I have an extremely green thumb, but have killed every African violet I’ve ever had. Someone gave me one a while back, and I went out and bought a special African violet pot for it – an unglazed insert in a glazed pot, where you keep the outer pot filled with water, and the inner pot wicks in enough moisture to keep the plant happy. The plant did well enough – well, it lived, though it never rebloomed – that I bought an African violet about a year ago and got it a special pot as well. I’ve managed to keep them both alive, the first plant for about two or three years now.
The other night a friend was over, and we were talking houseplants, and I mentioned that I’d kept these two plants alive, but that they’d never rebloomed. I was showing him how the pot worked, and when I went to pick up the second, smaller plant – I noticed a blossom on it! Woo hoo! Then this morning I was waiting for a coworker to pick me up (my car is in the shop), and looked at the larger, older plant – also blooming!
Yay for you is right! African violets can be sullen critters. I always suspect mine is merely putting up with me, not really thriving. It gets the occasional bloom, but nothing like the riot of purple it had once upon a time when I bought it.
I like the sound of that pot though. I’ll have to look for one of those. Bottom watering from a saucer means I have to water mine often, because it’s not a very large saucer. And they aren’t kidding when they say african violets hate getting their fuzzy leaves wet. Silly dainties.
It can take a year or two for an African violet to begin blooming again after it has been re-potted, in my experience. Those pots are great, twickster. I need to re-pot two of my African violets and I’ve been searching all over for those pots! One of my violets is in one of these pots, but has outgrown it. Where did you get yours?
A tip for getting your African violets to bloom is to add epsom salts to the water. Half a teaspoon or so should do.
Epsom salts, eh? I’ve put them on my roses, so the concept isn’t unfamiliar. I’ll give that a try.
I got my pots at Lowe’s, IIRC (the one near me has a decent houseplants section). They came in two sizes; the larger size has an opening on the side of the rim so you can add water without lifting out the inner pot. Plus these are real pretty – kind of a swirly shades-of-blue glaze.
My aunt loves African violets. One time, her and my cousin were out shopping for some, but the sign was partially obscured and so seemed to read something entirely different. That’s why we now refer to them as "Frican (pronounced "freakin’ “) olets.”
Thanks! I’ll have to try to find a Lowe’s this weekend. There isn’t one near me, but I’m going away for the weekend and I’m pretty sure there’s one in the town we’ll be staying in.
I have 2 in my office that are almost always in bloom. They seem to prefer artificial light to natural light. I keep a shallow bowl under the pot and water them from the bottom. Once they’ve sucked up all they want (within a an hour or so), I empty the bowl. If you water from the top, be careful not to get water on the leaves as it will make them yellow.
Clip off any blossoms that are past their prime and any older, large leaves that may be resting on or hanging over the rim of the pot. Cut the stem of the leaf about a 1/4" from the main part of the plant.
Also, I find that they tend to like being a bit “root-bound”, so it’s not necessary to re-pot them often.
Thanks for the tips, guys. I got my first one when I had to put my cat to sleep–the vet’s office sent it. I read up on them and got the pot. I wanted to follow the info to a T since I’m notorious for killing plants. I’ve had it for almost a year now and it’s bloomed once since the first bloom. A profusion.
We have construction going on now with no good place to put it for indirect sunlight, and it’s looking a little sad, but I’m trying to keep it alive. I try to remember to put it on my bed since we get some sun there. Cross your fingers for me. It makes me feel like my precious boycat lives on
Yeah, it seems like the light thing is almost trickier than the watering thing. Mine are on my front windowsill – east-facing, but under a porch. It’s perhaps a trifle less light than they want – but my only other choices are a variety of south-facing windows or an east-facing bay that isn’t under a porch, and gets all kinds of light. (Hm, maybe next year I’ll try south-facing but inside sheer curtains – that might be better. The fern in that bay is doing okay.) My next door neighbor has a half dozen pots in various north-facing windows – she keeps them in bloom almost constantly, just to taunt me, I think.
And Heart – sending out (what turn out to be very powerful) special twicks’s-African-violet-mojo vibes to keep your remembrance plant going. I have heard Honey’s artificial light tip from a bunch of other people – depending on how long the construction is going on, you might want to find a spot under a fluorescent fixture, or actually spring for a grow-light bulb.
Many years ago, before her green thumb turned black, she had a collection of african violets in her office. Being the good plant mommy she was, she put “african violet food” on the grocery list, so she wouldn’t forget them. While she was at the store, having a terrible time finding the plant supplies, she turned round a corner while reviewing her grocery list. She bumped into a man. A very, very, very tall, very, very, very Black man (she swears to this day that he must have been playing for the Spurs.) Rattled and embarrassed, she fumbled out an ‘excuse me’ and then tried to ask if he knew where she might find her specific plant fertilizer. Except she stumbled on to one of the best all-time Spoonerisms I’ve ever heard.
“Uuuh, excuse me, do you know where I can find the Violent African food?”
Of course, the second this popped out of her mouth, she realized what she’d said and was considering options to kill herself (she was in the barbecue aisle, and self-immolation was looking good). However, the man she’d bumped in to took it in stride.
“Hmmm, Watusi or Zulu?” he asked.
I think at this point, my mom must have dug a hole in the linoleum, jumped in, and pulled it over her. She never did find her african violet food, and she was so embarrassed, she never went back to that store.
The person who gave me my A. violets said that if I watered them religiously, I’d get lots of healthy leaves, but if I starved them a little, I’d get blooms. It seemed to work. Haven’t had them, long, though, so only one bloom cycle.
