New to AVs

I'm still new to AVs. I've read a lot of info, and I'm still reading, but I have a couple of questions I'm hoping to get some help with.

First, I've managed to keep one of my first AVs alive for over a month now. Whoo hoo!!! But it seems to have divided into two plants. Should I separate them? I'll post pics so y'all can see what I mean, and see if I'm right. I could be wrong, or it could be way too early to separate them.

Second, how exactly, and I mean EXACTLY, do you use the AV pots? I think I've gotten it figured out since my first AV has lived for over a month now in one of the pots. I'm still not certain tho. How do you know how much water to put in the larger outer pot and when to add it? Do you just add a certain amout of water on the same day each week? Do you keep the water level so that it touches the unglazed smaller pot at all times, or do you keep water in there just so condensation builds up? I know AVs don't like wet feet, so these pots confuse me a bit. I've been adding water once a week so that the small pot is sitting in about 1/2 of water, then don't add any more till the next week. Another AV I have in a regular pot and I top water w/ a funnel, LOL.

Here's the pic of the two plants in one pot...here's plant #1

Here's plant #2, hidden under one of the bigger leaves on plant #1. Should I cut this leaf off so plant #2 gets better light?

Thanks for any and all help!
Heather

Hi Heather,

Thank you for sharing and I will leave it up to our pro's to help you out. I love that pot!

I would also like to know as I have some leaves that look like that as well...what causes those what looks like little bite marks on the sides of the leaves. I know it is not a bug but very curious as to what causes it.

Keep up the good work Heather!

Joanne

Joanne,
If you mean the one leaf that my pinky finger is kind of pointing at I think it's from being pinched or crushed. I think the leaf was actually broken at the point where the crack is. I haven't taken the leaf off yet because I plan on using it to start another plant, I just haven't gotten around to it yet...I have too many started all ready and don't have enough room! So, when I have room I'll take it off. Of course, I keep getting new AVs, so that just means more leaves to start...so I may never actually have room and may just have to cut it off and pitch it. Here's my newest AV, I just found it at Lowe's the other day. It's my first white. I thought it was so cute and frilly looking!! :)

Sorry no one got to you today we will tomorrow !
Welcome to our wonderful African Violets and Gesneriads forum !

Heather,

Welcome! I'm a relative newbie to AV myself and has this site ever been great :) You'll get advice, help, encouragement, AND EVEN NEW AVs!!!!!!! It's just a fabulous place...and I'm glad you're here...

Planti

welcome Heather...no nicer folks than here...enjoy..

Welcome HJ. So glad you are here.

The two plants in question need to be seperated. The little one growing under the leaf of the first is called a sucker. It is big enough to remove and repot by itself.

Gentle does it is the trick. Find where the sucker joins the "mother" plant and remove it. You can do this with pressure from your fingers or you can use an exacto knife or some other sharp instrument. The suckers usually come easily. Yours looks big enough that it might have some roots of its own (depending how close to the soil it is.)

Nestle the sucker in a pot of moistened soil and place it in a plastic bag. The humidity from the zip lock bag will help the sucker with the shock of being removed and also help it root at little faster. In about 3 weeks the sucker should be rooted and you will have two plants from one. AND will have experienced on of the great joys of raising avs.

Good luck.

Nanna

As far as the self watering pots. They confuse me too. I don't use them. Hopefully someone will answer your question EXACTLY. (I don't think there is an exact answer. It's a matter of trial and error.)

Nanna

Thanks Nanna for giving your help !
I was taught at local AV group couple years not to use two piece pots . One most are too large for the plant. Some make the plant too wet, some too dry.
All the salts and minerals...are rising to the top and there is no way to leach them out and I don't think you want to re-pot every month.
When I first started buying African violets I spent a lot of money buying lots of fancy ones. Many I gave away. I still have a few left and I use them just to set plastic pots into them.

Thanks so much everyone!! :) Even if you didn't give me info you sure made me feel welcome!

Nana, thanks for telling me that I have a sucker (and that I'm not a sucker!). I can't believe my plant has one and I didn't kill it! I just think that is so cool, especially since I put leaves down and they aren't doing anything yet. Guess I just picked a double plant and didn't know it. I'll be separating it today or tomorrow. How fun! :)

I'm also glad to hear I'm not the only one who doesn't get the AV pots. I do like the idea of sitting a regular pot inside of them tho, thanks for the idea Violet! They are such pretty pots, but I do agree they are either too wet or too dry and the salts and etc. build up quickly. I'm new and I know that much! LOL

Ok, I'm off to read about AV suckers. Thanks so much!
Heather

Heather did you know the first two threads in our forum the Stickys are full of info and great links !

Yep, but thanks for the reminder! I'll check them out again, it's been a while.

Heather -- woohooo! -- Welcome to the AV forum! Congrats... your new plant has a sucker! That's the easiest & quickest way of propagating, potting up a sucker that your plant produced all on its own. :-) Nanna's advice is right on. There's also some great information on the culture pages at Rob's Violet Barn (see link in sticky, www.robsviolet.com)... I don't rememeber if he has specific info on suckers, but it's just the same as re-rooting the crown of a plant that developed a long neck (and I know there's a page on that).

Some of my AVs (like my "Big Blue" noid & 'Ruffled Sheer Romance') absolutely *love* the self-watering 2 piece pots with the reservoirs filled all the way up every 3-4 weeks. A couple that I've tried in them have sulked or gotten root rot. With most of my AVs in those pots, I do just what you've been doing, adding enough water to the pot that the bottom 1/2 inch of the inner pot is in the water. Every couple of weeks, it's a good idea to let the inner pot go dry for a few days.... Just be aware that if the soil mix dries out enough to pull away from the sides of the pot, you'll need to water just a little from the top to restart the wicking action.

With plants in "regular" pots (and I'm assuming your pot has a bottom hole for drainage), I like to water from the bottom, putting water into a deep saucer or whatever and letting the pot suck up as much as it can in 15 minutes or so. I've also got wicks in some pots... check sticky for links to threads about wick watering for an explanation.

Especially with self watering or wicked pots, it's a good idea to lighten your soil mix... at least 50% perlite seems to work well.

I am always late to the party! Hello Heather, we were all new once, I was the new kid before you! Glad you are here to take my place, LOL. Kidding- there are lots of new folks and thankfully lots of old pros! Glad you are here and hope you enjoy the forum as much as I do.

Let me try this again, last time my pc crashed, don't want to do that again!

It seems I'm getting used to being the new kid on the block lately! That seems to be the case everywhere I go. For some reason it does feel good when someone replaces you in that spot tho...why is that? LOL

Thanks CritterO! I do have mine potted up in 50/50 prepacked AV mix and perlite...just as you prescribed when I got my first AV! :) I think that has the most to do w/ why they are still kicking. I even have one that still has blooms!

I was just spending a LOT of time in the stickys reading and reading. I just read about wicking and Texas Style potting. How interesting! I think I may try both. The plant that has the sucker is in the double (AV) pot, so it must like it there, so it will stay...at least for now. I also learned that even tho I used AV soil I should still use AV food!! I hadn't been feeding any of them, poor things. No wonder I'd lost all the blooms. That's an easy fix tho.

One thing I haven't found out yet...but prolly will soon enough...why are all my plants flat? I thought they were supposed to be that way, till I read differently. LOL! Maybe it's just because they are young still? Or because I cut off so many leaves trying to make them look even? If it's a nutrition thing someone please tell me!

Ok, I'm back to reading for now. I'll be an "expert" before the day is done! Oh, I wish that were true.

Thanks again for all of the help and for making all of these sticky notes, they sure do help tons!
Heather

Heather, glad you are here!!!!! : ) Pam

Thanks Pam! I'm so glad that I posted these questions and ended up reading thru some of the stickys again. I sure missed a lot of stuff the first time I went thru them. Wow-wee! There is a lot to learn, but at least I'm getting the basics down good. I'll be changing some of the things I do w/ my AVs, that's for sure. I once was told you have to hear something 18 times before it's committed to memory...so I'll just keep reading, LOL!

One of the things I'm going to do that I'm sure all my plants will love me for is I'm going to set out little cups/glasses of water around all my plants. Why don't we think of this stuff on our own? It just makes sense! Plants just love humidity. I was talking the other day about borrowing a humidifier from my SIL. I try to mist regularly, but AVs don't like that, however, I learned in the stickys how to give them a bath. :~D

I feel like a kid with a new toy having learned all this new stuff about my AVs!! I'm going to go read some more, or maybe I'll actually go put some of that knowledge to use and repot my sucker plant!

Thanks again everyone!
Heather