dead heading

i keep hearing about dead heading i think its called , what is it and how you do it?,i,m new at violets ,done a few leaves that done pretty good ,

hi starfly...welcome aboard....deadheading is merely taking off the spent blossoms...or even before they're done blooming...usually done to encourage new growth and not TELL plant to put its energy into making seed pods...(unless one wants them of course)

Good idea to remove spent flowers helps keep away virus and more ..

yep..

junglebob
thanks,wasn,t sure what it was.

This message was edited Feb 23, 2006 4:15 AM

This message was edited Feb 23, 2006 4:16 AM

Do you have a picture ? Maybe there is more than one plant in the pot. Or maybe it's just a large plant and it's way of growing. Would have to see it .

Violet_Treasure
here,s a couple of pictures,hope you can tell me if something is wrong

here,s the other one

Sure is pretty love that shade of blue.
Ok the plant may be too wet,
Could be in a pot too large or in soil-less mix too heavy keeping the plants feet wet and cold and African violets don't like this.
Are the stems getting soft or mushy ?
If so I would take out of the pot, take as much of heavy soil off you can.It could have or getting root rot. Re-pot in proper new pot in light Soil-less mixture. I like to add at least 50 percent perilite to any African violet, MG any soil-less mixture used. Mix well light moist. Check the plants roots are they healthy ? Cut dead looking off, groom and bad foliage off.Use a pot 1/3 the size of the plant.
Then put on a regular watering and feeding program , give it lots of non-buring light 10-16 hours a day. We have humidity here :))
Some people put suports or paper plate to suport heavy foliage. I was told at meetings not to buy them not to waste my money ther not needed but thats up to you.
Hope this helps. Anyone have ideas !

yes one can make a collar from the paper plates...or piece of carboard from old cereal boxes and the like.....(recycle...lol)..

Violet_Treasure
ok i took th violet out of pot,the soil was dry, had really nice roots,some was really long so i clipped them off a little,planted them in schultz professional potting soil plus mix,only thing i had.there is a lot of new leaves comeing on at the bottom of plant,i clean each leaf,by wipeing with damp cloth,hope that was ok.put it in just a little smaller pot, water it with mg violet fertilize ,put water in bigger pot and set violet down in it,the violets are sitting in my kitchen window,they get good sun untill about 2 in evening but doesn,t burn them,is that enought of light.thanks a lot
ps how often do you water,i usually feed them everytime i water

This message was edited Feb 23, 2006 9:49 AM

I use 1/4 strength amount of fetilizer except when using VF-11 that is gentle.
Make sure you water with warm water. I use hot it works for me. I also water 99 percent of the time by the bottom annd plant pots are wicked.
Not only can a plant become root rot from being too wet but can become root rot from being too dry.
I keep them evenly o. When I lift the pots and their light thenDon't let your plants get stoned dry. The lighter the soil-less mixture you grow in the better the plant will grow and be healthy ! I would pick up Perlite when you go to the store.
You can give you plants a bath warm water and even dish soap. Don't get the crown wet . If you do gently fty. Don't put back under lights until plant is dry.

Violet_Treasure
thank you so very much far all the info,sure don,t want them to die,i halven,t had violets far that long,
i got some vf-11 order, on the bottle of violet fertilize it says 7 drops to a quart .oh i didn,t know you used warm water,i might be freezing mine but will start useing warm.will pick me some perlite up.do i need to repot all of them there still in pots they came in. thanks

How big is that pot, starfly?

If they're still in their original pots, it'll probably help to repot and lighten the mix as Allison suggested (at least 50% perlite added to potting mix, even if you're starting with mix that's supposed to be for AVs). I would also remove the outer ring or two of leaves... take off the ones that look tired and older, and try to keep the overall symmetry of the plant. With less foliage to support, the plant should bloom more too.

critterologist
its a 4 inch pot and some of them is smaller pots
i know some of the leaves need to be taken off but been afraid i would hurt them

You won't hurt them! I find it's easiest to remove leaves after the plant has been watered, as those juicy stems just snap right off. Grasp the stem of the leaf and move it gently back & forth... it will generally snap off right at the crown of the plant. If it leaves a stub, you may want to go in and break it off with your fingers (you could also use tweezers, thread snips, etc... but I think it's easier to break the leaf stem off cleanly than to cut it).

And, if you have a healthy-looking leaf or two -- pot it up and make some AV babies! (check sticky for links to propagation info... Rob's Violet Barn has great instructions)