I see two contributing factors. Yes it can benefit from more light. But the main reason is genetics. Long weak bloomstalks is a "feature". Most hybridizers will cull the plant and not name it.

You can try to increase the light - if you grow under fluorescent light - move the plant to be in a center of the shelf - if it is a couple of T12s, or try 2 T8 tubes.

It should tighten the rosette and help with the bloomstalks. Rosette is doable, bloomstalks... not sure.

Good Luck.

Thank you Irina. I am a total newbie to AV and I picked this one up at a local nursery because I liked the varigated leaves. Now I am thinking I should have skipped it or looked for one that was more "compact", yes? I do not have it under lights, it is in a south facing window (with an overhang above) of my office.

You said "Most hybridizers will cull the plant and not name it.", what does cut the plant mean?

I was going to order another 1 or 2 from the Optimara people but after reading many posts here I think I will stop my my local florist and see what I can find, see if I can keep it alive before spending the $$ for shipping.

Any thoughts on the Optimara Watermaid self watering trays they have?

It's a pretty violet, sprawler or not.

As a newbie, I would avoid self-watering pots until I gained more experience. You need to develop a feeling for how damp your soil mix should be ...

Gigi -

When the hybridizer makes a cross - he sows 30-50 seeds - gets 25-40 babies, while they grow - the weak get culled down - chucked to the trash. As they grow - the lanky, poor growers again get to be trashed, lets say - he has 15 to bloom. Sometimes - none get named. Sometimes - several get selected - and back crossed to the parent or sibling... at the end only the best stay - and they get propagated from the leaf couple times to check if they are stable and bloom true. They are the plants that get named and released. So - it will take several years to develop a good named plant.

Normally the weak bloomstalks is a negative trait, droppers - the blooms that drop off instead of drying on the plant will be negative trait... the poor ratio of babies coming true from a leaf - is not good. Sometimes the plant is so special - the hybridizer will keep it and name it despite some negative things. Playful Spectrum is an example - fantastic flowers - but it is very rarely coming true from a leaf. You pretty much need to use suckers for propagation even it is not a chimera. Chimera 'Pony Ride' is a dropper - but it is a a cute semi-miniature chimera trailer.

Since you are newbie - you need to try different types of the violets to figure out how to grow them well and which ones you like the best. Buying from a florist, ordering them from Optimara, getting them from ebay - or Lyndonlyon.com or Violetbarn.com... you will do it all in time.

Buying the Watermaid from Optimara - it works - but making a reservoir out of a deli container works too and it is much cheaper.

I would say that right now you do not need very many plants - but you need to work on the growing technique. Read the information, get the books - my take is anything by Melvin Robey... you have a very decent AV despite being a newbie. So I am predicting a great success in your AV future.

Clay pots are not the best for AVs...

Thank you for the info - very interesting...

I will repot it out of clay tonight. How do I make a reservoir out of a deli container?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8D82zC3CBw

it is a video put by Ann-Marie Keene - the esteemed member of Gardenweb, miniature AV expert and a devoted cat lover.

PS You do not need repot your AV tonight. Eventually... when it will need to be repotted anyway - use a plastic pot. The problem - clay accumulates salts. But it takes time.

Irina,

What do you think about Oyama pots? I prefer the looks of them and since I am only going to have a few plants I can afford them...

Oyama Pots are very good. Especially for Streps. So far the best AVs are grown by the wicking method - when plants have a constant access to a lightly fertilized water. Oyama pots probably will be the second best.

My take is - AVs prefer constant soil humidity. Streptocarpus benefits from occasional light drying.

Irina, just one question: you said that clay pots accumulate salts. I was told by someone who according to her grew nice AVs in her family that the clay pots are more porous and therefore better for AVs. Please advise.

Yolanda - it was probably correct ....3 generations of AV growers ago.

Since then - we use significantly more light and porous mix - soilless. Loam from the garden is not a recommended part of the AV mix anymore. In a light mix - air access to the roots is better.

We use more fertilizer nowdays - sometime more than the plant needs - even the AV soil comes preloaded with fertilizer. Fertilizer is dissolved in water - and when the water slowly evaporates through the pores of the clay pot it creates a "patina" of salts. The worst you see it - on the rim of the pot - and if the leaf stems touch it - they get burns. Again - in olden times the growers dipped the rim of the clay pot in melted wax, covered it with a rubber tubing etc. to get around this problem. Now people grow AVs in plastic pots - and if they want the look - they use ceramics as a cachepot.

I.

Irina,

Just got my 3.5" Oyama pots but no instructions. Not sure how much perlite to put in the bottom of the inner pot, can you help?

just to cover upper slits with perlite.

When you water - there are 2 lines inside the outer pot. Fill to the lower one. If you are using the store bought AV mix - add 1/3 of perlite to it - and do not fertilize for a month - month and half until the preloaded fertilizer runs out. Afterwards - 1/8-1/4 f a teaspoon per gallon. Young plant takes less, full grown - more. The way how you water - wait untill all water is absorbed - and then wait 2-3 more days - and then refill. You probably can figure out the frequency of watering depending on the season after a couple of waterings. The idea is to refill after the surface of the soil is dry - but inch deeper is still humid.

3.5" pot is for the approximately 10.5 leaf span AV. If your plant is smaller - add more perlite to the bottom to reduce an amount of soil. And as usual - when you repot - it is a good time to remove older tired leaves from the bottom row or 2.

Good Luck

Irina

Irina, the AV soil that I bought at Lowes last May says that it contains reed-sedge peat or forest products, Canadian sphagnum peat moss, horticultural perlite and line for proper PH balance. There is no mention of added fertilizer. I have vermiculite which I add. When I go to the next AV meeting, I will get some perlite. Mr. Brownlie is the one in charge of selling it. I know the club made AV soil some time on a Saturday in the fall. I did not participate. My Saturdays are busy, and for another my mother is now in a nursing home and does require some attention. Some of my plants are in clay pots, and some in plastic ones. i am not growing for show, just for enjoyment, and probably will never show. I do not need that much attention.

Any comments, please.

Yolanda

s

Irina,

Thanks for the guidance. I looked all over the web and even emailed the vendor (VioletSupply.com) and could not find any info. Only 1 line inside the outer pot, just under 1" from the bottom of the pot. If I fill to that line the lower "plug" will sit all the way in the water and the upper slats will sit just on top of or barely in the water..... Also I purchased Violet Supply potting mix made for "wicking" AV pots, does not look like it has much perlite in it....add more? 50/50?

Gigi - I am not familiar with Violet Supply. I buy soil from VioletGallery.com

Yolanda - Brownlees are the experts for your part of the country. Give Doris a hug from me. I am thinking that the soil from Lowes - is much more inferior than anythng Mr. Brownlee can come up with. I would use this soil outside as a top dressing on my garden. Sedge peat is not good, sphagnum peat moss is the thing.

Regarding commericial mixes - they are made to maximize the profit - so the cheapest ingredient - peat - is 98% of the mix. The good part - it is already corrected to neutral pH. so you can add whatever you need and not worry about it. With all my respect to Lowes... I do not even buy garden tools there... they bend...

Irina, thanks for the comments. :Lowes is not necessarily my first choice. I just went there last spring in May to pick up more petunias for our yard. I used the opportunity to pick up AV soil. There is a better garden centre a further distance away, but the land there has been sold and it will be turning into a condominium building at least 10 storeys high. This is a city of approximately 3 million people. Land is valuable. There is Home and others that sell AV soil. There is MiracleGrow, but from what you write, I believe that I should be ordering soil from elsewhere. Kindly advise what you recommend.

Yolanda

I think the soll the club makes from scratch is preferrable. As far as of anything that has coir...and VioletSupply.com has coir in their mix - I keep hearing a lot of negative reviews on coir. At first - everything seems wonderful - but several months later plants start dying.

Miracle Grow, Promix Bx - is a good base for the home made soil - because it is already pH corrected. You just need to keep in mind that they have fertilizer and they have wetting agent added. So adding medium perlite - not small to dust - and witholding fertilizer for a while - makes it doable.

The fact that you purchase your soil from a reputable garden center doesn't make it top of the line. These places have thousands of varieties of plants on their shelves - and they do not have thousands of mixes. In this case - club - the chapter of AVSA or AVSC - has the edge - they do know their plants.

I.

Irina, thanks for the advice. Even now when I have gotten more into AVs, more so than BC (before children), I have always used the mixes sold in garden centres. I have been OK with it, but have always added perlite or vermiculite. I wanted to get some perlite last month, but I did not make it to the meeting. There was 15 cm of snow and after slidding home I decided to stay exactly where I was and not risk life and limb. I will get some perlite when I go next week. I will stay away from coir, and watch whether there is some fertilizer in the mix, and I might try the soil the club makes.

Yolanda