Hi! I am converting all of my violets as I get them onto wicks. I guess the most important thing I learned is you have to have a very porous soil.

I use a combination of 1 measure Miracle Grow potting mix, 2 measures perlite and 1 measure vermiculite. Doesn't matter what container you use for a measure just make sure you use the same container size consistently. Mix well and dampen just enough so it is not bone dry.

Then as I buy a new violet I take all of the soil I can off of it without damaging the roots too much and repot. I use a piece of string (it has no label but it doesn't rot) for the wick.

I don't constantly use dilute fertilizer water. I use plain water and once every couple of months I will use about 1/2 inch of fertilizer water for them to wick up and when that is done, I refill with plain water again.

I am still experimenting but so far the plants seem to be doing well. even the mini's and micro mini's.

I don't wick the kcups that I use for starting leaves. I only wick actual plants. When the babies from leaves are large enough to be in their 3in pots then they will go on wicks (I think!). Haven't got that far yet.

Any questions???? Feel free! Rosie

Thank you, Roise. I am kind of doing the same thing except my soil is 1-1-1. and I HAVE been using dilute fertilizer water so far with the couple I had wicked. It's interesting that you only use plain water and only fertilize occasionally. I would be afraid i don't get my blooms this way. :-)

Now that I will wick all others, I am still trying to figure out what to do with this fertilizer thing.

I have a problem that I saw reported by others too - a few weeks into my culture plants start getting smaller leaves, tighter crowns, leaves curl and the ones that are growing new look almost stunted. Not quite but almost. I have been trying to figure out whether this is a light issue or fertilizer issue. I did place leaves under my son's microscope and no pests are visible. So I think I am either providing too much light or I fertilize incorrectly.

I had been using the liquid Miracle-Grow fert for AV-s interchangeably with Jack's (that blue water soluble fertilizer that feels like sand between fingers). Lately though I had mainly switched to Jack's - which is high in phosphorous.I would place some in a 1 quart cup and water from the top. I did try to dilute the fertilizer but I was either not calculating correctly for 1 quart cup or I may have just put too much lately...I don't know.

But the result is tight, almost stunted, curly leaves - except on my mini Jitterbug that seems to be taking whatever it is thrown at him as long as you don't let it go completely dry.

Should i try plain water too and only occasionally use fertilizer?

Do you get enough blooms like this?

I'm no expert. However I recently read to top water when using fertilizer and plain water in the reservoir.

I am just in the process of getting everyone wicked. I have about 15 left to do. It is somewhat time consuming.

As far as fertilizer as I do it,,,,it is far too soon to tell how they are going to bloom. I will post pix when they start.

Why do I only let them have a week at a time sucking up fertilizer? I really don't know. I just don't want to burn them with too much so when they are finished drinking, I let them "dry out" for a few days, run water from the tap from top to bottom to rehydrate them and their wick, add fresh water in the container and set them back in.

I do dilute the fertilizer a lot. I just can't leave them in it all of the time. Especially in winter. They are not actively growing quickly in windows so they don't need constant feed.

Mine are in windows to they are at the mercy of the light that shines (or doesn't) in.

I don't fertilize rooting leaves at all. In fact I am having a dickens of a time rooting leaves. I use the lightest mix I can dream up. Plant the leaves and give about 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. water right at the stem. At this point I have experimented with domed containers and open containers and the results are the same. Rotted leaves. And you will NEVER see condensation on the lids. They just die. Should I not give them that drink? My medium is not wet. It is just barely damp and I do mean barely. A person dying of thirst would not be able to suck water out of it! It is not dry damp,,,,but just barely damp.

I do have some that have taken a good hold and hopefully will put up little ears. But compared to the amount of leaves I have put down I will have very few babies to show for it. Really discouraging.

I have run a small fan, and not run the fan. I have just use a sprayer bottle with a light mist over the undomed ones and actually I do think the undomed ones do better for me. Now winter will be a different story, as soon as that furnace goes on I will have to protect everyone. I am making terrariums out of recyclable bottles for the minis and micro minis. They will dry out too soon in winter. Our house gets really dry.

Oh I am rambling too much again. If you have any other questions about my wicks I will try to stick more to the point! Promise!!! Rosie

Joanne I might have considered top watering with fertilizer water and then plain water in the bottom, but I want them to have just a little more fertilizer than that. I don't know why I just can't make the leap to constant feed. I know a lot of people do. I just can't. Seems like too much for my violets. I like to give 'em a break now and then. Rosie

Rosie,

You are wise to be conservative with the fertilizer!

Mine have been on constant feed (some wicked, some top watered) - and something is not right. As mentioned in the other threads, now I am struggling to figure out why most of my AV-s have a tendency to curl and get tight and small leaves at the crown.

Based on all I read, it is more likely to be the fertilizer than the light - as mine have not been exposed to that much ore light than I hear most are doing.

So I am increasingly suspecting the "constant feed" approach - even when you go light on the dose. Sometimes, you think you do and then you err on the side of extra, just to make sure those blooms come in quicker and bigger. And if the fertlizer also has a larger Phosphorous content, this can further add to the problem. It is only recently that I became informed of this.

I am just curious - how are your blooms?

You seem to fertilize relatively rarely. Do you still get lots of blooms?

I don't think constant feed is bad as long as you give the plant a break and use plain water for at least a week or so in between. Like 3 weeks on and one week off, or like me about 2 weeks on and 1 week off.

AND the one thing that is absolute. DILUTE that fertilizer to about 1/4 strength for constant feed. Ask Patience to help you with that! lol If you just measure full strength and constant feed you may burn your plants roots. Without roots your plant dies.

I am not interested in pushing to the limits for spectacular blooms. I just want nice violets, and I believe they need a break from blooming. I don't want to burn them out. I cannot duplicate the "near perfect" cycle of care, watering, light and feeding of the commercial growers who have many people and resources to do one thing only,,,,,,grow fast and get 'em out.

Unlike me, they don't hold one up and lovingly admire the glitter of the flower, or the beautiful shape of a leaf or petal. And that is the difference between a professional operation and a home grower. I am in it for the long haul. Just my opinion. Rosie

I would love to get behind the scenes of the growers such as Lyon's to understand what they do to sell a plant in bloom. The Lyon's plants typically arrive with a few blooms on starters. When those fade, the plant develops leaves, they are the same size as the original leaves, usually, large, and just the right amount. Then when it blooms, the plant is well formed and balanced. This is very different from the commercialization of the Optimara product that is sort of like the forced bulls that are sold in the spring. The bulbs are not healthy and if kept over, take years to mature and grow. I used to know a lot about spring bulbs and the difference between those grown for blooming in the garden, vs. those grown basically for one-time use only. A real gardener knows that if he or she wants a bulb to grow well in the garden, then to buy bulbs and give them six months in the ground. So that is why I probably never thought too much about the Optimaras until Annie started talked about it. I think years ago, the Optiimaras I bought in stores were the exact opposite. They were plants with small leaves

and lots of blooms. Then after they grew for six months and bloomed again, the leaves were much larger and the blooms much larger. So Optimara must be doing something to force the plants now that was not done in the past.

When I first joined this forum, those who were long-term growers said they always started plants from leaves. Well, I was spoiled rotten by all the nurseries around where I lived and worked that had many blooming Optimaras, a new shipment each week. So it took me years to understand the difference between a plan grown from a leaf vs. a store bought plant.

Maybe it is the public, who were demanding microwave violets. Anyway, I like the Optimara company, however, they are a business, always seeking to grow and expand.

I dunno, maybe it is like take-out lasagna vs. the real deal you make from scratch. The take-out is passable but the home grown more satisfying. Joanne

Yep! Joanne your last line says it all. That is soooo correct! Oh man now I wish I had all the stuff for home made lasagna! lol

I think that a violet from a grower (quick grow,,sell fast) pays a price. We see the beauty and want/buy it. But like a forced spring bulb it pays a price for all that quick growth etc.

Then we trim leaves, plant and tenderly grow them, separate the babies, plant and they grow at the natural violet rate of growth and to me that has to make a sturdier plant and I believe ONLY THEN, do we see the "true" plant. Maybe we like it and maybe we don't. Maybe it will do well for us and maybe it won't. And we make decisions.

BUT it won't stop us from doing it again and again and again. And discussing and dissecting the how, when, why and darn of it all. It is all so much fun!

Although (off av topic) if you do buy a fall bulb sold in the spring (even marked down clearance) plant them as soon as the ground is ready and they will recover nicely and the following spring they will bloom very well. I do it all the time. Rosie

Some violets come into their own only in maturity, after several years. Just like people. They change over the years. The blooms might get smaller but more plentiful. Or they might get bigger but lighter in color.

If you buy a left over bulb, it will do fine. It is dormant, so it has not lost anything. A forced plant is different. If you buy a plant flowering from a forced bulb, all the energy has gone into the flowering. So the bulb will be skinny. If planted, it needs to rest in the ground to recover and be fed with bone meal to plump up. Many people find these forced bulbs too skinny to bother planting, so they buy plump bulbs developed to go into the ground. With bulbs, you have to get into a relationship with them. You have to dig a hole in the mud or break up the nearly frozen ground. So with all that work, I want to plant only those with the most promise. Joanne

47,

Interesting you mentioned the big companies who do something to the plants to get them ready for sale - whether that's Optimara turning them into Thanksgiving Turkeys or Lyndon Lyon getting them to bloom even when they are very young (eek...it sounds like child abuse :-))))) - JOKE,JOKE, JOKE - just in case anyone chooses to be offended].

I keep reading how the big companies don't treat the plants with personalized care - it is all mass produced (handling, the soil, etc). Many people mention how they take the plants right out of that "awful" soil Optimaras come in because it is "too heavy".

And yet when all is said and done, the plants arriving straight from the producers are absolutely gorgeous - huge leaves, enormous bouqet of blooms, etc - despite all the alleged mistreatment. Also, if that peat soil Optimaras come in is that bad, why is the company using that and not something else in the first place?I use the perfect 1-1-1 and they use that bad, "heavy peat" - and yet their results are spectacular whereas mine are barely noticeable.

By contrast, I fuss over the plants at home and try to do everything pharmaceutically correct - yet they are nowhere close to where the professionals get them in their green-houses.

I know they do "professional things" to their plants but I wonder what exactly are those "professional" things? They can't be "secrets" like in the restaurant industry, right?

Is it the green-house humidity that we can never hope to provide at home?

The perfect lighting? The perfect fertilizer regimen? If yes, what are they using, at what rate and with what changes?

It's quite fascinating.

To me, as a home grower, if i can't achieve serious, dense bloom at home, the hobby doesn't have that much appeal. I do it mostly for decorative purposes and lots of cabbages laying around is not what I call "decoration". :-) That was the reason why I kind of almost gave up at some point. Overall, my violets have bloomed SOME, over time, but I was never able to achieve that 24/7 / year-round, dense bloom at least from one at a time, even when I had a little collection going.

Most of the times they all just sit like cabbages there - and I am not too excited about that. :-)

I guess PATIENCE must kick in again.

Thank you, Rosie. That was wonderful. I could picture all those green houses Henry-Fording the plants!! :)I think a big thing for the plants is humidity.

I am the daughter of two agronomist engineers and when I was little they would sometimes take me to work with them. Anyone who stayed longer in a green house learns those are veeery different conditions from any normal house whatsoever. Can hardly breathe in there.

I think that even if they forgot to water the plants, all that humidity would never let them go altogether dry.

Unfortunately, when I tried to increase humidity in my conditions by placing saucers with waters around, I ended up with powdery mildew. :(

Agronomist engineers? Wow, sounds fascinating! What else do you like to grow? I forget where you live ... Maybe you don't need too much humidity. Joanne

Despite the parents, I am not that good at growing anything. So mainly just the AV (a hobby) and a few container plants outside (with some geraniums, spikes and some yellow flowers whose names I forgot now). Believe it or not, my parents, now retired, are not that interested in growing many things either because they grew industrial quantities of vegetables and flowers for a very large green house company their entire lives. Whatever looks like a "lovable hobby" to us, it feels like pure work for them. :-) And yes, I am not sure what this occupation would be called here, but back in my home country their job title was "agronomist engineer" - they both have advanced degrees in Agriculture and used to oversee large teams of workers. You could get lost in those greenhouses they worked on.

Today my mom can't stand fussing over flowers anymore - she calls them weeds and no longer has patience with them :-)). I think she produced an actual mountain of carnations in her life.

I live in the South - so humidity should not be an issue right now, but in the winter it gets bad and the plants need more of it, that's for sure. One advantage is that I keep my violets in the kitchen so the vapors from cooking often help with the humidity.

Oh Begonia, don't drive yourself crazy trying to duplicate greenhouse conditions/results. Just take one violet at a time,,,get to know it,,,love it and go from there. Just as no 2 kids are alike,,,neither are plants.

Yea, filling containers with water for humidity is like spitting in the ocean to raise the sea level! An exercise in futility!!!! My opinion of course.

Violets will do ok in spite of us. I think we need to slow down a bit and not have the high expectation of perfection that we see in the pix.

As for me,,,,I just grow for the love of growing! Oh yeah, and reading GWF also!!!! lol Rosie

Rosie, I was wondering how these show growers manage to produce such perfect plants in the home. They don't have green houses with huge humidity either or anything on automation...and yet, I have seen so many home-grown plants with perfect foliage and showers of bloom. I never imagine just how right can they can possibly get all the three 4 factors (soil, fertilizer,light and humidity) to produce such great plants.

According to the articles I have read in my old AVSA mags, they choose a plant from "birth", and they focus on that plant until show time. Yes they still devote time to all of their other plants, but even more attention is paid to every little detail to the "chosen" ones.

Kinda like making play clothes for my little girls. No big deal, whip 'em up after all they are only gonna play in them.

BUT when I made their Baptismal Gown (from my wedding gown) and then their First Communion dresses,,,,,well,,,,,they took much longer, I went slower and paid more attention to detail. Every seam was perfect. Play clothes??? not so much.

That's how, Begonia! Rosie

Interesting....so A LOT of fussing and attention. :)

i think that when the novice grower does that,, they can kill the violet with too much kindness, as the saying goes.

One of the things that kind of frustrates me with growing av-s is the blooming part. Being a bit of a perfectionist,when I want something I kind of want it ALL ...so I do that with the blooms too. Knowing a plant's maximum potential I want THOSE blooms and not one or two occasional pitiful stalks . Yet I know that in order to get a whole bouquet of blooms I must do disbudding for a while. This means I stay with cabbages in the house most of the time, until I can allow the plants to bloom - and I don't really like that either.

A few of my av-s are now coming up with buds but I decided to disbud so I can maximize blooming further down the road, hopefully around Christmas. I live for the day when I will see the rise of the bloom army, all riled up to avenge their murdered brothers. :))))))

Oh yeah! So much fussing and attention for a show plant. I think we should start out slow and learn about the plants and try this and that and then find a way to grow them with OUR house climate instead of wanting peak performance right out the gate.

I disagree that the only way to get mega blooms is to disbud. (But remember,,,,,,I am not grooming for shows!) I have never disbudded. I just don't have the heart. And the plants bloom when and how much they want to. I have a plant right now in a 6inch pot that I put out this spring on the deck and the leaves are a little bleached out but it is blooming nicely for the first time in a long time.

I know that if I would get back on a regular schedule with fertilizer I would have blooms upon blooms. but I don't have any way to wick a 6in pot. So she still gets watered the old fashioned way. AND not regularly. But she is throwing up a nice amount of bloom! Go figure! Rosie

If you got the idea of disbudding from the All About African Violets, she does that because she is growing show plants. In my experience, similar to Rosie's, when the plant is younger, it sends up a few blooms in a symmetrical pattern. First one comes, then another, and so on. It can surprise you with a parade of blooms. Then as it grows, with each cycle, it might produce more and larger blooms. The way to learn about the plant's pattern is to allow it to bloom normally. Most have scattered blooms, not huge clouds, especially when young. Another reason to disbud is when taking a plant home from a store. Many people disbud to make sure there are no thrips. They also keep the plant in a separate location for several months because thrips might not show up until the plant blooms again. The violets that have large clouds of blolms, called a bouquet, are the Optimara plants bought in stores.

There is more to getting lots of blooms, but that's enough info for now. Joanne

Begonia, I enjoyed reading about your parents' work! Rosie, it was fun to read about your sewing baptismal gowns from your wedding gown! How sweet!

Joanne

Oh thanks Joanne!

And Begonia I also enjoyed reading what I call "the back story!" It is interesting to read these things.

But I think you are doing a little better than you realize with your plants. You have reached out for information and that is the first step. We are here to help you achieve your goal---nice plants!

Like all of us,,,,,you are impatient for that spectacular flush of bloom time after time. Hey we all want that. BUT that is not the reality. I think you are finding that out if you take these posts seriously. And I think you are.

Start out slooooooow. Get all the knowledge you can. Love those plants and forgive them for not being picture perfect. Remember, when you bought them they were not lovingly hand raised (the way you and I do from leaves), t hey started out on a production line and finished in a dark box on the way to the store and unpacked and plopped on the shelf. Then you and I found them.

Now they have to readjust and regroup to get on a normal growing schedule and THERE is where we say "oh that is not the bloom it had when I bought it".

That could be true. But this poor plant has to reschedule itself. Like an adopted dog from the pound. He doesn't know the rules of your house. He has to regroup and adapt.

I think your plants will do well, keep posting, keep asking, and keep growing! It will all make sense one day! I call that my "AHA moment"! I have them frequently! You will also!

Here is something no one has brought up yet about blooms. I am starting with a leaf so I can explain it correctly.

Plant a leaf, pot the baby, it starts to grow. It puts out leaves in a rosette pattern. When the time is right (based on fertilizer, care, etc) flower buds form under the TOP set of leaves. (remember this is a very young violet putting up its first blooms.)

Fast forward. Flowers now die, you trim off flower stalks. Plant is still putting out leaf rosettes. More flower buds are forming. POINT! flowers will never again form where the first flowers came from. Under that first set of leaves. NEVER AGAIN.

2nd set of flowers are forming under that NEXT set of leaves! And they bloom and as that is happening leaves continue to form and,,,,,,,,, POINT! flowers will never again form where the second flowers came from. Under that second set of leaves. NEVER AGAIN.

3rd set of flowers are forming under the NEXT set of leaves! And the process goes on and on and on.

I wanted you to know this blooming process because eventually if you never take off outer leaves or don't turn your violets every so often so they don't "lean" or reach toward the window or center of the light tubes your violet will keep growing UPward and you will suddenly find yourself with a possibly necky plant. (topic for another thread!) That is why we eventually trim off the outer leaves (and of course plant them) which gives the next set of leaves a way to have room to flatten and be the "first row". And light gets way in there. And more blooms come!

But never will flowers ever form again from the same "row" they were in prior. I hope I explained this correctly. Kinda like where to babies come from? Well now you know where do flowers come from? Hope I didn't confuse you with all of this. Rosie

Rosie, are the buds forming from the crown leaves? Isn't that where the new or next set of leaves are forming? Always from the top row, where the new growth takes place? Joanne

The very first buds on a new baby are coming from under the crown. If you look at a baby violet forming her first buds you will see what I mean. I wasn't sure I explained it correctly.

Even take an established plant and "track" where the buds are now, to where the next "set" comes from. They will never come from the same row they were in, they always move up a row. As the plant grows more leaves the new flower buds "move up" a row also.

Maybe I am not the one to explain this. I know what I mean. But I am not sure I am using the correct words. To bad I can't just draw a pix! (and use my crayons lol !) Rosie

Hi, thanks, that is what I thought you meant, the rows move up, the new growth is from the center. In the article that I read, by Pat Hancock, it suggested removing leaves from the bottom row at the rate of once a month to send growth to the crown. I personally have never tried it, I just passed along what I read because there was a question about encouraging blooms. When I remove leaves for grooming purposes, it does seem to stimulate new growth.

As for the statement about removing leaves from minis, that was from an article by Dr. Ralph Robinson, the hybridizer of many minis. He wrote that a mini should not have more than 15 leaves to encourage blooming.

So removing leaves from the bottom row will eventually produce a neck, but it not right away. It can be "potted down," as you described in another post on the longest-living African violet. There are videos showing that process on You Tube and on one of the more recent podcasts, All About African Violets. There is also a video shown either on the Lyndon Lyon's website or on your tube.

When the neck is scraped, and inserted into the potting mix, roots will grow from that exposed area. Hope this helps. Joanne

Yep Joanne that is what I meant! Whew,,,,,,sometimes I just don't explain things right. Maybe I know what I mean and it makes perfect sense to me,,,,but that doesn't mean anyone else understands it!

Thanks for the mini lesson. I have a couple and one suddenly is growing out a lot of leaves. At least I think they are all leaves and not suckers. Today was not a day to do violets. Maybe tomorrow I will give it a better look.

Thanks for all the info! Rosie