Contrary to popular belief, African Violets don't need to be babied. Don't over water them. Watering them once or twice a month is usually good enough. The most important thing to remember is not to place them in a sunny, hot window.
Name: Christine North East Texas (Zone 7b) Shine Your Light!
I don't know why I don't have any African Violets, they are perfect indoor plants, especially for not so sunny areas of the house that could use a little plat to 'brighten' things up.
Good tip!
May your life be like a wildflower, growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day --Native American Proverb
I've tried several times to keep them alive, but I've never had any success and finally gave up. My mom always had windowsills full of AVs when I was growing up, unfortunately, I guess I didn't inherit her green thumb! They are so pretty, and I always stop and look at them at the nurseries, but, I just have no luck with them at all.
Name: Toni Denver Metro (Zone 5a) Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
Deb - What do you do with yours? I keep mine on the window sill in my kitchen. It's a frosted-glass window, which is terrible because I can't see out, but it does offer the diffused light that AVs seem to love. I water mine from the bottom.. I have each one sitting in a drip pan & just fill that up straight from the sink about once a month or so. I have a couple of monstrous ones w/multiple necks and here's pictures of my "Galactic Storm". For some reason, it's not showing the pink spots like it normally does. I have this AV at work.
I don't know what I've done. I've tried them on top of my computer table, the room has a south facing window, but the table is next to the window and never gets direct light on the top shelf where I've had plants. I have nice wide windowsills, and have tried north facing windows in my kitchen. My only guess is maybe I've overwatered. I haven't tried them for several years now, because I feel bad when I kill them. I tried streps, too, with the same results.
Can they do OK with fluorescent lighting? Maybe I'll try one at work.
Name: Toni Denver Metro (Zone 5a) Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
There's a very nice AV store here that blocks out all the light from their windows & uses just florescent lighting. You can get the growlights at Walmart. They don't like to be watered that much .. when their leaves get really really droopy & kinda curled is when I water them. If the leaves are flat, I leave 'em alone. I've also learned they don't like to be in big pots.. they like to be underpotted.
Name: Paul Utah (Zone 5b) Grandchildren are my greatest joy.
I haven't raised any from leaves for a long time. AV's are inexpensive enough that if I see I a nice one that I want I buy it and throw something away that isn't currently pleasing me. I love them during the winter but neglect them during spring-summer-fall when I can be outside.
I have found that the self-watering pots are perfect for me since I travel and only have to make sure the bottom pot has water in it. I don't have any at the moment but when I have them, I usually have them on a knee wall in our bathroom which gets indirect light.
Any day you wake up on the sunny side of the grass is a good day.
"The moving hand writes and having writ moves on. Neither all thy piety nor all thy wit can lure it back to cancel half a line nor all thy tears wash out a word of it." The Rubiyat by Omar Khayyam
Name: Toni Denver Metro (Zone 5a) Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
For some reason, I lost every single one of my AVs! They all just dropped dead in the middle of the summer all at the same time!! *cries* So now I need to actually ramp up how I'm going to do my grow area and actually get it DONE 'cuz there will be the AV show here next spring & I'll get some new ones then.
@Skiekitty I have found that after a few years my AVs start looking droopy, however, it is not for lack of water, but because they need to be repotted. I found this out the hard way! When I took them out of the pots, I found that the roots had woven themselves into a mat around the edge of the pot and because they were in self-watering pots, the moisture couldn't get to the plant.
Any day you wake up on the sunny side of the grass is a good day.
"The moving hand writes and having writ moves on. Neither all thy piety nor all thy wit can lure it back to cancel half a line nor all thy tears wash out a word of it." The Rubiyat by Omar Khayyam
Name: Toni Denver Metro (Zone 5a) Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
Jean - I wish that was the case. This was when I was getting my window that they sat in replaced. The cats kept knocking the pots down, so I repotted them in these little bitty AV pots. They all promptly dropped dead (of course, didn't help that the cats kept knocking them down daily...).
I love my african violets and am looking forward to maybe sharing and swapping some leaves with you all and we used to swap and trade all the time . there is a show in columbus in april and Im going and I go every year . Oh well take care and all and please let me know if any of you would like to swap and trade leaves thanks .
Any day you wake up on the sunny side of the grass is a good day.
"The moving hand writes and having writ moves on. Neither all thy piety nor all thy wit can lure it back to cancel half a line nor all thy tears wash out a word of it." The Rubiyat by Omar Khayyam