I wanted to share my blooms with you guys! First, this one had not bloomed in about 2 years. Many different things probably contributed to that, but repotting into a smaller and unglazed pot has done wonders. In less than a month....

We have Bloom Pods!!


Than came the blooms- It had been so long, I couldn't even remember what color they were going to be!

Pretty!



I was able to learn how to get this one to bloom again with the help of my friends here at GH! to you all!

That is very pretty Tonya! I am so glad you got it to bloom again!

I also picked these two up at the grocery store of all places!
This one is Summer's- she picked it out and is dying to have it inher room, but there is no light in there. The name on the label is "Anika Optimara"


This one, I had to have. I had not seem a white AV before, and I was smitten at once! The name "Kazuko Optimara"


Sorry for all the pics, but I am so proud of my pitiful AV blooming after so long. This is the same one from the first post about 2 months ago:

WOW, yours are growing a lot faster than mine. What are you doing with them?

Nothing. I moved it to a different window and put it in a clay pot(unglazed). It had been in a plastic pot that was WAY too large for the poor thing. I water it just about everyday(very small amounts) and turn the pot about twice a week. No food, no special soil, just prayers!

Wow looks like you must have done something that really worked..they look great, I love the Anika Optimara. Mine did not fair well in the high humidity and heat this summer in Arkansas, I had 4 full shelves of Av's and I am down to a pitiful 1 shelf not quite full of very sickly looking violets. Now that cooler weather is starting, I will get some more leaves and start over, and maybe next summer I can figure out a way to keep them a little cooler then this year.

Those are really pretty. Thanks for sharing

Mine that are doing really well now are in the self watering pots. I need a bunch more though to hold all of my others.

I had all of my bigger plants in self watering pots, and I believe they contributed to the loss of those plants, So I removed all of them in hopes of saving them (too much moisture with the high humidity is what I think), but only one survived. I have 5 of the ceramic self watering pots sitting under the shelves, I may try to use them again someday, but really was not impressed by them.

I am sorry they did not work out for you Comfrey. Mine are thriving in them though.

WhoooooooooWhooooooooo

Your a real genius with the violets..
healty , wealthy and making us wise..;o)

Yep I read somewhere they like being crowded, as well as being close to one another, as a group.

Good job.

dodge

Thank you I am just very lucky.

Yep, you are. I just looked over all of mine, no new buds but they look great!

beautiful av's!! the one that just finally rebloomed is a gorgeous shade of pink! i too, just love that white one!!

av's like to be a bit root-bound - so, if the self-watering pots were too large, that would be the problem. sorry to hear that you lost a few of them after transplanting them.

the self watering pots are terrific; not just for av's - they work well for any plant that needs consistant soil moisture (pink polka dot, purple passion, etc). i've got self-watering pots that range in size from 2 inches (for the part that holds the soil) up to 6 inches and i know they are made in even larger sizes, too.

I have only seen one size, I need to find others though.

i posted a few links to online resources for av pots in this thread they're on page 2

I did see those before but thanks for reposting it. Will check them out again.

How long did it take to get your new blooms Tonya?

I have one that lost its flowers about a month ago and has shown no sign since of buds, and yet the plant looks very healthy otherwise.

(this is the first african violet plant I've had)

sue

Several months......It isnt continous blooming. They rest a while and bloom again, mine just started a new cycle.

dodge

tonya, what kind of soil is the av in? what kind of pot/planter? what are the lighting conditions - artificial or natural; if natural, how much light per day, is it direct or indirect and what direction does the window face (north, south, east, west)?

It is in plain old potting soil( Dollar General brand), and an unglazed clay pot. It sits in a west facing window in my kitchen(on top of my microwave)and gets indirect light for about 6(?) hours a day and possibly an hour or so of direct light. It also has a flourescent light directly above it, but I don't use it for plant purposes. I had it in a southern window and it did horrible, but it has been under these circumstances for about a month or two and went from the pitiful plant you saw in the second post to having 6 open blooms and lots of pods!

if you're going to keep it in that plain soil, please get a good av food to treat it with.

the unglazed clay pot is okay...for watering, set the pot in a container of water and let the water be absorbed through the pot and into the soil. the soil should be moist, not soggy and shouldn't be allowed to completely dry out.

you might want to think about getting an av pot...not only do they assist with the watering aspect - there's a constant source of water, they are a bit shallower than most other pots. av's like to be a bit rootbound so the less soil they are in the better...

that window might not be enough direct light - they really do do better with a few hours of direct light daily...altho, you've got that indirect thing going and that's probably all day - so it might be okay there.

before i bought my house, i had one in the west-facing window of my apartment - with about 4 hours of direct light. it bloomed regularly and took breaks in between (a month or so between blooming). i also had it in a regular pot with regular soil.

i was given a plant stand a few years ago as well as some new av's. they weren't doing much, even with that better lighting situation (i've got it on a timer that's set to emulate the natural cycle).

i transplanted them into the av pots and used proper av soil mix and now they bloom CONSTANTLY!! as soon as the blooms dry out, i pull the bracts and within a week there's new ones forming! (i have av food, i've not used since putting them in the av pots...)

so, from this experience, i always recommend the av pots...and the correct soil, too.

if you're going to keep it at that window, you might want to put that flourescent light on for an hour or so each day to boost what the plant gets naturally - even a regular one (not one the 'grow' types) can help...

joclyn...um did you read the first post in the thread?? MY AVs are fine...doing great, actually. Sue099 is having problems...she has only had her plant for a month or so, tho.

Thanks anyway.

thanks Dodge :-)

my question was meant for sue - i have no idea why i put your name there, tonya.

That's what I figured, joclyn.... I do stuff like that all the time!

I have only had limited success with AVs in the past, but thought I'd try again now that I live in a much sunnier house. I have an eastern facing window and - despite a plastic pot, originally coming from Walmart, and not having special AV soil or fertilizers - this one is amazing. It started out in a 3" pot and is now in a 10" pot. The secret....Milk! My sister told me about an old wives' tale that she read about, where you rinse old milk containers and use that in your plants, and it's made a HUGE difference in this AV.

I'm not hugely successful at house plants (but you should see my garden!), so I'm especially pleased with this easy way to feed the AV.

[img]http://picasaweb.google.com/caworthy/AV/photo#4981598458789953554[/img]

Thanks for sharing this interesting tip!
I've never been very successful with AV's, except for one I inherited from my great aunt when I was a kid. Unfortunately, my mom managed to kill that one when I was away at college...

How long did it take to get that AV from 3-10 inches?!?
I can't even imagine! That's so terrific!

If you've read my welcome in your post - we are actually neighbors! I know that WalMart well! Can't say I love it, but I do get some good deals there.

Whoa that is a lovely idea if it works....

I plant to try the old wife tail..
ha ha

Might have to tame the tale??

Thanks for sharing .

dodge