Growing Violets Is Easy?

By Susan Gimblet

I have been very fortunate in my efforts to grow African violets. For years I had a wonderful growing area created from a garage turned solarium. The conditions of light, temperature, humidity and air circulation seemed to all come together and allow me to grow prize-winning violets.

What a difference a move can make! I have been in my new home for 2 years and I am still experimenting trying to get it right!

My growing conditions, particularly in the winter, are cooler. The violets grow on light stands in a finished walk out basement. I no longer have the benefit of passive solar heat to assist in keeping the violets in a warmer environment. The room is fitted with three sections of electric baseboard. To avoid blowing the budget, I have tried to keep the temperature reasonable.

The lights are the same, one warm white and one cool white for each shelf, set for 10 hours a day. The fertilizer routine is the same. Week 1: 20-20-20; week 2: Bounty and Sturdy, and week 3: plain water. The water is different. Previously, water saved from a dehumidifier was used. Now tap water, drawn and allowed to sit for a minimum of a week is utilized.

The first summer and winter, the plant stands were located against a long interior wall, near two of the baseboard heat sections. The violets seemed to do well and I had several show quality plants for the spring show. After the show, I began to notice the variegated plants. The new growth had very little green. The new leaves were predominantly white! I moved the variegated plants from their regular location on the lower shelf up to the top shelf of the plant stands. Over the following months, the new growth on the variegated plants returned to ‘normal’. Of course, now we were in the warmer summer months. During the second winter, the variegated plants remained on either the top or second shelf. There has not been a repeat of the loss of variegation. This summer the variegated plants are back on the lower shelves.

Last summer, I decided to rearrange the furniture in this plant room area. The two light stands were moved into an area approximately six feet by eight feet enclosed on three sides. One stand was still against an interior wall, but the second stand was against an exterior wall. There was one smaller baseboard heat unit. All seemed OK. The violets looked fine and I left in February for a month. Toward the end of the month, I heard from the plant waterer that 3 violets had powdery mildew on the leaves. She isolated them until my return. In the weeks after I returned, I sprayed the violets with a Safer commercial product designed for mildew. Unfortunately, between the mildew and some damage from the fungicide, I had two plants suitable for the spring show!

I purchased a fan to circulate the air, culled out some plants and checked the violets to be sure they were not getting too wet. I read a suggestion by Sue Gardner in the July/August 2008 issue of the AVM She suggested spraying the violets with a solution of two teaspoons of chlorine bleach to one pint of hot water. This spray seems to have worked.

My upcoming plans for the winter include:

To move the light stands back to their previous location closer to the larger baseboard heat units.

To spray the violets again with the bleach solution

To maintain adequate air circulation both with a fan and by separating the violets as much as possible.

To place the variegated plants on upper shelves

To increase the heat in the plant area by a few degrees

I hope that this plan will get my violets back to prize-winning status.

           

 

 THE QUESTION CORNER

By Lisa DiMambro

Question: I can't grow large show plants; my plants get to a certain size and the lower leaves turn yellow and fall off. What is wrong?

Answer: I had to do a lot of research for this question, as the person posing it is an accomplished grower. Finally I asked a lot of growers of larger show plants at a recent convention. The following is all the advice that was received.

Make sure that the variety you are trying to grow large will grow large, and do so in your conditions. A plant that will grow large for a grower in California may not grow as well in New England. Use a balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer, not a 12-36-14, as the large show plants need the nitrogen to keep the leaves a nice, healthy, green. Skipping fertilizer in the summer is not a good idea for the show plants as they are still growing and need the nutrition for the outer leaves to stay healthy.

A few growers I spoke with suggested that taking the plant off the wicking system in the warmer weather seems to help with this type of problem also. Another suggestion was made to take the root ball apart and make sure that there are no soil mealy bugs or other root problems. Also not over potting the plant, or allowing the plant to stay too long in an undersized pot.

Contrary to popular belief I was told not to disbud completely for long periods of time, but to allow the plant to put up one bloom stalk occasionally.

And the final, most common suggestion made by all the growers was the ph issue. Although this grower had tested her ph and it was in the normal range, many said that unless a soil sample was taken from the center of the root ball, it would not be accurate. With the mold potting method of potting up larger plants, we are not taking the old soil off, but just adding new. This does not level the ph throughout the pot. The older soil in the center of the root ball could be too high or too low and not allow the plant to absorb the nutrients it needs, even though the ph on the outer edge is fine.

 

Streptocarpus

By Holly Walker

 I grow under lights and really don't pay attention to how close or far away the plants are from the lights, but decided to measure for this article. My largest streps are about 8" from the lights, which are on for ten hours a day.

My mix is one part each of perlite, vermiculite, and Pro Mix. I also throw in a handful of charcoal.

Even though the experts say not to wick water streps, I do! I don't have enough time to water each plant individually. I use just one strand of yarn (single ply) because they definitely don't like to be overwatered. Most of the time I use Peters 20-20-20 fertilizer, or whatever is handy! I have read that streps like a fertilizer that is high in potassium but I haven't tried one of those varieties yet. (for readers who don't know, that would be the third number on the fertilizer label and that number should be double the first number.)

As for pot sizes, I kind of use the same rule as for violets which is the pot should be 1/3 the size of the plant. Also, shallow pots are better than tall ones, as streps would rather be pot bound than over potted. I use green plastic pots.

As the blossoms start dying, remove them. Once all the flowers on a stalk have been removed, cut the stalk as low as possible. Don't worry if the soil dries out and your plant wilts as it can withstand that. Just water the plant and it will perk right up again.

I only divide my streps if it's a huge pot of many plants. When I repot, I take off some of the larger, outer leaves that have started to yellow a bit.

As for propagation, I use one of the fresher, dark green leaves toward the center of the plant. I use a razor blade and cut the leaf lengthwise on either side of the "mid rib". Then, I cut those long strips into three or four smaller strips. I make a few rows of indentations in the soil and place the cut sides of the pieces down into the soil mix. I use the same soil for propagation as I do for other potting. I use clear plastic salad-type take-out containers that have tops. I make sure the soil stays moist. In about six weeks, small plantlets should start to appear. Once they're about 2" in size, you can separate them from the leaf and pot them up, individually, into small pots.

Basic Essentials(reprint from April 2004 Ye Bay Stater

By Susan Gimblet             

Welcome to Basic Essentials. This column is the first in a series designed to help each of us, as growers, maximize the essential elements for producing beautiful African violets. Whether we are growing a violet just for our own enjoyment or planning to 'Grow to Show', taking a look at the individual components is always a good idea.

 We have all probably heard laments about how difficult it is to grow African violets; "it won't bloom," "my violets always die," "I watered too much/too little," and so forth.

In reality, African violets are very adaptable to most environments, which have made them one of the most popular house plants. Because the African violet is so adaptable, it can be grown in different ways by different growers, with equal success. I remember when I was first growing violets, I would become frustrated when asking questions about growing them. Everyone had a different tip or suggestion and frequently these tips would contradict each other or offer too many alternatives. For example, one grower watered from the top, another person said, “Oh no, always water from the bottom and don't get the center leaves wet.”

Having said all that, there are several basic essentials that are needed to produce a beautiful African violet, but there are variables based on individual conditions. We will mention some of these variables throughout the discussion. Keep in mind that African violets are grown literally from Maine to Texas, in all different climates. Although we are going to be talking about growing within our area, each of us may have little micro climates within our homes.

Let's start with a discussion of potting mixes, pots and potting techniques.

 Potting Mix

African violets have very fine roots and require a light, airy potting mix that will provide good drainage and permit the roots to grow. The potting mix should be slightly acidic (pH of 6.5-6.7). A good potting mix is very important. If violets are not grown in the correct potting mix, the other essentials for successful growing may not matter.

 The terms 'potting mix', 'soil-less potting mix' and 'soil' are interchangeable for the purpose of this discussion. The one factor that they all have in common is that these mixes do not contain 'dirt'. Because African violets grow better in a light, porous mixture, a mix containing dirt would become too heavy and compact, inhibiting the roots from growing. The three primary ingredients of soil-less mixes are peat moss, perlite and vermiculite.

 There are many different brands of soilless mix and many different recipes. It may be necessary to try more than one mix before settling on the one that works best in your environment. Potting mixes designed for African violets may be purchased at many garden centers. Look at these mixes closely, read the label. Check that the mix contains the three primary ingredients mentioned before and note whether it contains any 'dirt'. These mixes will work, frequently they need to have additional peat moss or perlite added to lighten them.

 Soilless potting mix may also be found in many garden shops. In addition, there are listings of commercial suppliers in the back of the AVSA magazine, including Cape Cod Violetry, owned by Bay State members John and Barbara Cook. Finally, growers may make their own mix, following recipes published in the AVSA magazine, Pauline Bartholomew's Growing To Show, and other sources. Potting mixes do vary from brand to brand. Choose a good quality potting mix, perhaps one that is recommended by a violet friend or club.

 Variable: I have found that when I bring a new plant home, whether from a club member or a commercial grower, I need to repot that plant into "my" soilless mix. "My" mix works well under my watering, temperature and light conditions. I have learned from experience (note-trial and error) that if I leave the plant in the original mix, it will not grow that well.

 Pots and Potting

African violets may be grown in either plastic or clay pots. Clay pots, however, will dry out faster and require more frequent watering. As most growers have many African violets, less frequent watering is a plus. There are many types of plastic pots available for violets. The simplest is a squat or shallow 4" pot (which is the most frequently used size). African violets have fine, shallow roots and grow best in smaller, shallow pots. Ideally, the roots will grow and fill the shallow pot, then permitting the plant's energy to focus on producing a nice rosette of leaves.

 A general rule of thumb is that the diameter of a violet may be three times the diameter of the pot. Therefore, a violet in a 4" pot may grow to 12" in diameter without needing to be moved to a larger pot. So remember not to be too hasty in wanting to put the plant in a larger pot. Keep in mind those shallow roots.

 This does not mean that the violet should not be repotted. African violets do need to be repotted at least twice a year. Semi miniatures and miniatures may need to be done more often. Violets like to grow in a pH range of 6.2-7.0. The potting mix selected is in the pH range of 6.5-6.7, but over time, the peat moss in the potting mix will break down and make the mix too acidic, thus affecting the violet's growth. By repotting on a scheduled basis with new potting mix, this problem is eliminated.

 Purchased plants usually come in a 2" pot. Allow that plant to grow to at least twice the diameter of the pot before transferring into a larger pot. Some growers will move from a 2" pot to a 3" pot and then a 4" pot. I prefer to repot from a 2" directly into a 4" pot.

 To repot, place screening in the bottom of a clean 4" pot. Screening material may be a piece of coffee filter or any other material that is porous but will prevent the soilless mix from spilling out at the bottom. Place enough moist mix in the bottom of the 4" pot so that when a small 2" pot is placed on top of the mix, the rims are level with each other. Add additional moist mix between the two pots, pressing firmly. When the space is filled, remove the smaller pot and place the small plant in the available hole. Add additional mix as needed to stabilize the plant. Water lightly with plain water.

 Violets that are being repotted should be disbudded. The plants will be stressed from the repotting and their energy will be needed for root growth in the larger pot.

 Track repotting needs either on a calendar, with a computer or simply by dating the plant label.

 Enjoy your violets!!

Air Layering Your Leggy African Violets

By Sharon Rosenzweig

Many of you are probably familiar with rejuvenating an old African violet with a long neck. The common practice is to cut off the root ball leaving about 1-1/2” of the neck, scraping off the dried brown stuff until moist green tissue is showing, placing the scraped neck into potting mix and cover with the plant with a plastic bag. This method puts a lot of stress on the plant while it is trying to make new roots.

Another method of re-establishing an old plant with a neck is to air layer the neck.

The first step is to remove outer leaves until the plant is no more than six inches in diameter. Clean the stem of stubby leaf bases and scrape the dried bark until moist green tissue is showing.

Wrap moist (not wet) sphagnum moss firmly around the stem. Cover the moss with plastic wrap, making sure it fits tightly both above and below to prevent it from drying out. Use twist ties to secure the plastic on the top and bottom.

Treat the layered plant the same as you would any other African violet. However, periodically check the moss to be sure it has not dried out.  If it dries, moisten with a gently spray of water.

After about two to three weeks, the sphagnum moss should be filled with roots. When the plant is well rooted, cut the neck just below the ball of moss and roots and place in a pot of suitable growing mix. Water and cover with a plastic bag for a week to ten days. Remove the plastic bag when the plant seems firm in the pot.

The advantages of air-layering are:

Little or no risk of losing the plant

Shock to the plant is minimal

The plant will have a new root system

The plant will produce new growth and flowers sooner

Timely Tips Summer

By Sharon Rosenzweig

• ·       Reduce the number of hours under lights
• ·       Run the lights at night when temperatures are cooler
• ·       For window growing, draw the curtains or blinds to prevent sunburn
• ·       Plants need more water but less fertilizer. Use on 1/8 tsp to a gallon of water
• ·       Place a fan near your growing area to circulate the air (but not blowing on plants)
• ·       If humidity is low, mist the plants in the morning with very warm water. Keep plants out of direct sun until leaves are dry
• ·       Variegated plants may turn all green in warm weather. Move variegated plants to the lowest shelf and use a fertilizer with a low nitrogen until cool weather returns
• ·       If the white variegation has turned pink, this is also due to higher temperatures. Move plants to the lowest shelf
• ·       This is not a good time to start leaves. The heat may cause rotting
• ·       Birthmarks are irregular blotches of red/green on the leaves. The cause may be due to stress from the change to warmer temperatures. Or, it may be just a genetic trait
• ·       During the summer, you should not open any windows near your plants to prevent outside insects from invading the plants, especially thrips

Be a Good Sport

By Carol Hess

 You have acquired a leaf of a plant that you loved, but when the plantlet reached the flowering stage, the plant was not what you expected. There was a change in blossom color or the leaves were different. Your first thought might be that the leaf was incorrectly labeled. But many African violets are unstable and can “sport” or mutate. Approximately one in every one hundred leaf propagations will produce a plant radically different than the parent.

What is a sport? Jeff Smith of AVSA defines a sport as “an unexpected mutation from a leaf propagation that results in changes in the plant’s physical appearance.” I propagated a leaf of B-Man’s Etna and grew three of the plantlets. This plant is described in First Class as single medium pink ruffled blossom with purple fantasy and medium green, quilted leaves. Two plants grew as described, the third had single blue flowers. All three plants were grown under the same conditions.

What is not a sport? The plant that had fantasy flowers at the last blooming and now the blossoms are a solid color, or the variegated leaf that has changed to all green. These changes are likely due to stressful changes in growing conditions or culture. Unfortunately, once a plant changes it will not normally change back when the stress is removed.

Sporting is not always a bad thing. Many of today’s violets were mutations that occurred naturally. The first double blossom, ‘Duchess’ was a natural sport of ‘Blue Boy’. The first white, ‘White Lady’ was a sport, as was ‘Tommie Lou’ introduced in 1959 with its variegated foliage. Sporting has also produced girl foliage, chimeras and yellow colored flowers.

You have determined that your new offspring is a sport. Are the differences in this new plant a marked improvement over the original? Is the blossom color unusual, multicolored, or have a chimera pattern? Is there an abundance of flowers? Are the leaves different in shape and color such as chimera variegated? If you think this new plant deserves recognition and you would like to register it with AVSA, it should be propagated through three generations to prove it will continue to maintain the new characteristics. My sport is a pretty plant but does not demonstrate anything new and exciting. It won’t be entered in our show nor registered with AVSA, but its flowers will brighten my plant shelf while other show plants are disbudded.

In the March/April 09 issue of AVM in response to the question of where sports and mutants should be entered into a show, Bill Foster's reply was "The Handbook states that sports and mutants must be entered into the class for new cultivars. However, any sport or mutant that is simply a solid color version of a two-tone or multicolor of an existing multicolor or two-tone variety will have 5 points deducted immediately for no improvement over existing varieties."

 

The Question Corner                                                                   By Nancy Manozzi

Question: What is that slimy green stuff I see in my wicking reservoirs and is it harmful to my African violets?

Answer: Algae! Algae is one of the simplest organisms among plants. African violet growers may recognize it as a green slime noticeable on clay pots or floating in the water of self-watering containers. In most cases, algae is more unsightly than it is harmful. However, in certain types of watering devices, algae can inhibit the absorption of water into the soil. And, Dr. Jeff Smith has found that algae on the soil can be a problem with seedlings. Anytime he got an algae mat growing on the germinating bed or on the soil of a young seedling, the seeds or seedling didn’t germinate well.

If you find algae growing on the side of your pot, use warm water to wipe the pot clean and increase the amount of air circulation between your plants. A glazed or plastic pot is best since they will cut off the water supply that otherwise soaks through an unglazed pot.

If you find algae growing in the self-watering device, empty the water, clean the container, refill with fresh water and replace the wick with a new one. If you’re using capillary matting as a wicking method, run the matting under warm, soapy water, being sure to rinse ALL the algae off the material. Dr. Ralph Robinson (Rob) has learned to use dark colored, acrylic blankets since algae is less likely to grow on dark surfaces.

To prevent the growth of algae in your self-watering containers, the safest method is to simply cut off its supply of light. The type of algae that grows in these containers needs a lot of sunlight. By shading the area around the device (though not the plant), you will cut off the supply of light that algae needs to thrive. This can be accomplished by using opaque or colored pots.

And, a last good preventive measure is Physan 20, a relatively safe algaecide. Add ¼ to ½ teaspoon to every gallon of water used to water your African violets. Physan 20 may also be used to keep your capillary mats from turning green.

 

 

 

 

DRYING FLOWERS IN THE MICROWAVE

 Edited by Suzanne Ress (from a posting to the AVConnection )

All those beautiful blossoms do not have to “go to waste.”  They can be dried and used decoratively in crafts – on greeting cards, as a mounted display, or any way you can imagine. Basic supplies for drying in the microwave can be bought at Home Depot and a fabric store. I have seen kits available in some garden supply catalogues.

General Directions:

The microwave flower drying kit consists of two terra cotta tiles, four pieces of white felt, and two pieces of white cotton fabric.

Take your flowers and sandwich them in between the pieces like a flower sandwich:  tile, 2 felt pieces, cotton piece, flowers, cotton piece, felt pieces, and top with the remaining tile.

Microwave for the appropriate time. You will need to experiment to find out what works best. I got good results with single blossoms by microwaving at full power for 1-minute, waiting about 5-minutes, microwaving for 30-seconds, waiting, then a final microwave for 30-seconds.

After microwaving, let the whole thing cool, until the tiles are just warm, before removing the flowers. Then carefully peel away the layers of material, and you have a beautifully dried, onionskin-thin flower.

If the flower breaks apart, you have microwaved it for too long. If the flower still appears too moist, cover it back up and stick it back in the microwave for a bit longer. Experiment first, don’t try to use your last favorite flower to experiment with. When drying larger blossoms, you will need to microwave more than with smaller blossoms, but use a shorter microwave time, like 20-seconds, and wipe extra moisture off the inside of the tile.

If the flower is dried properly, it should peel away easily from the cotton fabric in one piece. Drying flowers of the same size together should give more uniform results, rather than trying to dry a big, double blossom along with a smaller single blossom.

Important Information:

Some “fading” characteristics can’t be avoided. For example, purples tend to turn darker, and whites tend to brown out slightly.

The white pieces of cotton will stain from the flowers’ drying. You should wash them every so often.

Why Many African Violets are Unnamed Reprinted from the AVConnection (avconnectionn@egroups.com) and the July 2001 Ye Bay Stater, By Dr Jeff Smith                                         

I've been watching the discussion of having named plants from the commercial growers. You might not like to hear the following, but...Part of the problem with having the "correct" name and plant on Optimara and other commercial growers has to do with their growing system. When the plantlets are separated from leaves, they ESTIMATE how many pots will be needed for that cultivar. If they run out of plants, they just keep using the pots (now with an incorrect label) on the next batch they are potting up. Just because the pot has a label doesn't guarantee that the label is the CORRECT one for the plant. Always go back and match to their descriptions and catalog if possible to confirm the identity.

Ultraviolets plants may be the seedlings grown out of the hybridizing programs. They don't make the cut for further propagation, but they are perfectly fine plants. In these cases, you'll never be able to get a correct "name", because as seedlings they don't have one. They have also found that they can get seedlings to blooming size about as quickly as plantlets from a leaf. It's yet another way to produce a crop for sale as fast as possible. Only their "best" seedlings get named and propagated by leaf. If an Ultraviolet pot has a name, its one of these later plants, but here again the name on the pot may not match the described cultivar. Before all of us who want "named" violets condemn the commercial growers for their practices, you must remember that they are a business that only stays afloat if it shows a profit. The role of "named plants"for the commercials is entirely different than it is for the hobbyist growers. And a response to Jeff Smith's article on unnamed violets by Mary Walbrick is printed below:

Thanks to Dr. Smith for more information about how a large violet grower processes their violets. It is really difficult to envision processing thousands of plantlets as opposed to the several that we pot occasionally at our kitchen sink. Recently, I spoke with Dennis Kinzler who is with Color Star Growers, another large wholesale company with violet operations at Sanger, Giddings, and Austin, TX, and Ft. Lupton, CO. Their violets had absolutely no names. He went into detail about the huge machinery they used. Color Star sells to the Walmart and Lowe type of distributors who sell hundreds of very economical plants to Suzy and John Public. Just the people who do not care if a violet is named or unnamed.