Your plant looks healthy ... and I'm sure it will bloom at some point.

That said, your pot may be a bit too large (larger than 4" in diameter).

African Violets will try and fill their pots with roots, before they ever think about blooming. That's why smaller pots are better for AV's.

Aegis, sometimes I think violets are like pets! I'm always trying to guess what they are trying to tell me. They are busy little things, worrying about their roots first :D

Can I ask if that is a 'grow light' bulb? Or just a regular light bulb? It seems to be growing well, but if it is just a regular light bulb, you might want to get a 'grow light' bulb, to give it the full light spectrum. That would help it to bloom.

Be careful not to give it to much light. I grow many of my fantasy bloomers under grow-lights, in my AeroGrow gardens, and the crowns get very tight, and hard. Then the bloom stalks cant get past the leaves to show the blooms. I have several postings on here of my fantasy bloomers under the lights.

IF the crown gets to tight, just place a sheet of paper towel over the violet and it give the plant enough shade to loosen the crown, it still lets in the light to make it bloom. So..what kind of bulb?? Is it a named variety?

Just had a comment from Irina that some violets simply don't do well under LEDs. Some do...we don't know ;)

How long have you had the violet? Sometimes it just plain takes a while for all of the above reasons. I just looked at the pot it is in,,,,,,is it a "cover pot" so that your violet has drainage? Or is it planted in that "pretty pot"??? Depending on the answer, there may be a problem. Just wondering. Rosie

Hi PooBearLvr,

How many twisted CFL lights to get alot of blooms?

This is long....sorry. Ok you only have 1 plant, and 1 socket that I see to put a light bulb in, so 1. BUT 2 would be better. They are called 'Natural Daylight', CFL 5000K, 800 Lumen Bulbs. Using only 13W of energy. By Sylvania. This is what the box says. There are 4 in a box for about $6-9 for them at Lowes.

I assume also at Home Depot or any place that sells a lot of light bulbs has them. This is the regular twisted CFL light bulbs, they have the full light spectrum. So it helps plants grow, it isn't even super bright.

But you can put them in any light bulb socket. Put the lights about 12in away from the violets, if they dont grow better, move closer, to close will burn them, to far and nothing will happen.

MY CFL light bulbs are from Aero-Grow. Their bulbs are made for their gardens. And only fit their gardens.

The AeroGrow light bulbs are up to $12 PER bulb! Replaced every 6 months. 2 bulbs per garden. They now have the LED lights, that are non replaceable. They produce all the light spectrum for 5 yrs. And next to no heat. I know it is a big push, but , if you wanted a garden to grow violets under you can buy any used one on Ebay, $40-75, and use it for just the lights, not the hydroponic part.

**** I have a BIG NEW one, never used, it is called the 'Farm Plus' garden, it costs $800 on the AeroGrow site. I am trying to sell it now for $400. It is BIG, if you wanted one. OR know of anyone that is looking for a big hydroponic garden??? It is unused, still in the box, and has (3) 12 pod seed kits with it, a trellis', and full warranty.

IF you really are into violets, or any house plants, you could grow A LOT of plants under these LED lights all year round. OR use it as a hydroponic garden and grow a lot of veggies/flowers in it.

It costs little to run. The initial purchase is the big cost. After that, it is no cost, except to run. Hey, I MUST sell it ASAP, so I am asking everyone!!! :) Good Luck. Hope this helps.

All and all - it just needs time. I would expect it to get the buds out in a couple of months after given good light - ferilizer - soil. If there is not enough light - and the leaves looking a bit up - confirms it - it will take longer - but eventually it will bloom. Double self watering ceramic pot .. I personally do not have good luck with them. But some people are quite handy with them.

With time - the blooming is unavoidable. May be push the grow light a bit closer to the plant. There is still a little bit of stretching up.

Ahhh .... 3 months of healthy foliage growth.

From the way it looks, you should start seeing flower buds any time now. AV's will flower when they're healthy ... and, rarely when they're unhealthy.

Flowering is a major endeavor for plants ... it requires a lot of stored energy. That energy comes from the light that the plant receives.

That's what your plant is doing right now ... storing up the necessary energy to bloom. It, likely, has only been able to do that during the last 3 months, but I would say that it's probably getting close.

I agree with Aegis. I let my new plants develop larger, healthy foliage for 2 to 3 months and feed with high Ni fert before allowing to bloom.

WOW,,,,,those are some really tight centers! Mites maybe??? That doesn't look like too much light. I would think with too much light the leaves would "hug" the pot downward! I got nothing,,,,sorry. Hope you figure it out. Rosie

Yeah ... that looks like mites.

Pitch it, thoroughly clean the area, ... and treat yourself to a new plant.

You could have bloom in as little as a few days ....

I'm afraid that certainly looks like mites to me. Ugh. Nasty little bastards.