Hi Roelfo,

First, welcome to the world of African violets. They are really cool plants as you would expect somebody in the African violet forum to say.

There are a couple of reasons that dictate when to repot your violet. It has outgrown its pot, or it's been six months since the last repotting.

The first reason that the violet has outgrown its pot is this. Rule of thumb is that the pot should be one third the diameter of the plant from leaf tip to leaf tip. That is a 9 in. violet would have a 3 in. pot. A 6 in. violet would have a 2 in. pot and so on. African violets like to have their roots constricted. They bloom much nicer if they do.

The second reason is a tough one to convince people and if you are not going to show the plant and it is blooming nicely maybe waiting one year is fine enough. The reason for repotting at around the six-month time period is that most African violet soils contains some spagnum. After six months the spagnum starts to become acid as part of its breaking down process. When the pot gets too acid it inhibits the ability of the plant to pick up nitrogen. You say that it's been over a year since you bought the plants and they are blooming beautifully right now. That just goes to show the rules aren't necessarily hard and fast.

There is another reason to repot the plant at least by the end of a year is that the neck starts becoming long and bare. It makes the plant looked unsightly and can start to affect how nicely it will bloom.

Personally, I would wait until there is a lull in the blooming. Repotting usually gives the blooms a hard time. I always have a difficult time repotting when the plant is so pretty with flowers on it.

As far as what to do in the wintertime, try to put it in as bright of light as possible without sunburning the plant. An east or west window or even south for that matter, where the plant does not get any direct sun between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. is optimal. Otherwise, there is not much one can do as far as the duration of light is in the winter unless he or she is willing to use artificial light.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions don't be shy. Ask away.

Larry

Hi Larry,

What a wonderful job you did answering this post!

I grow some AVs, & prop them well, but they never bloom for me; yet their progency go on to bloom for my sister & her benign neglect. So I am always looking to try & learn better what to do (what not to do) & how to bloom.

Really generous & nice of you to put the time & thought into this query. That whole business of the sphag. breaking down was completely new to me. I learned a lot here. Thanks for your efforts on this.

Your C&S friend,

(PG) Karen

Hi larry b, I just read your post a few minutes after posting a couple of questions about rooting.Thank you for all that good information. Im 87 years young and having to slow down gardening outside so looking for things that are pretty to grow sitting down when I get to that stage in life.

Hi dangsr2,

You are very welcome! I have a mother-in-law down in Florida who is 87 years young. She lives in Sarasota. I know a little bit about slowing down myself. I became disabled a few years back. My gardening is now all done inside while I'm sitting down, too.

Good luck with your violets,

Larry

PS - We are watching Ernesto with interest. At the moment it looks like it will go out into the Gulf, but with hurricanes one never knows.

Good morning larry b, read your post and thought I would let you know that I am in Tallshassee, and not yet down so I cant do a little outside work as it takes very little walking. I still do a little gardening in buckets but want to get going with violets inside so I can enjoy growing them and enjoy their beauty. They do brighten the little space they take up. As for that storm I dont want any part of it, hope it just dies and goes away. TAKE CARE.

Hello,I have grown Africa violets for at least 30 years and there was a time that I could not get them to bloom so I just gave up. I stopped even buying them but I loved them so much that that didn't last long. I went out and bought all new ones then still had the problem of no blooms so with that I thought it has to be where they are as I tried every thing. So I put the in my south window where I have windiw blinds to keep out the sun. They love it there and are getting so big and lush and blooming. So key is warm area with only brightlight. I'm so happy with mine and they are not hard to take care of at all. I make sure they are fed with every watering with Luke warm water. I have 15 right now and always look for a new one that might be different. They are such a joy to have and worth it.

.

Pamela -

Welcome! You figured it out - it was not a problem with African Violets - it was a problem with a location. When you found a good place - they thrived. But - you already have 15 - very soon you will run out of good windows - unless you have a mansion with 50 bright windows.

I grow mine on the stands under fluorescent lights - this way I can utilize and brighten any dark corner.

I love AV success stories.

Irina

Yes I finally did figure it out and you know that was,so exciting as like I said I tried every thing and got no where. I probably won't buy that many more but I do have 2 Windows that .are on the south side so I could fill.it up too. I'm addicted to them now.

Couchpamela you are soooo funny!! To quote,,,,"I probably won't buy that many more but I do have 2 windows that are on the south side so I could fill it up too!"

So are you "probably won't buy that many more"????? OR are you going to fill up 2 windows on the south side?????? lololololololol I am all for filling up 2 more windows. And THEN I would get a lighted stand so you can have more!!!!

Just my favorite way of doin' things!!!!! Rosie

I am going to be repotting one of my AV's soon, once this current bloom cycle has passed. It has a slight neck to it, maybe 1/2 an inch long. Any tips on how to deal with this? Can i just bury it deeper, or should I cut and reroot?

As I understand it, I just need to do my best to replace the soil correct? Or is root pruning in order?

As far as the neck, gently scrape it, shake off excess soil, and set deeper in the pot to "bury" the neck to the proper level. Then backfill. Viola!!!! Rosie

No need to remove the roots then? Sounds good. Thank you!

You're welcome! By the time you shake off some of the excess soil, you will make room for the backfill and any dead roots will fall off anyway. Rosie

One of my african violets just started blooming! I have grown african violets for three months now and my first one, i took off the blooms when i was repotting it to keep it from shock. The media used here is bamboo husk??? and it breaks down really easily and usually harbours insects. I made sure that there was no insects on the plant and potted it up. One of them i potted in to a bigger pot and now i find that it was a mistake because (surprise!) it rotted.

Now, i have eight violets and the four new ones i bought today are in a different media. it's a light mix but the pot is bigger than the actual plant itself and after it blooms i'm planning on potting it down from a 5 inch pot to a 2 inch pot.

just one question, i feel like the plants have not been getting the right amount of sunlight, but the one that i've had the longest is blooming? I keep them in a room with a southwest facing window and it does get bright indirect sunlight for about 11 hours. Is that okay or do I need to get a light fixture? I don't want them away from my room.

thanks a lot, James.

Hi Rosie, well I've not bought as NY more african violets as yet haha! Mine are getting so big that I can't get over it. They bloom a lot. Abd have been in my south window since I got them. But I've decided I wanted to move them out of that windiw so I have them in my east window where they get plenty if light and some morning sun. I'm wanting to ask you if that will work for them? Please let me know if I need to move them back to my south window.

Thank you, Pam Couch

Hi James & Pam,,,,,I have to answer you and others based on my wick method. When I buy a new violet, the first thing I do is NOTHING for about 3 weeks or so. (I do water it since it is not on a wick yet). The whole idea of doing nothing is to let it acclimate to MY house, my exposures etc.

After about 3 weeks (or whenever I have time), I make sure the plant is on the dry side (not begging for water but not too damp). Then I take it out of the pot, hold it over a container and gently work all the soil off of it that I can. I may even shake it a little but I want to back fill with my "mix".

Now, I am old school about this, but I will also take off the bottom row of leaves. More if I have to shape it up to get a nice looking rosette. See, once it blossoms from a row and finishes, it will never put flowers up from that row again. I will use those leaves to start more if I want to. And I will also use the same pot, about 3 inches or so, no bigger. to repot in.

If you don't wick here is what I would do. Put one layer of napkin in the bottom for no other reason than to keep soil from falling out. Now replant your violet. Use a light mix, violets don't need heavy mixes or they will rot. To much water will be retained.

If you wick, still put the napkin in, make a slit, put your wick thru the slit, and repot. I use a mix of 1/2 soil and 1/2 vermiculite. Make sure you mix it very well as you don't want your perlite to stay on top. Water well and put on your reservoir. No fertilizer for a while. Let it acclimate to being on the wick system.

As far as windows, I use whatever I have. As of now my violets are split between my north window and my east window. I rotate them everytime I clean and refill reservoirs. And they bloom. And Rosie is happy! Did I cover everything? If I didn't,,,,ask me again! Good luck!!! Rosie

Thsnk you Rosie for getting back to me so soon. Actually I have this wrought iron shelf that I can sit on anything and it's got 2 shelves so it us sitting on my antique buffet on the walk by the east window I payed attention to light and morning sun and it seems to get enough I think. The east windiw isn't as bright as,the south one but sm hoping it will work and they continue to bloom. Another question mine are getting so big and they are planted in those african violet pots thar have the bottom piece the top sits in. I don't want to put them in bigger pots so do I just keep the soil good in those pots and trim the leaves or do I have to transplant them again? I have 15 african violets and every one is beautuful and hsve grown to be so big. Since I bought then laat year. Thank you again

Pam

Dang Dangstr, you're 87. I'm 85, so I guess I'm just a youngster.

hahahahaha Leon!!! No,,,,,,I am the youngster! 67 on Saturday! lol Rosie

Hi Pam! Wow you have all your violets in self watering pots??? And you are successful???? My hat is way off to you!!!!!

Ok, here is what I would do. When the plant outgrows the pot it is in, uproot it, trim back some roots, ALSO trim back some leaves from the bottom rows only. Remember, once the blooming is done from each bottom row they won't bloom from there again. Now, by taking off of the bottom you have to compensate and reduce the top also since it no longer has all of the roots to feed all the leaves. Old school I know, but I believe it to be true.

Then repot in the soil mix that seems to be working for you in those particular pots. I would think you are using a nice light soil. That is, in my opinion, is how you keep something in the same size pot forever.

After a little recovery from surgery your plants should be good to go again! Good luck! Rosie

PS. Again, as far as which window is better,,,,,because one of mine is brighter than the other, as I said, I rotate mine. Just to give everyone some of each. I guess I will never have optimum windows so everyone has to "share" the light! Works pretty good too!

Rosie, what do you mean by compensating and removing from the top, when you remove the bottom leaves? I did what you said when I repotted mine and took the bottom leaves off and she bounced back just fine from the repot.

Also, think I might win the youngster game, I am 32. ;-)

Thank you Rosie you are very knowledgeable. I use the regular African violet potting soil it's always worked for me. I was just looking at the location t that I changed mine to and on the morning it's bright and little Sun but in the afternoon it's like shady not bright like my south window. It's bright all day long so I m.thinking of May ha bcc e to move them back which I don't want to do but think I need to. So.ill do that after I finish messaging you. Also I'll will do what you said to do about keeping them I their same pots. I have had them in the African violet pots for something and they have grown to be so big. Would love to send You a picture of them but dont know how to with put an email. So I'm going to go now and switch them back where they really did so grear.it's also drafty where I moved them to and I know that's not good.

Thank you again, Pam

Well it looks like I've been kicked off here so I will go and won't send any more messages??

Kim, Here is the logic. Not everyone agrees with me but since I think it IS logical and it works for my violets,,,,I do it and recommend it.

Picture a large beautiful violet such as one of yours. Now it didn't get that large without a good (but invisible) system to sustain it. As it soaked up water and nutrients through the roots, the roots also grew larger to accomodate the new growth that was also happening above the soil line. So you see,,,,your plants are growing well because your roots are also growing and expanding!

Now you take your violet, that you want to keep in the same pot, out and you will notice that there are now more roots than soil in the pot! When you potted it up to that 3 inch pot your plant and its roots needed a larger pot to accomodate the expanding root system,,,,right? Well now your plant is much larger,,,,,but so is the root system. That much root sustains that much plant.

Now you shake off some of the remaining soil, and trim back any bad roots. And you may even trim off just some of the roots to give it room to fit back in your pot. hmmmm, see the picture? Less root system,,,,,,same amount of plant. You removed part of the food production so now you need to NOT feed so many leaves! Remove them.

Your violet bloomed its first flowers from between the leaves on the very bottom row. It will NEVER bloom their again. Even though the leaves may look still good,,,,,they have served their purpose. Remove them. And the second row if you feel you want to trim it up more, or trim to the row that either is giving or will give you your next blossoms. And because you don't want a neck, you will have to remove just enough roots to set your plants lower. You won't hurt the plant.

After you carefully backfill and settle the plant down, don't water too much. Well, you know what to do with watering in your specific pots. I can't advise you on them. I envy you doing well with them! Good for you.

Think of Bonsai. Top of plant kept small. Root system kept small. The difference is,,,,,you won't KEEP trimming the roots and top. Trim once for repotting purposes and you will allow it to grow until you need to repeat this process.

When you are done, it will probably look like a just bought (or maybe a little bigger) plant. And it will continue to grow, put out roots, set blossoms etc.

Did I make it any easier for you? Let me know. And yeah,,,,,you won the prize for youngest so far! Ahhhh, Memory Lane! Oops, no time to go there now! Rosie

Pam???? What do you mean kicked off here? I see nothing that says that you are not welcome. Did I miss something?

Now I have "followed" you. I put my cursor over your name and a box said follow. If you do the same to my name and click follow we can message privately! Try it! Rosie

I think overall, I am the ultimate youngster at the age of 15.

Fifteen??????? And in gwf?????? Ohhhh, well I don't know why I am surprised since I started around that age. The only difference is,,,,computers wouldn't be invented for another 30 years or so!

Ok, let us see some pix! Wadda ya got growin'??? What do you like? What got you interested on violets??? Rosie

I started at 85 ! Leon

Leon - you are ever young. You will probably get yourself ready to climb mount Everest at 95.

Yay Leon! Irina he has NO time to climb mounains!!!! Gee whiz,,,,,,,,who would take care of his violets!? lol Rosie

OK Rosie, please check your messages. Just sent you one.

Thanks Leon! Rosie

I just bought three African Violet's that are planted in one pot in a basket. It looks very pretty but should I seperate them and when ???? Thanks !,

Yes, you should separate them; probably now.

What time of year is the best time to break up plants, and also time of year to do a leaf from a plant to start a new one off. Also is it same soil type as for a full size plant?

Hi Sue,

I don't think it matters when you separate them... I've done it every season and had no troubles.

As for leaf starts, I've had best success from them taken in the spring, but I've had success from other times of year too.... Especially when I put the planted leaves in a 'greenhouse' (ie plastic bag).

And yes, same soil works good!

I have broken up plants and started leaves anytime it needs to be done. I will say, IMO, spring is the ideal time only because with lengthening daylight and warmer temps it stimulates things to grow and recover faster. But,,,,I can't always wait til spring. And since we can fix things indoors to help the plants recover (bagging them, using an extra lamp on them etc) that makes anytime fine!

Soil,,,whatever mix works well for you. If you have success,,,don't mess with it! Again,,,,,just my opinion!!!!

Sounds like you have something in the works,,,let us know how it works! Rosie

I recently moved into my fiance's house and he has a small african violet that has no blooms, was barely watered and left for dead. I have been watering it and it has grown 3 times its size and seems to be thriving but no blooms. What can i do to help this poor little plant. It is currently in a cheap plastic pot in a basket and I would like to put it in a pretty pot but afraid I will damage it.

Fern, you attached to an old post. A pix would have been nice so we could see your lovely plant. Yes they are still lovely with only leaves!

Anyway,,,,,to answer your question. If you go back and read not only this thread but some of the older ones ALL of your questions will be answered! And then some you never thought of yet!

Just a quick answer though. Usually a plant that is thriving and not blooming has to do with fertilizer. Again,,,,,read the threads to be sure.

Post a pix of the "before" and repost with the "after." We would love to see the results! Rosie

Hi Fern ...

I would also make sure that the plant is getting enough light.

It should be getting outdoor light through a window (maybe a foot or so away) ... or from a fluorescent or LED light (maybe in an inexpensive desk lamp setup).

Fluorescent CFL Bulb

Again, the light should be no more than a foot or so away from the plant.

If it's only getting indoor light, it should get 10-12 hours a day.

Is anyone still there? theres been no comments for three years. sreyou still alive and raising violets?

You have attached to a very old posting. If you go to the actual African Violet home page you will see recent postings.

There is a lot more (daily) activity on the Reddit African Violet page ...

https://www.reddit.com/r/AfricanViolets/

... also this Facebook group ...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/710024365731690/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=4743485779052175