Well, maybe I'm missing something, but I don't really see too much wrong with your plant. The crown leaves have grown & the youngest leaves are under the umbrella so to speak. That might all work out with time. Your lighting ideas seem correct & your plant shows no signs of mites.

Terri

In my opinion your plant looks like it is normally growing! Looks like a really nice little plant! Rosie

It looks fine. Just needed some air. Sometimes they get a little beat up in the store, the damage does not show up until the plant grows out a little. Joanne

I agree with the others, there really doesn't seem to be anything the matter with it. Is there something wrong with it that the picture doesn't show?

I think it just looks so different from the other av's that I keep wondering if it's got pests or mold! The leaves don't lie completely flat in a perfect rosette even after indirect sunlight supplemented by artificial growth light. It seems like the newer av varieties aren't always perfectly flat. When I used to grow them back in the late '80's a perfectly flat rosette was expected for a quality plant. I guess times have changed!

Your plant will eventually right itself, but it needs help. What you are referring to is known as grooming. That is the process of getting the plant to grow uniformly and lay flat. Not all violets will do that. To learn more, there are videos on the Facebook blog called All About African Violets that describe the process. The book "Growing to Show" by Pauline Bartholomew is another resource available from the AVSA website. optimara violets are mass produced. grown in over crowded conditions, the pots are not separated to allow breathing room as the leaves begin to grow, the pots are not turned, the top leaves get most of the light, so the bottom leaves are dwarfed. they have no opportunity to grow in the correct shape, leaves point upward. Also they often form suckers. In nature, violets don't always grow in a flat pancake wagon wheel pattern. The pattern is the result of hybridization. Mass marketed and mass produced plants bought by the public are often not kept past a bloom cycle. Once the blooms fade, the foliage is such a misshapen clump of suckers, many people do not understand it will go into a rest period before it blooms again. Many people do not realize the potential of the plant to grow itself out into a nice round circle. It looks ugly to them, so they toss it. However, If the plant was hybridized to have the round circle shape, it can be groomed to develop the shape. Your plant looks like it has that potential. Many collectors will start a new plant from a leaf to see if the plant is capable of the circular pattern. Then they either keep the original as a source of leaves, or they also try to groom the parent plant. Many AV clubs spend a lot of time on teaching grooming. They want to educate members so that they can offer the general public well groomed plants that can live for many years in the correct shape. This is a lot to explain to non-growers, so when I give an Optimara as a gift, I tell the person to give it back to me when it stops blooming and becomes unsightly. I switch it out for a new one. Those who grow a new plant from a leaf are often pleasantly surprised to see the perfect circle that results. joanne

Back in the day we strived to make our violets as picture perfect as they could be. We used toothpicks to gently space the leaves to the position they needed to be. We would gently maneuver flower stalks to "rise above the leaves" whether they were bred to do that naturally or not. I remember spending hours [while I did laundry] every Monday after the kids went to school just "messing with my violets".

Joanne is right,,,,,it is just called grooming. And fun! And just because we spent all of this time doing it we still had a couple that would never conform to what we wanted. AND we were not doing shows. That was sooooo far out of our reach it wasn't funny. We just wanted to emulate the perfection!!!! And again,,,,,it was called FUN!!!!! I had so much fun then. And that is what I am recapturing now. Finally. And at the end of the day if I can't recapture "that old feeling" then I will let it all go.

HA!!! No such luck. I am having the time of my life! Leaves are down,,,one set of mouse ears up and waiting for whatever happens next! Rosie

IF you are really serious about a perfect plant, and IF I were you and IF this were MY plant, I would start by take off all 5 outer leaves. (Make sure you put every one of them in rooting medium, gives to something to trade with for violets you don't have!!!!!!)

I am referencing your last photo. Get toothpicks and gently "prop" the remaining leaves as they grow out so they are equally spaced.

Pay attention your plant doesn't sucker. Be careful you don't mistake a bloom stalk for a sucker. You can let it grow out a little just to be sure and if it is a sucker a toothpick is your best friend. Gently use the point to scrape the little sucker out of it's cozy little bed.

If you are always paying attention to your violet you will notice subtle differences. Did a toothpick slip? Am I turning my plant (if it is grown in a window) 1/4 turn everyday for equal growth? If it is under lights am I making sure it is not touching anything near it so the leaves can grow straight out?

And when you are assessing the plant set it on the floor. Yep you heard me. On the floor and look straight down onto it. If you have a cell or digital camera take a photo of this view. Believe me once you put it on your computer screen,,,things do look different!

Also, if you want that "flat" rosette look, one way is to get a paper plate, cut it in half, cut out the center of both halves just enough to fit around the stem of the violet. Put both halves on the pot rim under the leaves to hold up the leaves as they grow. That should "train" your leaves.

Now, just like stubborn kids,,,,,ya can't always make a violet compliant. If how it is growing doesn't sit well with you then donate it, give it away or just enjoy it the way it is and start with a different plant!

And you don't always have to start a "violet in training" from a leaf. You can take an established plant and again start removing leaves etc., to begin the process.

Most of all have fun! Love your violet for what she is and if you can't? Well, trade her off and start again.

BUT there is nothing wrong with your plant in the photo that I can see! Rosie

Perfect advice. Sometimes I remove outer leaves just two at a time so as not to overly stress the plant because the leaves are the plant. For example, the underneath leaves that are smaller can be removed first. Then the other leaves Rosie suggested in a couple of weeks. But I might be too cautious. Joanne

Wow, thanks! I didn't know there was so much to this grooming thing! I'm going to watch those videos on Facebook and try these tips out and maybe I'll get a show quality plant. When I see some of those plants with perfect leaves at the AVSA shows it always made me wonder if they were mutants or something because mine never could look like that!

4blossoms, your violets can look like that. It is a lot of information, but if you really think about what you are being told,,,,,it just boils down to paying attention to what that violet needs. I didn't address a fertilizing schedule or type of soil, growing conditions or the rest of it. Just remember,,,,keep it fun and exciting! Violets grow pretty well by themselves but compare it to, oh just for grins and giggles, a dog show. Your dog gets brushed but THAT dog gets brushed more! Your dog gets nails clipped but THAT dog probably gets them clipped AND filed! See?????

If your goal is just pretty, well grown violets that's fine,,,they will grow for you and look good. BUT if you want that show (dog) violet you just gotta do the same thing more often!!! Good luck! Rosie

umm, back to the original question.... if you had it in a ziploc, it will grow more crowded because f the "walls" around it...

also, a lot of the optimaras need a lot less light than other varieties....

symmetry is part genetics, part rotating the plant frequently... (they say 1//4 turn each time you water) then there are suckers to be removed...

a good plant will grow symmetrical and not sucker with minimal attention. i just focus on those and let the others fend for themselves....

Karin

Well put Karin! "A good plant will grow symmetrical and not sucker with minimal attention." You are so right!

4blossoms,,,,,If you don't mind, can you explain about the "ziplock" bag method? I don't understand how to do it. Or why. Is it if you can hang up baggies it won't take up table space? That would be a solution to a lot of problems! How much soil do you put in the baggie? Would the soil shift around in the baggie because it would have no pot to hold it in place? Or do you actually put a small pot with soil into the baggie? Would the soil shift around in the baggie because it would have no pot to hold it in place? Do you string a line across a window?? And I suppose a spring clothespin would be good to hold it up like laundry??? I just don't understand.

I am not saying it is the wrong way to do something,,,I just want to understand how it works! Thanks! Rosie

Rosie, I was told with grooming that the smaller leaves under the larger ones are the ones to remove because they will never grow out. The larger leaves will possibly balance themselves out with time. With the plant shown, I would do a little at a time and follow your instructions. J

Hi Rosie, it was in a ziplock bag because I had done a decapitation on it. It had been overwatered and was sitting in soggy soil at the store. I checked the roots and noticed a good portion was brown and rotted, so I just followed instructions from an African violet youtube video, decapitated it, and placed it inside a ziplock bag for a month. It looked pretty beaten up for several weeks but is thriving now. This variety seems to be very sensitive to sunlight (unlike the other Optimara, Little Tourmaline), so those brown spots are from sunburn and a few water marks from touching the sides of the plastic bag. I did try placing the violet in the closet for a few days and the crown loosened up, so the crown looks a bit better now than in the photo above!

There is a little gap now at about 2 o'clock. There was a small leaf there that was brownish and looked like it was just sucking up energy from the plant, so I removed it but now the symmetry is kind of ruined. I might try the toothpick method and see if the leaf at 3 o'clock can be shifted up to hide the gap better.

Ok, got it. Thanks! Rosie

Yes, that is what groomers do. You can also place a toothpick to the outside of the leaf above it to move it in slightly. Supposedly movement will be seen in a couple of days. Joanne

Joanne is right, use toothpicks but be careful to move them S L O W L Y or else you will get either a crooked leaf stem or broken leaf because of too much pressure. I have done both in my "learning days". I am slightly [lol] impatient! Good luck and keep us updated on your progress! We all learn from each other! Rosie