Hello there! First thing I want to do is apologize in advance for any questions I might ask which are repetitive, but I really need some info.I started growing them in remembrance of my grandmother, who always grew them. I think my mother has the same plants I remember as a child; I remember the pots they are in (crazy the details one can remember sometimes isn t it?) I bought 4TINY av's from lowes about six months ago, which were no more than an inch wide, no exaggeration. I have since transplanted them into those self watering ceramic containers which are great! They grew up huge to my delight, but have recently started to drop their flowers. I read that this was normal, and that they will go into dormancy for about 3 months then start blooming again. What I want to know is, can you prune them down? if so, how much can you prune, and is it possible to start new plants from the cuttings? These AV's I have are so lovely, I would love to have them everywhere in my house.
Anyway, I think I have the basic care in the bag, but I was windering about pruning and thinning, as they look a little congested in their pots. I thought about repotting, but I would really like to keep them the size they are. Can anyone help me?
Thanks!
Kind of new to AV's
I am fairly new to this forum also. I've had AVs for years, but I think it was in spite of my care, and when I recently started having problems came here for answers. If you will go to the main forum and check out the first two "sticky" threads, it will answer a lot of your questions. Sure sounds to me like you are on the right track, and are ready to get into propagating. New plants can be started from your leaves, and depending on how far you want to go, you can save the crown as your "mom" plant. As I said, check out the stickys, and then come back here for more info -- I assure you, these people know what they are doing!
Sharon
Hi
Welcome ! First African violet i have never known them to go dormant. A healthy plant will bloom all year long , with short resting period of a week or so in- between..
Dead flowers should always be taken off. old leaves too. plants should be re-potted at least twice a year to new bleached ckean pots and soil. pot size depends on the size of the plant. Example i miniature plant up to six inches will be happy in a two inch size plant for life. Just a new pot, grooming and some soil 2-3 times a year. It's good for the pot to be 1/3 the size of the plant .
please go to our stickys for unlimited information ! Again Welcome !! Allison
Thanks guys! I am off to check out Sticky's. Hopefully I can find out whats wrong with my violets. If they are not supposed to go dormant, then I think they have a problem. Losing blooms and the leaves turning brown and yellow does not sound good to me!
Kat
Kat go to Doctor Optimara he can help with every Av prolbem. Link is in our Sticky. Let us know how everything wokrs out if you need more help. Do you have pictures ?
Allison
Hi Pashta, welcome to the AV forum. You'll find lots of helpful folks here. It's a super place to hang out with a great group of 'friends'
cheers,
Laurie
HOLY COW!!! Ok, I unpotted one of my violetrs to take a peek and see whats going on, and there are suckers GALORE!!!! One of my violets had five different plants growing out of it, and I had no idea! These suckers, once I gently detached them from the mother plant, are bigger than the mother plants when I first got them! Is that normal??? Have I been seriously neglecting my violets to let them get this way? They always seemed fine, until recently, when they started to falter a bit. Perhaps this is due to overcrowding?? Anyway, I have 11 new small plants just from three of my four original mother plants. I have not touched the last big plant, partly because it doesnt look like it is in need, and partly because I am out of spare pots! the young plants I transpanted are in pots that are too big, I know, but I didnt have anything else handy. Thanks for the great reference sites!
picture #1
picture #2
Beautiful ! Do you have plastic cups or containers you can put them in until you get new pots ? I always keep
lots of extras !
All but two are plastic actually. I have one in a somewhat larger ceramic pot, and then I had to put 4 in one large ceramic pot until I can get somehting smaller for them. I usually have plenty because of all the plants I buy, but I recently started some jade plants off, so Im out. I also started some leaves in a plastic greenhouse thing with individual small cups. It has a plastic lid for insulating, so I thought it would be good. I use the same thing to force start some of my other seeds and flowers for planting this spring. I almost dont know what Im going to do if ALL these plants take off. I might have to put up new shelving for just the violets! I really do hope they all make it, though Im sure the odds are against that. Still, if even half make it I will definitely have my hands full. I need small plastic pots, definitely.
Kat
Good for you! think stress sometimes makes plants sucker, crown damage will especially do it, and some AVs are just more prone to do it anyway. Especially if the suckers had no roots when you removed them, plant them with moist potting mix packed pretty firmly around their stub (good soil contact will encourage root formation), and then keep them in a high humidity environment (terrarium, plastic bag with a stick or something in the pot to keep the plastic off the foliage, etc... a little ventillation is good too and will keep them from being too wet).
Plastic cups make good pots too.... just poke a hole in the bottom for drainage. I use a metal skewer heated on the stove to poke holes in a whole stack of little solo cups.
Good luck!
ok, so even though some of them have no roots at all, putting the stub in the soil will allow them to form roots? I was going to be concerned because not all the suckers had roots attached once I got them separated from the mother plant, but if they are going to form on their own, then I wont worry. Im trying to keep them warm and moist enough, but its hard when Im running out of space! I had to turn the heat on out on my little porch, which is really not weatherproof. Will the suckers just form buds and blooms in their own time? Im way too over eager for them to do something spectacular. I just have no patience when I get really excited about something hahahahah! Perhaps this will teach me patience...
Kat
Kat Suckers are a wonderful way to get new plant fast. They will root within a week or two depending on light and warmth and so on. And when large enough will bloom ! Do you have any plant stands, Windows, little end tables by windows ? I fit plants in everyroom in our tiny single wide one bed room home I can :))
hahaha yeah, I have plenty of windowsills, I just dont have plenty of windowsills that are not accessable to my two cats. They eat everything green in sight that they can reach as it is, I am not going to give them an african violet buffet! I took over some shelving in our home office where it is warm, with some halogen lighting to give them some light during the day. They seem to be doing well, no suicide jumps off the shelves or anything. They are sharing space with a pothos I am rehabilitating, as well as my miniature rose which continues to give me a scare every 6 months or so by almost dying. Unfortunately, I dont have all window access, due to my furry friends, so I am a wee bit limited. I am doing my best though, I just hope its good enough for these little av's.
I read once putting tin foil along edge of shelf keeps cats off I wonder if this is true ? Maybe you could get one of those inexpensive little indoor green house and put the two feet lights in them ?
I would love a green house of any kind. While the tin foil thing might be true of normal felines, mine are, well, SPECIAL. I dont think a shelf has been designed that will keep my small girl cat away. She can and will get into everything she can. Kind of like a ferret, but without the smell. :) I think Im going to ask for a small greenhouse from my better half for my birthday this year. At the least, it will free up some office space again, for which Im sure he would be greatful. LOL! Im making due for the moment. Its just another month until spring (roughly) and then they can go back out on the porch again.
Hey, I checked on my little ones when I got home from work this evening, and some of the leaf stems are really limp. is this normal for new transplants/separations? Will they firm up again like the mother plant, or is this a bad sign of iminent death? Do they need something I havent given them, or have I watered them too much or is it something else?
Ack! Please tell me I did not just destroy a whole lot of plants, aside from the fact that I would be really really sad about it, Im sure the karma would be pretty bad.
Kat
Kat sometimes this can happen. Are they in light soil, not too wet, warm ? If so maybe good idea to put each one in large gallon zip lock baggie blown up for a couple weeks. What do other feel ?
The soil is probably too moist. The soil is not above room temp, in fact it is slightly cool to the touch, even though they are inside under grow lights. Maybe let them dry out a little bit and see if they perk up?
yes or if roots to wet and cold take them out of the pots put them on paper towels keep warm let dry and re-pot after drying. Only water tiny drops warm water at a time . Use light soil and small pots. Good Luck !
yes, and if you use a plastic bag or other means to keep humidity around the suckers, then the soil in their pots can be just barely moist, and they'll be happy.
ooooh ok. They have been drying out a bit each day because of the grow lights I have them under, and I turned the heat up in the house cause its cold! I will soak up some of the water with a paper towel too, and just let them do their thing. Do they need violet food at this stage, or should I really just let them be and stop nitpicking at them? :)
Don't feed them now. Let them get better. Don't worry about them it will be OK if not I know where some more plants are :))
hahaha awesome. thanks so much, you all have been so great!
So. After learning to be patient and just let the violets do their thing, my violets just blossomed, quite literally, into some gorgeous new plants. I did lose a few of them, but the ones that remain are just stunning. all but three of them have blossoms now, and the others are just really moving along nicely. I want to thank you all for holding my hand through my first AV propagation by division! I feel alot better. :)
And now, some pictures for everyone to enjoy!
another
and another
last one!
Wonderful growing ! Good job ! You should be so proud. Beauitful plants and lots of buds and flowers. Thanks so much sharing them !
thank YOU, for helping me! I could not have done it without you all!
Congratulations! Just look at all those wonderful buds..... you're going to be enjoying blooms all summer!
:-)
The blooms have gotten even bigger! I did suffer one loss :( But I suppose it is to be expected, and Im ok with it. A little sad, but ok. They look fantastic though, and I am really happy with all of them. I even found one tiny cutting that had actually rooted. It surprised me because I had forgotten to water it for so long. Its still alive though, and doing alot better since I have become more attentive toward it. :)
Hi Pashta nice to see you. Thanks for the up-date on your plants ! Have any new pictures /
oh I always have new pictures. :) I'm kind of a spaz that way.
wow beautiful sparkling blossoms ! I love looking at pictures ! Thanks.
and one more for now. :)
WOW look at all those buds ! What's the name of this one ?
HA! I have NO idea! I call it "pretty big white flowers" myself. ;) I dont know the species of any of these. I bought them as babies, with no labels or anything on them to indicate which was which. They are the same shape as the purple one in the other picture, only extremely white. This is its mother plant....maybe someone else knows which one it is...
She's sooo pretty ! Thanks for sharing !