Another flower:

there is a AViolet forum.. though i have no idea how active it is ...

here are some pix: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=Shiawasee+Trailer+African+violet&iax=images&ia=images

are you sure that yours are any different.. i suspect you may be trying to solve an issue where there isnt one... i call that.. loving it to death ....

imo.. just enjoy it.. and dont worry to much about it.. it is extremely unusual that a newly bought plant has problems ... growers have significant ag inspections so as to avoid shipping plants with problems ...

learn how to water it properly ... rotting the roots off with too much water ... can easily be done ... but thats not whats going on here ...

ken

Looks fine to me.

And to me. Perfectly normal.

Thank you, Ken and everyone else for responding. You’re right...maybe I am just overthinking it. My other african violets are the single pansy types. Those open up wide. This is my first AV with such ruffled petals that they hide the anthers. Such a relief to know that it’s normal and not a disease of some sort. Now I can go back to enjoying it minus the anxiety. :) Thanks again, everyone!

1. it is blooming like it is supposed to.

2. Use Google Image search to compare what you have and what other people have in bloom - just like Ken suggested.

3. There is an APP for Android (I do not think there is one for Iphone) - go to Google Play, search for First Class for Android - for $14.99 you will install a database on your phone with 10K photos and all the descriptions of registered AVs up to this moment.

Shiawasee Trail (9023) 03/23/2001 (S. Sanders/R. Brenton) Double blue and white variable star. Medium green girl foliage. Standard trailer

Blossoms are different on different varieties - and this trailer has double flowers with inside petals shorter than outside petals, the shape of the blossom looks like an open bell, very pretty.

If all the plants you grew before came from Home Depot, Walmart and similar big box stores - you dealt with Optimara varieties. Most of the available on the shelves are standard rosette type with single blossoms. They are bright and very durable and we all started our hobby with these plants.

I am very envious - you have so many varieties to try, so many new things to learn... so much fun ahead of you...

been there done that bought a T-shirt... miss all the exitement I had on the way...

I appreciate your commenting again, irina_co. I’m in early days of this wonderful new hobby and I’m hungry to learn all about it. I feel a little embarrassed that I’ve asked so many questions here already, but I have no other place to go for real advice. I do wish there was some sort of African Violet club where I live. :(

It sounds like you’ve been at this African Violet thing for quite awhile. Do you have a very large collection?

Irina, it's not hoarding if you sometimes release inmates for good reasons.

Very addictive, AV and streptocarpus!

And MANY Different gessies... with occasional Begonias...

Lol, irina_co! I see myself getting to the point of hoarding in the future. It’s crazy how 1 plant quickly and easily turns into 20. Honestly, if I’m not spending time with the AVs I have now, I’m drooling over ones I see online. My wish list is getting scary long...

If you pace yourself a bit - and work on what you have now... we all know that better less but in a ship shop shape.. The original rush is to collect all colors and sizes. Logically would be to investigate shelves and lights and soils and fertilizers, try wicks and mats or individual reservoirs.. whatever works the best.. it will slow down moving from 20 to 200 plants and further..

Could you let us see what palace you've built for your gems please? I remember them growing in my university office, north facing, in an air-conditioned room, next to indirect sunlight. It was smothered with flowers!

Light shelves. Probably 4-5 will be grand - and I have 11...

Whoa, irina_co, 11 shelves! You weren’t kidding about the hoarding! :)

I’m definitely trying to pace myself and work on caring for the AVs I have now. It helps that Hawai’i is pretty barren when it comes to AV plants and supplies so I have to mail order just about everything. :/

I have a few plants that no matter what I do, they fail to thrive and struggle to survive. I may just have to resign my efforts and toss them in the bin. When that happens I’ll have space for a few more new ones that will hopefully fare better.

I think we all (or most of us) have plants like that. I have one that has limped along for 2 or 3 years, I think it's on it's way out now though.

Hear, hear! Some plants do not grow well no matter what - sometimes it helps to get another line of the same variety from a different vendor. Plants mutate just a little bit with time - actually with a multiple propagation propagation... and what was grand 20 years ago becomes a dawg nowadays. I am with DB - you only baby it for so long... so many plants, not enough space... better to keep a better performing one.

irina_co Streptocarpus is even more addictive. I used to have some, but the lack of moisture in my house killed them off.

You can start now! Or perhaps you've already done so!

Whoa, MYAL plantLOVER, those flowers are beautiful! I’ve never heard of Streptocarpus before. They remind me orchids.

Thank you Violets. They are the Gesneriad family and they are just so beautiful. If you want to indulge yourself, google Dibleys. They are the doyen of streptocarpus. Same growing conditions as your African violets. If you love African violet, you will love Strepts!

Actually Streps prefer a somewhat cooler regime than AVs, in my experience. Avg house temperatures still suit, though 60s would probably be best.

I have tried streps a few times, and none of them thrived. Most of my AV's do very well however. So I think streps might prefer different conditions than mine.

Trouble with strepts is that they are quite buggy where I live. They don't mind not having too much light. I shut one inside a box and after one hot summer in my blazingly hot summer, it was still alive with moss growing around. Not happy, but alive. I just don't have the moisture or coolness for the them. Some people grow them in the States in their basement with controls over tempeerature, moisture and light level! Such dedication. I like something tough and rough! Like Birds of paradise. Boy, how I abused them and yet they still flowered. I bought seeds and they didn't make it. Then suddenly, I saw 2 babies growing in the oldest tub. Hurrah!

I'm guessing you don't use liberal air conditioning like we do in the States, Myal?

dbarron: No. We will have a few hot days and even when it hot, once evening kicks off, it's quite cool after 6pm - almost a chill in the air in summer. nights Mind you, we do have hot days. A year ago, I got rid of my small air conditioning unit - a mobile one and it was so popular. Some people in the more built up areas were fighting for it. A man said he would come the following day and before that someone came along and snapped it up. I was amazed, but the first man said that his wife was about to give birth and needed the air conditioning unit. Only offices are air conditioned. Because of economic downturn, some supermarkets have turned down their lighting whilst some have turned off their air-con. All very sad.

Where I live, I have the setting sun for 13 hours in the summer. This year is the first proper year I have had my garden properly soaked. Well, almost all the garden. The big lawn was a sheet of water because of its high clay content.

Solution for the low humidity - YOU NEED MORE PLANTS...then it easily can become too much.

;-))

irina: We share the same madness! Now, I'm having sporadic depression - too many plants and nowhere to put them. LOL!

I went to a local nursery for plant infusion therapy, with no intention to buy anything. However, this one little av, Buckeye's Cranberry Sparkler, said, 'Bring me home'. I did.

db: What is plant infusion therapy?

It's "I'm tired of winter, need to get in a greenhouse and see green growing things with flowers." Technically I guess it's earliest spring, crocus passing, daffodils and tulips starting, trees budding, but it still felt good.

LOL! I do it every Sunday and always come home with something! Like a blood-letting exercise!

A cool feature of Streptocarpus is that if you can scrounge a single leaf, or section of leaf, from someone you can grow your own new plants. Like Saintpaulias. I'm actually not that keen on the big frilly cultivars. I still like the elegance of the original old fashioned blue species and other smaller, daintier flowered cultivars.

Another cool feature is that some of them flower all year round!

Violets, I love all your questions, and Novice, too. I had all the exact same questions myself when I started. I love all the great advice from friends here. Joanne