So I go outside to see what my neighbor is throwing away as it looks like plants. And lo and behold! I find these!!! She had gotten them as a gift and didn't want them so she forgot all about them. She said they hadn't had any water for about 4 weeks, poor things. I snatched them from her and said I would care for them.
So, how do I do that? I went to the store and got some AV food for them but after that I don't know what they need. I don't even know what color they are!
Lucky you......................better not let them sit in water.............(I am no expert (LOL))
Why don't you go to The Violet Barn....................find the culture section down on the left of the first page...............click it and you can find all sorts of good information..........
I think everything is listed in the sticky at the top of the Av forum..................good luck and come back and visit us............you may want more of them...........
The water was so they could have their first drink in 4 weeks! It all gone now.
Thanks, I'll look at that.
Hi Kwanjin ... I am amazed that those African Violets are still even a teensy bit alive without water in 4 weeks! I bet they were thirsty little babies!
Here's a link to Rachel's Reflections. She also has some great growing tips!
If you scroll down towards the bottom of the page, she has tons of information on growing and caring for AV's:
http://www.rachelsreflections.com/
Thanks Plantladylin. That's wonderful info to have. They've had they're drink and I've cleaned them up. We'll see how they're doing in the morning. One looks worse off than the other, though.
Did you repot them? You might want to repot them into a lighter soil, one with lots of perlite so that it drains well. And, do you have them under lights?
Keep us posted on how they do for you. I like AV's a lot, they aren't my favorite plant but I do have @ 25 of them. Sometimes they do well for me, sometimes they don't!
I'm going tomorrow to get their new homes. Some nice ceramic AV pots. And I'm going to follow the recipe on that site you sent. So they should be alright if they survive the week!
Kwanjin, I am VERY new to this forum and don't grow AV's. However, I have been doing ALOT of late night reading and my honest suggestion for these babies would be again to lighten the soil as much as possible with perlite and vermiculite and then kind of "fluff" their roots and rather than buy one of those fancy pots, just use the same pots they are in. The plastic pots make it easier to tell when they need water and I find the ceramic pots hold the water at the very bottom and make it so misleading and hard to tell when they need a sip. Because of the ladies here, I have become "hooked on Solo" (cups that is *lol*). Although they are not "pretty" pots, those plastic pots are actually better (in my opinion).
When you re-plant, don't overwater. Just a little sip until they get re-established and start to show new growth (and they will). If you have any superthrive on hand (buy this instead of the ceramic pots if you don't), mix a little of that in when you give them their little "sip".
Hope that helps and if I've given the wrong advice, PLEASE experts step up :)
Kim
Kwanjin,
I'm by no means an expert but I wouldn't give them much water, just a small sip now and a small sip again if they start responding, don't wet them to much. The're probably pretty stressed out about now, you might benefit from putting them in baggies and sealing them up for a few days. Clean them up first and remove the blooms and any dried leaves. As they start recovering you can kind of tell when they're ready to come out of the 'hospital' and get repotted.
Susan
I think one of these, at least, is going to survive. The one on the left has perked up quite a bit while the right one is still looking sad. I've taken your advice and repotted them in different, lighter material and given them a small shot of superthrive (which I had on hand).
Here they are in their private rooms.
Do I leave the bags open for air circulation?
Imagine anyone TRYING to kill av's!! That's just mind boggling!! It looks like you're going to do a great job. I'd try to make sure the edges of the bags don't touch the leaves or they'll start to rot.
Noticed you're in West Valley! I used to live in Orem. ; )
Kwanjin..thats a lovely thing you did saving those av's from certain death. You can't go wrong following the advice of all the helpful people here on Daves..Your av's are already are looking better.Hope they both live and thank you with many beautiful blooms : )
CJ I know ..I can't imagine any trying to kill av's either!
I went back to the new neighbor who was tossing them and told her that anytime she had something she didn't want she should talk to me first and guess what? She gave me this lovely China Doll plant! I cleaned it up before it's photo shoot! this one I know how to care for, luckily.
This message was edited Oct 16, 2007 10:25 PM
LOL kwanjin .... I used to put plants out for the trash and an elderly neighbor used to take them. He did ask cause his wife gave him a hard time at first about taking stuff from my trash! I just got in the habit finally of calling them when I had plants that I was going to get rid of. I had two 6-7' tall ficus benjamina trees that I put out for the trash and he took them to plant in his yard. I tried to tell him that if we had a hard freeze they would die but he wanted them anyway. They took tons of asparagus ferns, boston ferns and odds and ends over the years. A very sweet couple. She loved Gardenia's and I have two huge bushes in my yard and I was always giving her flowers. One time we were away for a few days and got home and she came over and said one of the neighbors yelled at her and said "I don't think Linda will appreciate it when she finds out you are picking her flowers". I told her she could come in my yard any time she wanted and pick as many flowers as she wanted! God has a hand in making my plants and flowers grow and I think he has given them to me for sharing with others! When my niece was about 3 yrs old (she is now 38) they were visiting us and my sister got real upset because her daughter picked some flowers in the yard. I told them that's why they were there .... to be picked. I have pic's of my youngest niece (who is almost 21) when she was a toddler ... sitting in my yard with flowers tucked behind each ear! We had next door neighbors years ago and they had two adorable little boys. I would let them pick flowers for their mother. They would just have the biggest smiles on their faces giving those flowers to their mom! To me it is just such a huge joy being able to share.
Ok ... here I go rambling again. See ... I forgot what the subject was! I am sooo bad about that!
Anyhow, I love your China Doll! I have one that's about 3' tall and I think I have a small one in a pot somewhere too! They are neat plants. I just bought mine this summer and I hope I can keep it alive. One of my sisters had the China Doll for at least 20 years and it was huge and gorgeous! She was so sad when all of a sudden it died.
I let every single grandchild and any child at my house for whatever reason pick the flowers they want.............I help them if they want an av bloom , streps, etc...........
This little girl came with her daddy to work on my computer.........she told she thought her mom would like some flowers..........she just turned 6.............
Oh my ... how Beautiful is that! Doesn't it just bring you such joy to give the gift of flowers to a child so they can give the gift to their mom? Love it!
That is just wonderful! I let a neighbor girl pick what she wants from my yard. She always goes straight to the gaillardia! She loves those things so much, I gave her seeds to plant in her own yard. She's the only little girl on the block that I can see and I think she's needs them. Oh, I know she has friends; I see them playing with her. (I didn't want that to sound like she was lonely little girl with nothing to do and no one to talk to.) ;-) She just loves the colors on the flowers, I think. She's seven.
And Plantlady? Any time you want to ramble, you go right ahead! You are welcome on any thread to tell any story you want for AS LONG as you want!!!!! Life's no fun without a good story! LOL
hee hee ... but I put hubby to sleep yakking sometimes! LOL.
Too funny! LOL
Yeah .... he will be in his recliner watching t.v. and I will start talking to him about something and before you know it he is actually snoring!!! I know I can be a bore at times but how rude! LOL.
Oh, it doesn't hurt my feelings ... I've been married to him 38 years and I realize he's tired after lecturing students at the college all day! So, I know he doesn't want to listen to me yak for hours! Now, if I was discussing something really important with him and he began snoring, I'd wake him up in a hurry!
Oh Susan ... LOL, I wasn't taking that in a bad way. Now if it was anyone else other than hubby snoring away while I was yakking I think my feelings would get hurt! It's just that I'm used to him doing it!
hee hee ... and I can't say it's a man thing cause I tend to tune him out a lot of the times too! Especially if he's talking about technical stuff that I don't have an interest in!
hehe...i do that too!!! tune him out....he can talk for hours about baseball or boxing or hockey.....I hafta find him another man he can hang out with..take the pressure off me....
kwanzin..............I just noticed Utah..............my first cousin lives in Eden, Utah..............is that close to you?????????? I think she goes into Ogden to get groceries and shop, etc..........
I haven't been to see her since they finished building their home at the base of a ski area...........everyone else in the family has been out to ski several times and stay with her, but i don't like to fly and won't fly unless it is an emergency......
Eden is East of Ogden, and Ogden is North of West Valley (Salt Lake City). About an hour to and hour and a half. It's beautiful that way! I haven't been there is ages. Maybe this weekend before the bad weather comes.
Thanks for your response................Utah is just such a pretty state.................haven't been there in many years.................
I agree, Utah is pretty. As we say here "A Pretty, Great State!" We have a beautiful country everywhere.
Here's an update on the AV's. They both seem to be surviving. One is doing much better and I have taken it off the critical list. I'm going to keep them both in ICU for another couple of days, however.
Does anybody know what AV's these are? I've seen several different kinds here and don't know which from which.
If they didn't come with the name on it, it is pretty hard to ever identify it for sure.............made it to Austin..........and already put up all the groceries..........
did ya bring your orchids Gail?
OMG!!! I've been wasting my time all day and forgot the groceries! DH is gonna have to take my to dinner, I guess. LOL
I left them at home............hope they live...........left them on the front porch in a little bit of water in a tray.............the orchid forum told me (after I had left home) that they like dry feet at night.............so say a little prayer for them (LOL)..............I would just have a fit if they don't make it....................
Since I paid too much for them to begin with, if they die, they won't be replaced for sure........
I have sad news. The one AV that didn't look so well to start with has died. The leaves all wilted and rotted. The stems and root turned brown and soft. So sad!
The other, however, is perky and is even growing a new leaf!!!
Poor av...
At this time, I would like to express my condolences, kwanjin. I hope that through your care that little deceased av has been given the time it needed to finish up any loose ends in it's life. It was a good little plant.
Perhaps you should tell the other plant that this is not the appropriate time to show off. lol jk ; )
Congrats on your new leaf. haha Hope you have many more. ; D
Cj
Thank you for the kind words. Services were short and with close family only. Flowers (hopefully) to come later.
There's a sad update on the AV that was thrown away. I was unable to save it.
But now I want more. Where is a good place to get them? I see them at Lowe's and the grocery store. Are these okay to purchase?
It's Bingo time again y'all .... hope you will join us in another fun game!
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/790987/
