Yes - it is normal. When the crown dies - all the sleeping growth points on the stem wake up - and you get a bunch of suckers. You can remove all but one - and try to let the plant grow out of this awkwardness - or wait some more - until the suckers can be rooted safely - and get rid of an old stump. That's what I would do - you will get a better plant this way - but you can do both just in case.

I.

I agree with Irina on this. I had a violet like this and as an experiment, after I removed the extra suckers, I left the largest and tried to direct it to become the main crown. All I got was one very goofy looking violet. It's not worth your time or your space. Root your suckers and you will have proper looking violets.

Linda

Whitelacey - I thought we agreed all the time ;-)).

Yup - it will take your violet a year to grow out of a crooked neck. I usually do not keep violets beyond year and half.They bloom so much better when they are young. So - rooting the sucker is to the best.

I.

Irina,

DOH!!! I mis-spoke! We DO agree all the time! ;) Now what exactly do you do with your older plants? Compost? Trash? Unsuspecting visitors? (I tried this. No-one will come to my house anymore). Worm food???

Linda

P.S. Your worm story still gives me a good laugh......

Yes - it is a perennial worm story,, Keeps me from acquiring new critters...

We have 2 sales a year in Denver - spring Show and sale in March - and fall sale in September.

I sell AVs at their peak - and leave myself a couple leaves or a sucker from each variety I want to keep, and let the ones that didn't make my heart beat faster - go. This way I actually can keep more plants than I should - because I have plenty of small ones.

And again - there are plenty of non -AV people around that want a blooming violet as a gift. My Mom lives in a Senior community - and I take extras for her friends to enjoy.

I.

Thanks all for the answers. Didn't mean to start bickering! Lol

The more you complain, the longer God lets you live...

Irina,

That answers a lot of questions about a few family members...

Linda :)

Hah! You ladies are hilarious! :)

Hi, you two are a terrific tag team!
My GW forum home page "sported" to this page
where I got to read this terrific banter.
As well as other terrific duets elsewhere on many
questions I have, and have not even asked yet!
I kind of liked seeing the growth spurts on a neck or
a stump ⦠sort of like seeing hair grow again on DH's
"dome." So I feel sad that I have to pluck off the suckers.
I liked that fuzzy, green, new growth look.
Joanne

If you want to grow a spare - keep the sucker - and remove it when it gets to 4-5 leaves to root it. If I do not groom my plants for a while - I usually have plenty of suckers to pot. Put down one or 2 - whack the rest - unless it is a chimera.
No matter how you like them fuzzies - you do not want to cover all horizontal surfaces in your house with a new growth.

Whew! So I am not the only "guilty party" who does
not remove suckers promptly â¦
Joanne

All the horizontal surfaces in my house are covered in dust.

Linda

OK - we will come to your place = and write on your dusty surfaces - We Love Linda!

Irina,

You may come to my place and write anything you like in my dust---just don't date it!!!

Linda ;)

This same thing happened to me recently! When you remove the growing tip (the apical meristem) it reroutes the growing to the axilary buds, resulting in suckers. I will definitely just root all these little boogers.

You guys only keep your plants for a year or so? Thats wild! I only just got back into this in July, so I'm still waiting for my babies to grow to blooming size. This has become such an adventure, even my husband frequently asks, "Whats going on in the african violet lab?" Its amazing how things are better at home when he is on board with plants I like :D

Becky -

I only plan to keep my husband forever - the plants need to be renewed and restarted. Year and half is probably the good time to cut off. Trailers - especially standard - take longer to mature - may be 2 years - but when they are overgrown... you need to restart them from crown cuttings- there is no other way.

AV babies become beautiful adult plants - and with time they become violet Grannies - do not bloom that much- and always complain about arthritis.

HI Becky,
I like your scientific explanation.
When I first began to grow AVs, it was enough of a challenge to keep them alive. I did not know they could live virtually forever. I presently have some AVs I got from growers that now currently offer only leaves of those varieties. So, I want to keep the plants going as long as possible. (Growers phase out varieties for various reasons. Optimara phases out the more unusual varieties, for example.)

The length of time folks keep their AVs might be a personal decision. I happen to like my geriatric plants. They manage to keep blooming for me in my zone, which is a very AV friendly zone where everything grows large. However, I am not the "expert botanist" that some are on this forum. So I mostly start new plants from leaves then give them away. For me, restarting from crown cuttings is more challenging.

I will add that if anyone wants to donate their senior citizen AVs to me, if it is a variety I do not grow, I would be more than happy to give it a second home and pay the postage!

Joanne