I'm not sure there are thrips, but I saw the spilled pollen-- spraying now is kind of a just in case thing. Farmers are in the bean & corn fields mean that bugs are crazy. I travel for work so I'm a weekend gardener. I'll spray a few more times. Thank you for your advice! my violets are getting a lot of change -- all at once.

My T5s (another post) are a little bright but I found the dimmer areas with a light meter. I'm waiting for my husband to adjust the shelves a little. So violets want 800-1100 FC? Should I adjust the shelves so my bright areas are 1000? I think this would make the dimmer areas to 800

i appreciate your advice! i have a love-hate relationship with violets -- now I'm in the hate phase - but they will get better :)

when I repot, should I wait until the soil dries out?

I wouldn't wait until the soil dries out to repot. Waiting for the soil to dry risks having the plant at a water deficit already before repotting. It goes best for me when the violet's soil is moist.

The only thing I wonder about is whether, perhaps, you are using a pre-fertilized potting mix. If you are, AND you remove soil from your plants' roots before repotting, it could make it somewhat harder for new roots to establish, ... because of the tendency of fertilizer to burn new roots. Also, if you are using a fertilized mix, don't use additional fertilizer for at least 6 months.

My own experience is that I rarely have an issue with repotting, ... though I err on the side of leaving the roots intact. I usually just put the entire pot of soil (minus the old pot, of course) into a new larger pot and fill in. I don't do a lot of repotting (likely an error), preferring to repot from, say, a 2" diameter pot to a 4" diameter pot after maybe a year of growth.

I wouldn't dry it too... unless the variety is ungodly brittle - and not to the point when it is wilted.

I would think that 6 months without fertilizer is a bit extreme - 2 months is more what I will think is necessary - it all depends on the size of the plant - the young one will take longer to use it up than a mature one. Since I not always practice what I think is wise - I get some starters with fertilizer burn every so often.

I usually put a layer of a coarse perlite on the bottom - so when I repot - I scrape it off and remove the tired soil from the surface - and that's it. But I do not keep aged plants - year - year and half - and they go to the AV Council sale. AV people buy starters - and general public likes large blooming ones - so they find new homes. If I want to keep the old one - I will take the crown off and reroot it. It refreshes the plant and it goes into a new cycle of healthy bloom pretty soon. So- all and all - plant gets repotted from a solo cup to a 3" pot - than into 4-4.5" - and off it goes. Same technique as Aegis uses - minimum disturbance of the rootball.

The pictured violet is Lyndon Lyon Little Sweetheart. Semi-min. I've had it about 1.5 years. Most of my others are babies from an old violet my grandmother gave to me , at least 13 years ago. I'm trying to get them better looking so I can give to my family. My travel schedule didn't give me time to follow the best practices.

I'm using 75% perlite, 25% peat. And I continuously feed with ¼ strength fertilizer. I didn't put fertilizer in the water this time.

everytime I've repotted, I've tried to remove some of the old soil. I never know how many roots a violet needs given its size.

~Betina

If you are using pure peat to mix with perlite - a resulting mix is too acid. You need to balance the pH to 6.2-6.8, while pure peat has pH 3.5-4.5. If you do not want to do all the measuring yourself - you better get some already balanced soil mix. Promix, Miracle Grow and such are balanced and preloaded with fertilizers. So if you use these mixes as you use peat - and do not fertilize for a couple of months - you will be OK. If you are already doing Ph balancing yourself - you are fine.

Whoa! I didn't realize sphagnum ph was so low! I knew ph was something I need to pay attention to when I started the leaves. I planned on researching more before they grew up (I'm a little behind) I'm a bit out of my element in the plant world-- humans are fine tuned machines -- our lungs & kidneys compensate if our ph ventures outside of 7.35-7.45 I don't know how my violets have made it this far!

And I'm a bit overwhelmed! I'm still trying to apply & bring all the information together ive been given. I suppose I disturb the roots more, as I know the mix isn't good. I want to make my own (trying to get my Grammie's green thumb & my entire African violet interest). I originally started the leaves in 1-1-1, but I ended up removing the vermiculite -- the soil felt too wet to me. I'm not 100% satisfied with my 75-25 mix, sometimes it still feels too moist. illinois is humid! I may experiment with vermiculite again-- I think the stuff i used before was pretty fine (would coarse make a difference?) I will search the threads for a recipie.

As for now, I will only use water without fertilizer. I do have very hard water-- so my tap water is softened - so I don't use either. I buy gallons of spring water- I'm not sure of the mineral contents. Is spring water ok? Or should I used distilled?

Anything else I should do sooner than later for the ph? I will get supplies to check the ph, but that's a week away (dang work!). Would it be best to repot sooner than later?

i appreciate your advice!

~ Betina

Spring water is good - and usually the tap water from outside of the house is not softened. You need to use fertilizer. Peat moss is a very poor source of mineral salts.

1:1:1 is a good mix = or make it 1:3:1 to add the air. The trick is to add a layer of perlite on the bottom - to add air - and not compress the soil when potting.

Grannies - I mean grannies who won AV awards in olden days - added to their mix - charcoal, dolomite.egg shells, green sand, powdered cow manure, bone meal, garden loam. I wouldn't go to the soil from outside because of the chance of infestation by dreaded nematodes.

Egg shells are ok, as well as dolomite or oyster shells to fix the pH. The issue is - each bail of peat has a different pH - so you need a bit different dolomite amount every time.

I use the soil from violetshowcase.com. The owner mades it from scratch, corrects the pH to 6.6 and it is more of the olden days formula he guards. I add about 20% medium perlite because I wick. Order a small bag from him - and try - you probably would need more perlite because of the humidity. One of the best fertilizers is Dyna-Gro- the grow formula - 1/4 teaspoon per gallon.

Good Luck

Irina

Irina, thank you so much. I have purchased several pots & supplies from
Violet showcase.com. I have considered buying the mix many times. Idk why I haven't... I think I will try some since I'm bit in over my head now.

i use dyna-gro 9-3-6 for my other house plants, but I'll look for the other formula.

~Betina

Close enough.

Hi Betina! So sorry about your troubles! I am staying out of the mix, you already have great minds advising you. I will be moral support! Certainly hope things work out for you! Rosie