Right now in Grand Rapids, the day is longer than 7:20 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Sunrise is about 6:15 am and sunset : 8:53 pm.

Hey DJ! Hi! Glad your plants are doing well! Rosie

Gee,,,,blush,,,,,thanks DJ! This is a great forum. And a lot of great information readily available for the asking. Don't forget to show pix of your babies! Rosie

I think the next thing - all plants start reaching up.. doesn't seem that it is enough. I wish you would show us a pic of your center leaves reaching..

i.

I have heard of center leaves reaching up to protect the crown from excessive light.

Likely never experienced it as I'm at the other extreme (too little light) ...

Hi Irina. It's not a great pic, but best I could come up with spur of the moment:

Hey DJ, what size pot is it in? Let me just hazard a guess here. This looks to be a large leaved violet. In my opinion, the pot looks a little small. If this were my plant, based on this view, I would take off the lower leaves (and of course start them) and let the crown spread out a bit.

The top couple rows of leaves look just fine. It is the outer leaves that should be taken off and started or traded.

Everything looks healthy but crowded. And if this is a large leaved plant it can go in a 6in pot but probably no larger.

Anyone else want to jump in???? Rosie

i can tell that you use 1/4 teaspoon of fertilizer. Very well fed leaves.

Adult plants often have the bottom leaves drooping. That's why when growing for the show people use support rings.

I think you can do your tweaking now just by adjusting time.

I do not think DJ needs to remove leaves. I would reduce the fertilizer - and do exactly the same - tweak light.

It's been many years - since the mid-80's - that I last grew AVs. I honestly stare at the leaves of Optical Illusion - they are truly monstrously HUGE. Fully 5 inches long and 3 1/2 inches wide. I've never seen such a thing before.

Rosie - It's in a 4" pot, but I agree, it seems to be outgrowing it. The biggest pots I bought were 4", because I'd never seen a plant reach the sizes some of mine have. These were *babies* just 3 months ago - starters in 2" pots! My other large ones are Rhapsody in White, Lyon's Spectacular and Frosty Cherry.

Irina - Shortly after I got Optical Illusion, I noticed a good-sized sucker growing right at the soil line. So, a month ago I took the sucker off - it had a fully-formed root system - and potted it up. No bagging/no dome - wicked and straight onto the light cart. It has already grown two more layers of leaves. When did hybridizers start growing them so HUGE? The plants I remember, way back, were no doubt Optimaras I got at a local store. I never worried about or cared if they had names or not. Now all of mine have names, and all were bought directly from growers and hobbiests. What a difference 30 years makes! lol

DJ, I started growing violets in 1960. Even back then they had very large leaved violets that they called Supreme. HUGE leaves like yours. There were no micro minis. Just minis, semi-minis, standard (normal size) and supreme(huge). I had so much fun! Propagated all over my house and basement. Sold the babies for 35 cents each and would not sell one if it didn't have a bloom. Oops! I just tripped down Memory Lane again!!!! Yes 30 years (more for me) does make a difference.

I just got back into violets a few years ago. Little by little. The only source I had was Lowe's and Meijer groc store. But I loved them even though they were only Optimaras.

Then our furnace went out for 5 days and I lost darn near everything. Babies and adults alike. That is the downfall of wick watering. Since the soil was already damp, once the temp dropped there was no way to warm them. But the generous people here helped me recover. I am forever in their debt.

AND, I have had to learn new ways of doing things as far as starting leaves. Yes things did change after all these years. I am still looking for some of my favorites. I did find an old friend at the Ann Arbor violet show. Lyons Pixie Blue Trail! Maybe I will find Pixie pink and Sweetheart Trail next time!!!!! Sorry to ramble! Memory Lane sure is a long road! Rosie

It's a wonderful hobby, isn't it? I'm sure I watched my grandma watering her AVs on her kitchen windowsill, in wonder. I was very lucky in that my grandparents were both avid gardeners - how I loved hanging out with grandpa in his garden, watching the birds! He grafted branches on trees - and I hear it's now a lost art. We had one tree that had apples, oranges, and peaches! Was a wonderful way to grow up.

I wish I could help you find the AVs you hold in memory. I can't get out to stores anymore, so I shop online. Does Optimara not sell direct? I suspect they don't. Probably part of the contract they hold with the stores.

I didn't know there was such a thing as "supreme" AVs in the 60's! My local stores in the 80's and 90's probably didn't carry those. I recall one plant in particular, had white blooms outlines in blue. I loved that one, and grew babies from leaves, but the babies had blooms that were all solid blue. I didn't understand the genetics back then, and still struggle to understand them now.

At that time, I was raising rare tropical fish - Basin Lake fish in particular, because they were becoming extinct, or already were extinct in the wild. I used to water my AVs with used "fish water" and they loved it! Those were fun days!

I am glad now that the local water here doesn't have chloramines. The hoops some fish breeders had to jump through was really pitiful. And now so many places do use chloramines, and it's affecting everything.

Anyway, I've just jabbered your ears off (or eyes out - lol)! So good to finally talk to everyone here!

Such a lovely trip down the memory lane.

DJ - I am thinking that now you can devote more time and resources to AVs, create the perfect conditions for them - and grow them ... to the monster pumpkin size if you want. Before - you have many more things and many more hobbies - so you were spread thin.

Does yor Optical Illusion have puff fantasy?

Irina

Hi Irina! Yes, the Optical Illusion has profuse pink puff fantasy. Let me try to put a photo here:

Very nice! Yep - reds, blues and purples ... hard to photograph.

DJ what a nice ride down your Memory Lane! I agree with Irina,,,,some colors are sooooo hard to photograph!

Optimara sells thru Lowe's and Meijer's in my area. Those are the only stores I know of that sell violets around me. Otherwise I trade or have to resort to online (rarely).

I have seen pix of Optical Illusion and it is beautiful! Rosie