keep it inside. bugs will migrate with it indoors and you will be most unhappy.

I just checked the current USDA climate zone map{{gwi:807}}, and it looks like Honolulu is in zone 12b, not zone 11b, as indicated by the "zip-code finder".

This post was edited by partybra on Mon, Dec 22, 14 at 11:02

Violets are to bugs like cotton candy is to a kid in the circus. An outdoor plant may never again come inside. Suggest growing it inside under a desk lamp with a fluorescent sunlight bulb. Hardware stores have desk lamps designed for this purpose. These plants were created in hothouses under clean conditions. They were never meant for outdoors. If you insist on raising outdoor plants, get some locally grown african V plants from your local nursery. They are usually stronger and can tolerate less than ideal growing conditions. The one you showed is a delicate hothouse creation and will do better indoors. Well, I just re- read your post. You can bring this back indoors now because it is the only one you have. The most common bug is called thrips. However, small flies, mites and bees will find your plant quite yummy. Even garden ants. Sure, plants enjoy being outdoors. But they quickly become carriers. Most people choose begonias or some other flowering plant for outdoors. By the way, Rob dreams up odd names for his plants. Maybe he is being playful and comes up with names that are memorable. Joanne

This post was edited by fortyseven on Mon, Dec 22, 14 at 15:46

Welcome back, bragu, we've been missing the hot sauce commentary. J

After three days outdoors, the leaves have turned a different color- they are pinker now- maybe it is just the natural color returning to the leaves, after being kept in the dark during the shipment (I hope they are not sunburned). I have been moving the plant from indoors to outdoors, trying to decide which is the best environment for it, right now. I have an incandescent "plant light", that I am keeping it under, while it is indoors, but I am afraid that it will burn the plant, because the incandescent bulb gets so hot. I am keeping the plant about 12 inches away from the light bulb, to keep from scorching the leaves. I need to get a fluorescent fixture, like you suggested, because the lights are cooler, and they have a more desirable wavelength to simulate natural daylight. My apartment is very dark, and I don't have a window that gets any sunlight, so I am going to have to rely on artificial light, if I keep them indoors (I want to increase my collection, once I determine how I can best care for them). Thank you very much for your advice, to help me keep my plant beautiful.

Usually it is best to find a spot for the plant and leave it alone. They don't do well when moved around too much. Just rotate a quarter turn each time you water.

Variegation color is a complicated topic that has to do with factors such as light, temperature, and the potting medium.
Also, the maturation of the plant's leaves. My "wild guess" is that the sudden and dramatic color change from white to pink might be due to either light or temperature. But I am no expert on variegation.

Variegated plants are far more sensitive than green plants to any conditions because they do not have the green component that supports growth.

Yours is flowering, they also normally do not flower often until they are mature. If you got it recently, it seems that it was very well grown to have arrived in such great shape, symmetrical and in bloom. So you are off to a good start and hope to keep it that way.

This one looks as though it is continuing to do very well. If the light is too much for it, the leaves will begin to scorch, you will see it right away. If that happens, move it.

(The scorch look is brownish when the leaf hairs burn first.)

I am not familiar with that variety you have nor that color variegation. Also, not with artificial light. So I would not be able to provide further advice regarding intensity of the light or temperature of the bulb. However, a lot has been written about artificial light on this forum.

In time, if the plant is still in the original potting medium it came in from Rob's, you might want to replace or replenish the potting mix. As long as then plant is doing well, leave it alone. But if it seems to stop growing at some point, say, six months, would be the time to replenish the potting mix. You can put it back into the same pot again if it has not outgrown the size. Variegated plants have much smaller root systems than green plants, so they can stay in smaller pots longer.
They are very sensitive to the watering, it has to be just right. When the plant is blooming, it takes more water than when not in bloom.

When a variegated plant blooms, the leaves are not as actively growing.

Your plant is quite unusual and a gem. However, it is a more delicate variety than most. So you are wise to solicit advice or do some research on this forum if you have the time. A lot has been written on variegation and on artificial light.

Perhaps other members with more experience will chime in.
Because you live in beautiful Hawaii, it might seem counter-intuitive to have to keep a plant indoors. Sometimes people find glass window boxes for outdoors to shield their plants.
Again, that is a more unusual situation. For now, probably just keep it under the desk lamp and watch it carefully for over-exposure. They like about 8 to 12 hours of light a day,
and complete darkness at night to do their best.

Joanne- thank you for the wonderful advice. I can tell that you have a lot of experience with African Violets- thank you for sharing your knowledge with me. I bought the plant from 'The Violet Barn', and they did a great job, in selecting the plant, and shipping it across almost 4,000 miles, in one of the coldest months of the year- it was very well protected during shipment, and the USPS handled it very well also. I sent Ralph Robinson an email, commending them for their excellent service. I also ordered an Episcia cupreata 'Chocolate Cream', and a rhizomatous Begonia (Begonia decora) 'Red Doll', and they all arrived in excellent condition- however, the African Violet was the only one that was blooming, and it has turned out to be my favorite.

All three are lovely. Mini AVs are even more delicate, the watering must be carefully controlled. So for your first violet, you got one that requires careful care, between the variegation and tiny size, the root system will be very small so watering has to be exact. When you order again, Rob 's also has a mini called Bunny Hop that would be an attractive companion because it has edge variegation. Let us know how the mini Rex begonia is doing. Again, the violet is a rare gem, the result of many plant generations of very careful hybridization. Rob 's minis are known for growing symmetrically and not suckering. That is a real break-through because most other hybridizer 's minis are trailers, forming multiple crowns and getting bushy. Rob's will remain single crown and usually bloom a lot. Thanks for sharing. I am fond of similar AVs so that is why I learned about the variegated .

These are my three babies (they seem like that, anyway). I had initially planned to order just the Episcia, because I remembered it as a plant that my grandmother had, when I was a young child, and since my mother died in September, I wanted to buy this plant, as a remembrance to both of them. Then I was captivated by the pictures of the African Violet (I had thought that all African Violets had green leaves). The begonia was also a remembrance of my grandmother- she is the person who shared her passion for plants with me, and I embraced it, and it has been an important part of my life- even though my career field was in an unrelated area. My plants have been my companions, throughout my life.

I tried to grow them outside. But, the others are correct, there are bugs including mites that will infest your AVs. Besides, there is another big problem, see our discussions earlier: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/afrviolet/msg081133413637.html

I don't think that, in most cases, plants are at risk for theft, any more than any other item- anything that is perceived as having significant value, is at risk. The most at-risk plants, are bonsai specimens, because of their monetary value, and their size. We just have to hope for the best.

Meh, at risk for theft is anything that strikes someone's fancy, be it sparkly, colorful or valuable...
I remember being five years old and pulling all of our neighbours spring bulbs to make a bouquet for my teacher...

As for growing AVs outside... I like control - temperature, water, light, bugs, indoors i can control them, outdoors, not so much...

yes, an african violet will grow outdoors, more likely in your climate than mine, but it will not "live up to its full potential"... which is relative if you just grow it for fun...

Karin

The photo of the three plants in their dish is perfect. Thanks for sharing the background story!
For outdoors , experiment with an optimara, they are rugged and cost $2 or $3 with no shipping!
Friend of mine placed violets on his open patio. Every morning, they were gone, just the plants, leaving a mess of potting mix behind. He kept putting out more plants, same thing happened, day after day. He has his suspicions, a neighbor who went for an early morning walk . Determined to get to the bottom of the matter, he put up expensive surveillance camera equipment , to discover it was gophers! True story. Joanne

Wow!- things to consider.

â¢Posted by froeschli

Meh, at risk for theft is anything that strikes someone's fancy, be it sparkly, colorful or valuable...

I'd have to agree. In large part, know your neighborhood. If theft is not an uncommon thing, then why risk it? If it is rare to unheard of, that is another story.

â¢Posted by froeschli
yes, an african violet will grow outdoors, more likely in your climate than mine, but it will not "live up to its full potential"...

I have to disagree with Karin, here. While that might be the case, with most plants it is just the opposite -- assuming your outdoor environmental conditions are conducive to their growth.

The pink coloration you witnessed was due to the increased light levels in all likelihood. Temperature may have also been a factor. In any event, it posed no danger to the health of your AV.

Having said that, I believe I would still recommend growing this one indoors for the nonce. As Karin noted, doing so would enable you to maintain greater control over environmental factors ... most notably pests. (While is just a "hunch", I suspect that the large black slugs -- Veronicella leydigi -- would wipe your plant out in no time should they find it.) Should the plant sucker at some point or should you propagate it via leaf cutting, then I most certainly would try the new plant(s) thus obtained outside once they had become established. (A friend of mine in Florida kept one I sent her out on her lanai and it did wonderfully.) At that point, I would still not recommend planting said extras in the ground unless you had lots of them. Having them in pots off the ground should make them less accessible to the local slug population.

Btw, out of curiosity, which island are you on? I used to live on Oahu when I was in high school.

Paul, thanks for the advice- I live in Honolulu, about 2 blocks from Waikiki Beach. I used to live on the Big Island, in Hilo (and also in Kona)- it's actually warmer here, than it is there, even though it is about 200 miles further North.

I live in CT. myself, so I wanted to know as well if African Violets could be planted outside, but for a much different reason. My parents died two years ago, and they were my mother's favorite flowers, so I want to know how they might fair at their grave? If not African Violets, then what about a mini rose bush?

African violets would not survive outside in Connecticut year round and would generally do poorly in most seasons. They are a tropical plant, so they want temperatures between 60°F and 80°F. A 70° house makes them pretty happy. Outside in New England would be too cold most of the year outside of a greenhouse, and the couple months when it's warm, weather would likely get too warm for them and night temps would still have to be monitored. First frost would certainly kill them if they survived that long.

Any chance of a pesticide on or around the planet keeping the creepy crawlys off either so it can be outside and come in or stay out?

Hi All, I agree with Blueberry. Further north of Buffalo, it would be the same thing. The african violets would not like the weather at all. Yesterday the temperature was not over 40 F. They would not like it. I do not take mine outside ever. I did once take out my Christmas cactus. The squirrels tried to nibble it, and it never went outside again.

Just saying,

Yolanda

Yolanda, thanks. I wondered about Christmas Cactus. I will keep them indoors. They seem to do well in a sunny window.

Erin, no. They are indoor, windowsill plants.

Teresa, a mini rosebush would not survive, either. Plus they need water every day when blooming. Look for an ornamental outdoor shrub instead.

Joanne

As far as hardy for the purpose you want it, no,,,,violets won't work. But you could always get a silk one. That would look nice at least throughout the spring/summer. Maybe a nice sweet mock orange shrub would be nice also. Roses would be a little labor intensive and not all roses are hardy for your purposes. Hope you can find a solution.

I have always summered all of my houseplants outside on the porches. In the fall, each one is brought in and given a bath in soapy warm water and rinsed well. I don't have a problem with creepy crawlies.

When I only had a few violets they went on the deck in a shady spot. I must say,,,,they put on wonderfully healthy growth and bloom. I still put out some of the gesneriads and they do fine.

OH I just remembered,,,,,one time there was a toad that dug all the way down into a pot that was no more than 4 inches wide! It was only when it got a taste of soapy water that it made itself known. Scared the tar right out of me!!!! hahaha

There is just something about the fresh air etc outside that gives everything robust growth to help them do better during the coming winter. Rosie