HI,
I read your question but not sure I understand it. When you said there were about 15 babies did you mean suckers?
If there is new growth in the leaf axils (where the leaf stem meets the central stem) then they are suckers and should be removed. Other than that it sounds like the plant is reaching for light. The combination of the two problems may be what is forcing the leaves to grow upwards rather than laying flat. If you can tell me more about the little plants and where they are growing maybe that would help.
fred in nj

Thanks, Fred.

My term of babies refers to tiny leaves but I don't think they are suckers. They are coming right out of the crown of the plant (each week) and not from where you describe them in your post.

The stems/leaves on the bottom (which, in this case is the outer) row are large and then as they get closer to the crown, they get smaller. The top of the leaf is a healthy, deep green and the underside is a deep purple with prominent veins.

Its gets flourescent light during the morning hours and I keep it in the window with what I would consider plenty of afternoon light and I'm wondering how to give it "more light" without it being put in the "direct light" where it will burn up. I hope that makes sense.

are there types of AVs whose growth pattern is straight up?

From the look of the plant, it appears that every single bit of its energy goes to producing leaves whose growth pattern is straight upward.

Looking forward to you knowledge.
TIA,

Hi Tia,
I'm still not sure of what you call tiny leaves. If they are growing from the center of the crown in a symetrical pattern, that is the natural growth of an AV. If there are more than one sets of leaves growing out of the crown in separate symetrical patterns then I would suspect that the crown burned out and the plant is starting to send out suckers to reproduce itself.
There are violeets that do have a tendency to have an upright growth pattern, however this is not the norm. Most AV's when given enough light will tend to grow flat. It's impossible for me to tell you what the plant needs without knowing more about it. I grow all my plants on wicks and under flourescent lights. The lights are about 10-12 inches from the top of the plant and they receive a minimum of 10 hours of light from the fixtures. I also repot my AV's every 9 months to a year for standards and every 3 to 4 months for minis and semis. The purple or red backed leaf sounds like a healthy plant. Other than maybe a deep green leaf may need more light than a lighter leafed violet. Maybe some of what I have said will help. I still think the vertical leaf growth is a lack of good indirect light.
Fred in NJ

I'll try more light.
The crown is well defined and growing well.

TIA stands for thanks in advance

Hi nwgatreasures,

I'm new to the forum but have AVs, Streptocarpus, and a Kohleria. My mother had a similar problem as you. I remember reading about the light AS WELL AS...an AV can only focus its energy to producing foliage OR blooms. IF your AV is producing leaves that quickly and vigorously, then I would recommend not letting any more leaves grow and maybe removing some. I do not want to ruin the symmetry, but the plant's energy needs to be redirected to blooming. I tried this, and my mom's plant now has over 30 blooms!

Hi nwgatreasures:

Is your plant blooming?

Larry

You know, it's funny... I have a bunch of babies all growing in the same medium in the same light, and just one of them (LLG Dazzling Fantasyland) has leaves that are growing straight up like that. I have no idea why this could be!

{{gwi:367550}}

I too have experience this with two plants. Both were 'straight up' when perchased, and one of them, Gillian, never would go flat. It is now deceased, as I took off the leaves and pitched the stem. The second one is one I bought at Lyons in May. Spectacular Blue is the name. When I bought it it looked as though it was grown as a 'plug' and got fairly large before being potted. It now gets plenty of light, but continues to grow straight up.

My guess is that it was grown in the plug stage too long and isn't ever going to change. I may try to use mechanical means to bring the leaves down, or I may just put down all the leaves and pitch the plant.

Barbara

Update:
The plant is strong and healthy, no blooms and still growing straight upward. The stems are a dark, dark purple and sturdy strong. The crown is very well defined and has great symmetry - except that it grows straight upward and all we see is the underneath sides of the leaves (which are the dark healthy purple of the stems).

I don't know what is up with this baby but it hasn't responded to bloom fertilizer in 2 months. Maybe she's just a good example of someone who wants to be unique?

Violetta1976,

I was thinking about your picture this morning, and went back and looked at it again. The Dazzling Fantasyland in the upper left corner is maybe potted a little too deep in the pot. It has a lot of leaves that appear to be 'sturdy', and there just isn't room for them to lay relatively flat. I would suggest taking it out of the pot and adding some potting mix to the bottom of the pot to raise it to the same level as the pot edge. It may help.

Barbara

Thanks Barbara, I'll do it tonight! I actually noticed that it has some buds forming. Yay! My first ever baby with buds!

Another update:
Last I posted on Sunday that it was growing straight upward still.

I went out of town for 2.5 days and when I returned,there were 4 huge sets of beautiful deep pink blooms. This plant is a standard optimara but with no name since I rescued it from someone a few years back.
It has never bloomed until now.

Anyhow - today I spent the morning with two AV friends and we pruned and doctored all of my AVs and repotted this one. Took off the bottom/outer 3 rows (there were 5 rows all together)and broght it closer to the top of the pot and downsized the pot.

Let's see what happens to it in a few days when it's had a chance to recover.

I'd love to share pictures of my violets but don't know where or how to do that. I have over 50 now.

hi there-I know the post is older, but I'm having the same problem. Did removing the leaves and potting it higher help? I've got one I got for half price at a garden center several months ago. I had to remove several rotting leaves so it doesn't have too many. It's now blooming, but the leaves are still up. I did pot it up higher. Maybe "weighting" down the outer leaves gently?

Thanks!

I wonder if you could let the plant wilt, then set something on top of it to weight the leaves down before watering it. A light blanket or something. Similar to training the branches on a bonzai. If you leave it that way for 4 or 5 days, maybe it will stay flat?

What medium do you grow your African violets?

Why do I have a feeling that you are trolling us?

Good morning. I know this post is very old, but I wanted to share mine that stands straight up. She's been straight up since the day I got her, about 10 years ago. I just deal with it since she puts out such beautiful blooms.

Valeriev -

You have a very healthy vibrant plant, free blooming. While may be it needs a little bit more light - but I suspect the main thing is the genetics. It just grows this way.

I.

Thank you Irina. I agree. ☺

I purchased a nice big African Violet at a garage sale & the leaves were growing straight up. I've had it now for about 1 month or so & the leaves are lying flat, like most of my African Violets. I'm assuming it needed more light where the plant was originally growing. I noticed it's growing in peat moss - just wondering if that's better than a mixture, since it was so big? Is anyone else using just peat moss? I use a mixture of soil, peat & pearlite.

N A - now I can see that you are real! You have a story!

Anyway - no, you cannot grow an AV in a pure peat moss - to start with - pH is too low. Some of the ready store bought soil mixes have mostly peat - they look like peat - but at least the pH is corrected to neutral. And too much peat is not that good - because it compresses with time and doesn't let the air to the roots. Your mix is much better - provided that you add dolomite lime to correct the pH to 6.4-6.8.

People try to experiment - not every method works, but there are different ways to grow them successfully - like in Leca stones, rock wool cubes etc. Most of the growers do not mix their own soil - they purchase a ready made AV mix or Promix BX and add extra perlite to make it more breathable.

AVs we buy in a big box store - and I am pretty much sure the one you picked on a garage sale came from the same place - originally came from Holtkamp Greenhouses in TN - brand name Optimara. These plants are grown in a controlled environment - light is just so, temperature, pesticide treatment, repotting... When the leaf from a mother plant is put for rooting - they already have the delivery scheduled for this batch - 9 months from today. The peat based soil they use for the finished plant - will keep the plants hydrated on the way to the customers - several days on the roads in the closed boxes.

Since AV is an industrial crop = there is a technology developed how to make them grow really well and start blooming in a predictable and economical way. The hobbyists tweak the method to adjust to their own conditions. IMHO - we can do better than Optimara - with more efforts and expenses - and we can do much worse.

Using pure peat - much worse. Growing on the windowsills instead of under the lights - also takes its tall. Too hot, too cold, too dark, too bright... But,,, we do not make a living off these plants.

Good luck

Irina

Thanks for the info. My AV from the garage sale was grown by a local lady - I spoke to her & she told me it was a real good bloomer. It's blooming right now & it's very nice. It's bigger than my 2 other AVs & in a bigger pot than mine - personally I think the pot is too big, but the plant is happy, at least for now - it's in a 6" clay pot. I'm keeping an eye on it, since I'm concerned about the pot size. Perhaps I'm wrong with it being only in peat moss, but that's what it looks like - certainly has no perlite. One of my other AV has started growing its leaves downwards - it wasn't like that before - I've had it for 2 years. Anyone know why?

If leaves are strong and juicy - no problem. If the droopy leaves are losing turgor...wilting... - it can be a first sign of a dreaded root rot.