A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Self Watering African Violets pots?

yes, i think it's fine. they sometimes drop some leaves after being transplanted and they definitely stop blooming for a bit, too.

new growth at the center tells me that the plant has recovered from the shock of being transplanted (every plant goes into shock when moved - with some it's just more severe/evident).

you might want to give it a light treatment of av food, tho. certainly couldn't hurt! use the liquid type and just put one drop in the water. if you have more than one plant, mix up a batch that's large enough for all of them - follow the directions on the package for, say, a gallon of water, and then split it between all of your av's.

I was just thinking that I should give it some food. It looks good and I noticed a new flower starting today

terrific!!

Happy to report that my 2 AV's in their new self watering containers are doing great! They are growing already and look so good where they are. No transplant shock and I am simply amazed at how much better they look and they were healthy to begin with. I cannot wait to get all of my AV's in these kinds of pots!

I have had the AV pots for over 5 years. It's the only way to go. It's great for vacations just fill your water and your good to go. My AV are always beautiful and full and blooming like crazy. I always use the AV soil and feed. before this I killed them evertime.

yup, triss!! the av pots make a happy av extatic!!

fuschia, i've been using them for about 3 years now, and i'll never put an av in anything else!! as i said earlier here, i also use them for other plants that need consistant moisture...pink polka dot and serissa, for example.

i agree, they're great for when you go on vacation!!

I just bought 5 of the ceramic type and 4 of the plastic type, I am sure hoping they work as good as I expect them to.

AV's don't have a deep root system, so don't be concerned with there not being many roots, as they don't have many...only a shallow root system.

Triss, Do you add the perlite to regular potting soil or the soil especially for AV? I got 2 pots at a yard sale for a $1 each. No AV, yet. Sue

i've always had much better luck with the soil that's specifically for av's.

I want to start with AV's too, and this week I asked at our local Walmart for AV pots and they said they've never heard of them.
Could it be that Canadian Wm's don't carry them or am I asking for the wrong thing?
Would a pot with an open bottom be just as good?

it's probably a case of the person you spoke with didn't know what they are. you'll need to speak to the manager of the garden department or the store manager.

i'm sure they carry them in the canada stores. maybe another store would have them in stock? (i find that the store near me, which is not that big, doesn't carry some products because of space restrictions. the other store that is close by, and is much larger, has a huge choice of products - they have at least double the floor space).

my goodness.... you all have been busy! my poor AV is a conundrum. dying, dying, dying and then today when it's more dead than alive... it sprouts a flower! the whole plant at this point is no bigger than 2.5 inches across and it flowers? it was huge (like the more normal 8 in across). So I guess at this point, I just wait and keep feeding.

Snapdragon- yay! That's awesome. My av did the same thing. I thought it was gone... suddenly it had some new growth. I must be doing something right!

This is as good a place as any.

I have two AVs in my downstairs bathroom, this window has glazing on it so they don't burn and they love the steam from my wife's shower.

I planted them into self-watering pots a couple weeks ago. I have had them for almost a year and they have blossomed continuously!!! (The one upstairs has been blooming longer than that!!)

The question I have is should I remove all the blossoms from these plants for a while and let the plant itself rest and grow larger? They seem to be quite small. I probably could cover them with my hand.

The leaves on the two downstairs look healthy and green but they just seem small. The leaves upstairs are fading but I think that one is getting too much sun, going to relocate that one for a while.

Thanks for any advice. David

Rosepetal go to walmart online see if you can find them there. They will send whatever you order online to your nearest store for you to pickup. My Wal-mart can't keep them in stock but the Nursery across the street is wanting $25.00 for the same pot Wal-mart is getting $4.95 for. Also look around in cornors that is normally where I find mine if they are not in eye sight. Wal-Mart does not keep all gardening supplies in the garden center I have found them in pets and also around swimming pool supplies go figure

dave, take the spent blooms off - the whole bract (sp? not sure if that's even the correct term for the stem) not just the blooms themselves. they will bloom again when they are ready to.

make sure you've got the water level up high enough so that it will leach through the insert and get to the soil.

you'll see more growth with having them in the self-watering pots. they really make a difference!!

av's will regularly lose older leaves. any that are turning yellow can be pinched off - pinch as close to the base as you can. use small scissors or clippers for larger stems...your finger nails will do fine for smaller leaf stems.

i regularly turn my av's so that they don't end up growing funky. i also move them around - again to promote even growth.

also, some plants do better at this window and some do better under the grow lights.

i'd suggest switching yours around and see how they do.