.That's a good thing because it is at least growing! Lol
The one that is sending up new growth from the center maybe a trailer type?
Or it could be stressed so it is sending out new growth because of the stress? Got a pic and maybe a name of it?


Sh1025- I just bought a few trailers from and eBay person and some leaves to try for some more babies. They are so easy to get from a leaf and less likely to get diseases & bugs than bringing home a new plant. You should give it a try I have a couple of places I can vouch for that send very nice plants at reasonable shipping cost should you decide to try, just let me know. Or when I get some more trailers babies I'll be glad to let you know and you have one for the postage or maybe a trade?

I'll post some pics more of what's blooming soon.

PotEmUp your bath is so nice! They should love that area for sure with the soft light, humididity, not to mention all the delightful surroundings. Makes me want to take a nice long bath just looking.

MsC Maybe we can trade some leaves soon. Right now I need more space. I have 3 shelving units filled with AVs and some in the kitchen window too. One shelf is just leaves stuck in making little ones. The problem is I just stick the leaf in a cup of soil and don't label but forget what they were till they bloom again. Oh, well I enjoy it. Thanks, Jenny

Jenny,
We seem to share the same gardening technique for our AV leaves.
Most of my first ones I didn't label either because they were "no names" and truthfully I didn't think any of them would make it.( Oh yea of little faith was I ) Boy was I surprised when every leaf I had stuck down sprouted a lil one to my amazement.LOL It hooked me for sure.
Names or id's don't really matter to me because they grow so easily & bloom so pretty . I don't care what they are called. It is the shear joy of growing & sharing them that interest me.
I decided to letter & number my no named babies so I could tell one from another. The mother plant got a letter and the babies got the number of the mother and a letter... lol
It's an easy system and it works for me and my friends...

Keep me posted .....Lottie

www.topsitelists.com/bestsites/meers/topsites.html
found this website with lists of places that you can get info, buy plants, leaves, supplies, just whatever. Some of them had the minis, trailing, just all kinds. I spent an hour and still didn't visit all the sites. Maybe some of you would enjoy this link. Jenny

Great find Jenny,Way to go! Thanks so much for sharing that mega site with all of us.

Thanks so much for the great website!!! I finally found a picture of a trailing AV. I hope the one I thought looked weird is a "trailer".
Pati

I got 2 leaves from my SIL and now I have 7 babies (as of today), can I give these away while they are small (and I mean small) or do I need to wait till they get big. Thank's for any help.


nina (riverrat2)

Hiya Riverrat2,
Congrats on those babies.
Normally when they are about an inch tall they are pretty sturdy and recover any shock except being over watered.lol
They should be fine if you have removed them from the mother leaf and they are rooted in their new pots.
Good luck with the little guys.
MsC

Thanks MsC


nina

You're welcomed..
MsC.

Look what I got! I tried for so long with this guy, and it never worked so I just let him bloom in my window sill behind my light bocking curtain in my bedroom and kinda forgot about it. Aparrently something back there pollinated it, and I finally have a pod! Can you see it? YAY!

Wow! That's really incredible! Congratulations:~)

You know, art-n-garden, I get alot of pods on my AV's. I'm wondering if that's bad?? Do I have little buggies that I can't see doing all of the pollinating? Do black fungus gnats do it? I find it all the time, and don't have any sick violets with pods.

Hmmmmmm......Kathleen in TX

p.s. What do you plan to do with yours? I just pick mine off....don't know anything about AV seeds.

Hmmmm is right! :) I'm not really sure what did my pollinating. I used to have those gnats really bad during winter- but have since moved and gotten rid of them. The only thing I can think of besides little buggies we can't see is maybe I brushed it the right way while watering or moving it or something. But I tried to do it with a brush for so long, that I can't imagine why it happened on it's own so easily.

I plan on letting it mature and try starting some of the seeds. That was my original intent when I tried pollinating myself. I love experimenting with propagation and this is my next goal.

I think probably if you pick them off it will just help the plant flower longer, as with most plants, since a pod will make the plant achieve it's purpose and thus stop reproducing. I dont think your plants would be at all healthy to make pods-- I wouldnt worry if I were you! And as far as I know, those black fungus gnats are just annoying, dont harm the plant- minus the fact that they are thriving due to probable over watering (which I have a big problem with).

Do you think yours have been cross pollinated between varieties of AV's? I know mine isnt because I havent had anything else bloom since this one has been. It would be neat to grow some of your seeds out to see what new varieties you've made. Since its so easy for you to get pods, maybe you can become a famous AV breeder ;)

Well, art&garden, I DO have lots of chubby little fingers around my house, always peeking & sneaking in amongst my violets!

Pods I can do, but I'm afraid that I have the Black Thumb of Death when it comes to seeds. The naming of new varieties could be fun though: Mum's Naughty Little Darling, No-No Baby!, Shoo!, Twerp Dujour........;-)

K in TX

LOL! Those would be great. I am horrible with seeds too, although this growing season I got much better at it. If you wanted to try it, I'm sure some nice people here could talk you through it :)

I'm wondering how long it will take this pod to rippen?

And where is Trophy Club? Been in Texas all my life and still here new towns all the time!

Oh, Trophy Club is such a silly little name, isn't it?! We're a tiny little town just west of Grapevine, on the line of Tarrant & Denton counties. Old ("trophy"'d) Ben Hogan built a course out here, and the town grew up on & around it.

I've never even seen a ripened AV pod!

=) Kathleen

Oh ok, I know where that is. My roommate is from Grapevine. Interesting to know the history of it.

I've never seen one either...it appears to have stalled out and died! Ah! I'm going to keep trying...:)

I have an idea. Why don't we all ask for an african violet section? Maybe they think it is not enough interest.

I've been meaning to suggest the same thing...I'd say this thread shows plenty of interest!

Sounds good to me. Jenny

Gets my vote...Hey DAVE...Yoohoo...Mr.Dave we want a wee lil forum for African Violets and Gesneraids with a pic column...PRETTY PLEASE...lol

I don't know I think we will need more posts than what we are getting now for sure...
MsC.

The foliage forum got started after a 40 post thread. So maybe this'll be enough. I would love to have a forum started for it, because as it is- if I want easy to find info on AVs I have to go to GW, which I dont like doing :)

Does anybody grow Episcias, Sinnigia's,Codanthe's,
Streptocarpus or Chirita's???
They are the cousins to our African Violets and are very pretty too. I got a Chirita from Keyring and it is the cutest lil thing...the Episcias are great foliage plants with little blooms and are great for a hanging basket house plants.Very colorful...

Silly little question here, I always have quite a few different AVs blooming, how do you plant the seeds? Are there any special instructions?
I wouldnt mind seeing an AV forum!

Nevermind. lol I found a site, but I cant locate any pollen on my AVs. I will just keep experimenting.

This message was edited Jul 31, 2004 9:24 AM

Ok everybody... Dave says to have you all go here to express your wish for an African Violet & Gesneriad forum... best make an effort to support the wishes for that forum.
I'll post a seperate thread to see if we get any other interested parties too..

http://davesgarden.com/t/447205/

This message was edited Jul 30, 2004 4:52 PM

I've posted the info on some of the other related forums to ask for their help...guess will see if there is any interest...

Count me in!!!! I just started with AV's and they don't seem to mind my brown thumb. I'm really ready for more info on dividing and starting new plants. In fact, I even looked at one of those "bay windows" like my son has over his kitchen sink. *wish, wish, wish*
Pati

Pati Please be sure to go to the link above to post your vote or Dave won't see it hear.
Thanks MsC

Thanks MsC, going now!!!
Pati

I think we can start a new thread on OUR NEW FORUM now thanks to Dave and all you guys.. check it out.
All AV's "No named Wally world specials " welcomed and Gessie's too! Post those favorite pics you've been saving.:)

http://davesgarden.com/t/447521/