I have this problem with any AV I buy. I can't figure out why. I am guessing it is my lighting and probably heat. My plants are in Windows and living in south Florida and even with the ac on, it's quite warm. It takes my plants a good month and sometimes longer to start doing anything. I have a Russian mini, Beauty Goddess that I got in June that has yet to bloom.

It is possible that the plant is spending time growing roots right now (to fill its pot). I am typically up-potting my starts to 4-inch pots now to motivate growth in size, ... but doing so often involves the plants seeming to sit for a bit as they work to first fill their pot with roots. Once the roots have grown for a time, the foliage will start to grow and the plant will subsequently bloom.

If I had a plant which seemed to be sitting for too long, ... I would consider freshening its potting to stimulate it a bit. I'd also likely hold off on the fertilizer until I was sure that it was growing ...

For me it's not just the blooming, it's the foliage too. It doesn't grow.

Aegis,

I didn't use fertilizer until recently, exactly based on this rationale; but when I saw it wasn't growing, I thought it was maybe starting to need fertilizer. With or without, it's not moving. Maybe it did grow a bit since I got it and i don't notice, but if it grew any, it is almost unnoticeable.

IME, Concord is naturally a very small violet - even at blooming size. And it didn't grow quickly nor did it bloom constantly. I would not be concerned after only one month. It is for some violets harder to adjust to a change in culture than it is for others and of course growing conditions are going to be different at your home that it was at the grower's. If you know it to be in good soil, in good light and properly watered, then I would advise a bit of patience. It is quite a charming little violet when it blooms.

So this is just a small standard that I should not expect to grow too large?

Its leaves are also on the hard, almost crunchy side. The center/crown is not too tight or stunted...but overall, this violet is definitely not growing very fast and its leaves are quite thick and rigid.

'Concord" is a very stubborn and not an easy plant to grow. Yes - it is a small standard. It will do better under the lights instead of a windowsill - and that's how it was grown at the Violet Barn. Flowers are stunning - otherwise nobody would ever grow this disagreeable thing. Get yourself an 8 oz bottle of Dyna-gro 7-9-5 - from Amazon - use 1/4 of a teaspoon per gallon for watering and foliar feeding. For foliar feeding use distilled water - it won't leave spots on the leaves. Fertilize - every time you water, spray - every 2 weeks. 4 inch pot is too big for this one, probably 3" is better - since it probably never grow to 12" size. Good luck - you bought yourself a challenge.

I.

Irena, can I just say that you have been very much missed around here. Welcome back.

Begonia, you have just received advice from someone who truly knows what she is talking about. I do hope you follow Irina's suggestions.

Anne

Anne - Thank You

Irina, Your fan club welcomes you back! J

Thank you. It seems to me you guys have a good strong team here. When I showed up here 16 years ago - Fred Hill from NJ - was my main mentor, Nancy Robitaille was great - and now they both are growing violets in a Violet Heaven. New generation of AV mentors took their job.

Welcome back, Irina - so great to have you back!

I appreciate your advice, this is really helpful ! Should I always fertilize with Dyna Gro? Recently I have been alternating fertilizers (Optimara and Jack's) but I also use a very diluted version every time I water because I think I killed a violet over the summer due to too much fertilizer with high phosphprous (Jack's).

I prepare the solution in a 1 quart container and I have been adding one quarter of 1/8 teaspoon in there; that would make it very little. This might be too diluted but three of my violets ARE blooming on this now; maybe not with massive amount of bloom but nice enough.

I am also wondering if i should repot Concord at this point just to give it a push. I never did repot it since it came from VB less than a couple of months ago because I felt the like the soil was quite right; but maybe it's time to do do.

Hi -

If it is still in a VB soil - only bottom watering. Their soil is not for wicking. I think your idea is good - move it to a fresh soil with the pot 1/3 of the current leaf span.

Optimara fertilizer is very good. Jack's is very heavy on urea as far as I remember. High phosphorus is supposedly increases the bloom for the Show plants. Generally the balanced fertilizer is better in a long run - because the plants are happier. You are using a correct amount of the fertilizer now. I just cannot imagine how to divide 1/8 of a teaspoon evenly into 4 portions... you are good! (I would use a gallon of water just to save an aggravation ;-))

The problem with all these old and good fertilizers - they change the formula to the cheap urea nitrogen - and it is not the same anymore.

It works for you - stick to it. Want to try something different - why not. Just select 1 plant and use Dyna Gro - 1/4 teaspoon per gallon - it is liquid - so you can use a dropper - there are 100 drops in a teaspoon - so 6-7 drops per quart. Every time you water.

And no matter what you do - darn Concord will take a long time to grow and bloom.

Irina

Irina,

That's exactly what I thought when I did the calculations: how in the world am I going to correctly pick a quarter of a 1/8 of teaspoon?!!

I do have an actual 1/8 teaspoon. I fill a quarter of that little thing gauging at the eye level :-)....and really, you just end up with a few crumbs for a quart container. Very little.

Ooooh..I did not know Jack's is heavy on urea...maybe this is what killed my plant over the summer! I recently started on it again but now that you told me, I'll remove it.

I will alternate Optimara and Dina Gro. Someone at Pikes told me a few weeks ago that they were expecting to carry this one pretty soon so maybe they already got it there. Will go check because it's right next to my house.

Also, right now my Concord is in one of those VB green square plastic pots (this is how they sent it); but it is more like 1/2 the violet's diameter (maybe), not 1/3. But really, anything smaller than this container would be a 3oz cup - I am not sure what else it could go on.

Wouldn't that be better to just leave it in this one and be patient until the roots fill up the pot? Maybe this is why it's sitting there - it may be busy growing roots to fill up the pot, as aegis said.

I will change the soil though. This is not wicked, I am just hand watering...rather spraying until I see one drop come out at the bottom and then I stop. I do this because I learned I had to be very careful with how much water I drop in. Since I have been spraying, rather than pouring water in, I stopped losing AV-s to over-watering.

I think you know what you are doing. VB soil has a lot of vermiculte and for your type of watering is appropriate, Yup - the square pot is probably just right.

If you look at the label on your Jack's - you will see that it is 7.67% urea.

Counting grains of fertilizer??? you have good eyes! And lots of patience...

Well...I don't count the grains. :-)

I fill the 1/8 teaspoon only one quarter full - eye level. As my AV-s grow and some multiply, the spraying will get annoying. I don't have many now but I plan on wicking a few soon.