Hi, Terri,

Large standards are grown in optimum conditions; water, fertilizer, temperature, and lights all play a part. I would suggest you get a copy of Growing to Show or YOU CAN Grow African Violets. They are available through AVSA, or at your local library if you are really lucky.

Barbara

Terri,
One of the things that growers of large plants do is to repot frequently. I feel the best thing you can do to grow large plants is consistency. Keep the plants on a schedule and don't vary from it.
Fred in NJ

A member in my local AV chapter grows some huge AVs, and I recently saw a picture of him holding one that was about 37 inches. You would have to see this to believe it.

He seems to think that once he gets a violet in the 20-22 inch range that foliar feeding with a fine mist of 1/16 teaspoon of fertilizer to a gallon of water on the outer leaves of the plants help to keep them healthy and rejuvinated, and this helps him to grow these huge monsters. He also starts with plants that will naturally grow large, such as Tiger. He cautions against foliar feeding the center of the plant since this may cause problems.

Curtis

Hi Curtis, I do love to see a large violet at it's best, I love african violets and have grown them in my home for about thirty years. Just about the last couple of years I have met these huge plants so I have ordered the violets that say large grower, I love the leaves of the african violet some of them are so pretty and when they get their flowers they are amazing to look at. I think I will need some kind of schdule or routine to follow to make this art of growing large workout for me._Terri