I'm just curious what everyone elses biggest challenge growing AV's is and have you found a solution.
Mine seems to be a watering issue. I either under water the darlings or it's death by drowning.:) I'm trying several different methods to see if ANY will work.
I've tried the folowing methods with various results, most not so good... but I keep "buying 'em & trying 'em". Heck they fit my budget.
wick watering- my best luck so far
matt watering- sooo, sooo luck. It does make me keep them in one area since I'm a clutter bug.:)
self watering pot's- trying it out on a favorite - I like the idea but it doesn't seem to be doing much???
terrariums- The AV's seem ok but the tend to look weak to me??? Mostly I put a mini in one and it ain't blooming so that's disaapointing-but it ain't dead yet...
I'm confounded & confused about the water tempeture thing... now everyone knows that it says ROOM temp water- but I'm hormonal so exactly what temp does that mean before hot flash or after??? Seems like I've blasted more buds than I care to cry over... any suggestion for me?
Thanks MsC
What is your biggest AV challenge ???
hiya MsC!!
can't say i've ever had a challange growin these, as i've only just got my second one... ;)
however, on the water issue ... we keep several plastic milk jugs sitting about the house, full of water. when it comes time to water, its always at room temp. that is, if ya remember to fill em back up after use. lol... also, using tap water wouldn't be a good idea in my book, unless you are on a well. too much chlorine, and in some cities flouride, that isn't a good idea to put on the houseplants. by keeping the jugs ready all the time, it gives those chemicals a chance to evaporate out. just my two cents on this subject.
now, back to gaming... :D
Arod
On the other hand, I've always watered with tap water and haven't had any problems. I even water from the top, just like any other house plant. This may not be the best way, but it works for me (so far).
I don't think so far I've really run into any challenges, besides the usual: the AV addiction! i.e. finding room for all of them, the impatience for the babies to grow up and bloom, finding good homes for the babies, and finding good varieties to add to my collection. :) Right now I have two that are just getting ready to bloom for the first time. I'm so excited-- they're my first babies to actually bloom! I'll post pictures soon.
That's great that you can water with tap water, danak; ours is happily cool even during the summertime, and we're not even on a well but regular old city water. :)
I do think we'll be worrying about finding room for the new AVs next winter, when I want to start flats of veggie seeds and SO1 has the area already filled. lol
SO1,
I do use tap water for mine and I usually do fill up the watering can and let it sit overnight...I think it's just too cold with the air conditioner running???? I never have had any trouble with our water & the chlorine, but the letting it sit over night should take care of that.
DanaK,
That's great you have babies ready to bloom. I understand about the AV addiction...lol They are just sooo pretty in bloom and hard to pass up in the store for me. I'm alwasy saying
" No !" I don't need another one...but I always manange to buy just one more...good thing they aren't outlawed drugs.lol
You're so funny, MsC!
Danak,
It's a good thing I got addicted to plants & critters now I can't afford those bad expensive addictions...lol
My sense of humor shows up every once in a while...;-D
Be sure and post those pics of your blooming babies...I wanna see 'em.
Hiya, MsC. =) I water with all manner of water/fert's around here. I have over a hundred AV's (and that's after scaling back quite a bit...lol!) and water just however. They get the occasional rainwater along w/begonias, they like the tapwater (has calcium and junk they actually need) and then the leftover drinking water. =) I rotate fert's and have really gotten alot of blooms. I forget about them, and then voila! They burst with color.
The minis give me such a headache.......they're picky, tempermental little buggers. They tend to hole up for awhile after blooming and I get a grudge. ;-)
I have found that some prefer natural sunlight, while others FLOURISH under a lamp w/a gro-lite.
Fussy lovelies. =)
MKJ
MKJ,
That's amazing you have that many AV's...I can say I've proable killed that many...lol
I'm glad to know that you water much like I do. I have to believe that it is not my method of watering but perhaps that I'm still over watering these lil darlings.:) I'm now moving most of them to a wick method or self watering pots...maybe that will save the poor things form death at my heavey hands???
Maybe I just need to "water garden" instead...lol
Thanks for the input .....
My challenge is suckers. I'm not sure how to identify them and am never able to "pop them off".
Tammy,
I just leave my suckers in place until I know they are big enough, say1-2 inches and then I take a butter knife and scrape them off . Then I add a little rooting powder to the base and I pot them up in a small 1-2 inch pot and place that in a plastic zip lock baggie.
If you aren't growing to show them then there is no harm in leaveing them and just having a full plant.:) They sure look pretty when they bloom like that.
MsC
Yeah, suckers! The only time I tried to root a sucker that I'd cut off, it died. I nursed it for about three months, too, because someone wanted to trade for it, and then when I told them I'd start a leaf instead, they weren't even interested anymore! Oh well. Next time I'll try rooting hormone.
I recognize suckers when I see baby leaves growing from the stem-- below the oldest leaves. Sometimes I pick them off, but I have another now that I'm going to wait and try to grow...
Keeping my cat from eating the flower buds! - Julie
LOL! Well that could be real set back for sure.
Critters-ya gotta love em:)
MsC
getting the leaves to take when I want more!! Seems like half the time when I cut off some for plantlets more thatn 50% get black and die off.
What the heck am I doin wrong??
Heather
Heather - could your leaf-starting mix be too wet? Too heavy? These are often causes for die off. Another possibility is cold temps.
I have a similar problem with chirita leaves - they always turn brown and die. Recently, instead of my usual equal parts peat:perlite:vermiculite mix, I tried rooting them in 100% perlite, and another in 1:1 perlite:vermiculite. They both worked! Maybe this is something you can try.
Hi, Posting from Scotland, UK. I have kept an african violet for 4.5 years during which time it has had 10 consecutive flowerings and is >12inches in diameter. At the begining I was a complete novice and had never owned an african violet. However, my first plant has been described as "almost show standard" by the UK Saintpaulia and Houseplant Society. I believe that the key to my success is the way in which I have watered the plant.
I am a polymer technologist with a speciality in developing hydrogels for medical, biomaterials, membrane and sensor applications. I developed a plant watering system that uses hydrogel membrane technology to deliver water by osmosis or diffusion to plants. Water passes from an external reservoir through a special hydrogel membrane into a plant container. The water enetering the container dissolves nutrients and salts from the soil or growing media. This soil solution causes an osmotic potential difference to develop across the membrane separating the reservoir and the plant container. As the plant draws water through its root system, more water is drawn through the membrane from the reservoir. All I need to do is make sure that the reservoir is kept filled with water. I add commercial nutrient products every few weeks to the plant container.
Over the last 4.5 years I have recorded how often I refill my african violet's reservoir. Generally 300ml of water can last 20 - 30 days which I think is really surprising for a plant of >12 inches diameter. However, just before flowering the plant uses 300ml of water every 4 or 5 days. I can now predict when the plant is about to flower based on the increase in water uptake in the weeks before flowering. I have also notced that the plant has 2 flowerings per season and that these flowerings are relatively close together with a longer period between seasons. I re-pot about once every 18 months.
I am amazed at the success that I have had and the plant is now like a member of the family which I would sorely miss if it died. I know that enthusiasts will have kept plants for much longer and will water their plants expertly through experience and knowledge. I'm delighted with what I have achieved but also fascinated at how little water the plant seems to need once it established itself on my watering system. I know that most people will not want to record every time they water their plants but this kind of data may be useful to some. I feel my plant is performing better because it is effectively controlling its own watering and is not subject to a feast and famine regime. I now have several african violets around the house and many other common houseplants like begonias, chrysanthemums, poinsettia - all watered using my Osmogro system. Chris
Wow, you really have that down to a science! Do you have a picture of your setup? I think it would be really neat to see it. Congratulations on your success.
See attached graphic of my "osmogro" houseplant watering system. I have an old pic of my african violet's second flowering which I'll send later. The osmogro hydrogel membrane is immediately below a pot with a completely flat-base forming a seal which prevents capillary and hydraulic flow of water, so flooding is avoided. The osmogro gel membrane sits on top of a fabric disc which facilitates water below the gel disc. The growing medium can initially seem quite wet but the system soon settles down to a happy (for the plant) but dynamic equilibrium.
Chris
See a pic of my African Violet during its second flowering (4 years ago). Forgive the quality but it's a scanned photo. The plant is in a 14cm (5.5") pot. The reservoir is a plastic pot saucer but larger than you would normally use for this size of pot. The reservoir capacity with the plant pot in place is 300ml. I'll be taking new pics of the 10th flowering once all the blooms are open.
Chris
