A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 african violets

i just planted a few african violets in my garden...

i have had african violets for years indoors, but this is my first time planting them outdoors...

is there anything that i should know?

will they survive the winter? can i just leave them in the ground?

btw... i live in the toronto area... we have very cold winters...

Hi timmy,
I've never heard of planting african violets outside. I have raised them for years inside and considering their delicate nature, I don't think they will survive the cold. The leaves don't like to get wet although mine do like the humidity from a room humidifier. Are you sure they are african violets or are they , "violas"?

nope them babies will not overwinter well at ALL up there.They don't like to be below 50& they love high humidity.I do grow mine outdoors in summer here in TX but leave in their pots& they like small pots not roomy pots& pots helps keep critters that bug your plants to a minumum.I know folks in FL& AU growing outdoors but have them temps and the gal in FL removes them durring rainy season and is in FL keys.AV is just basically your average houseplant.

I have 3 african violets too, mine are in the house though. I bought some liquid african violet food, and I was wondering how often I should use it? evertime I water them?

I feed mine every 2 weeks& sometimes I confuse myself and forget if DID fertilize friday before or not so sometimes they get it once a week or go 3 weeks.I've been useing AV brand fert but when runs out will change to elenors sold at charleys green house.I've heard they really grow well with her stuff.
have you ran into any of the tea pot self watering pots?I seen some and don't know where.

I got self-watering dishes but I just got them from the dollar store up here. They're nothing fancy, just plain old pots.

That brings me to a new Q.. when you put the water underneath for them to drink, is it true that if any water is left over within a day it should be dumped out? I heard that african violets can get root rot from sitting in water too long.

have you ever tried african violets in a terrarium?

sitting in water for long periods will rot the crown& root.I let mine sit dry a few days and just feel top of soil& when i put my leaves down under dome won't water them alot either.I just check once a week.
I grow mine in terraruims in winter time for humidity purposes,but need to bring the temp up a bit this year.mine didn't bloom durring the winter and think temp was too low in terraruim& in terraruim I sunk pots in peat and monitered moisture on glass as to when to water which was about once a month& used my fish light but will use grow light next year also.

the tea pot is a 2 part pot and outer one is glazed and add water through tea pot spout.AV can breathe through pot as is pourous.I seen on home shopping but don't shop on there...was bored and was checking it out cause was plant related...nice stuff also

this is kind of a stupid question but I will ask it anyways.

I have 5 african violets and all have beautiful flowers except for one. It had a few flowrrs on it when I bought it but then a lot of them started to die so I deadheaded them. Now I only have one flower left on it and it's not looking so good. I must have the plants in a proper condition because the other ones are looking great.

When do african violets usually stop flowering? Will all the flowers die before winter? I have no idea how this works.

Thank you!!

I'm not an AV expert, but all the flowers will die before winter. I have had 3 of them for several years now and they bloom in cycles....they never all seem to bloom together, and they usually bloom 4-6 times a year. Once the flowers die I just cut them off also so that the plant isn't putting energy into a dying flower......Ever since I put them in bottom watering pots and used AV food they've really done well.......

as long as you fertilize them regularly and they have good light they will bloom regularly& they will bloom in wintertime if your indoor temp is in mid 60's and they have humidity.your in canada so other canadians(or just ones I know) use cappillary matts for watering and helps provide humidty in winter.they mention their air is dryer and use humidifeirs also or move to smaller room like bathroom if got the lighting or room.I got 1 seed pod on one of mine and will let it set.....just so can grow from seed.checked on my babies today and their leaves are getting bigger and one of the mama leaves I re potted has babies already.lots faster with warmer temps.