You don't have a violet named Apple Blossom. You have-SK Apple Orchard. (CK Yablonevyi Sad) New semi mini from Russia. Already one of our very favorites. Beautiful “apple blossom” sdbl. white blooms with light, rose-pink tips and edges to some petals. Medium apple-green foliage. Heavy and easy blooming showplant.

I just googled it this morning and it is still on The Violet Barn's site on the page where it tells "what's new". I couldn't find a price listing so maybe they are out of it now.

However those little growths are suckers. Semi mini's do that a lot. I would gently scrape them off and wait for flower stems. You will know the difference when you see it.

Also, I don't see a lot of perlite in the soil. Is this plant wicked? If it is, I would lighten the soil with additional perlite. If it is not wicked I would just let it dry out a bit. Seems a little too wet and maybe that is why it is losing lower leaves.

Just a hunch but overall it looks good. Rosie

OMG you are so right, Rosie! Apple Orchard it is! (I think the amaryllis name 'Apple Blossom' was sticking in my head, and I've been big into amaryllises for years and that name is everywhere, so I just pulled it out of my familiar vocabulary. Oops.) And wow... thanks for the notes that this seems to be a primo plant that I had jolly well better take care of, whereas all summer long I've been saying to it, "Whatever. You wanna die, just go ahead."

Thank you very much for pointing out that these are indeed suckers. They have been removed. My late husband was a doctor, and I have in the house several good surgical clamps, both angled and straight, that can be used as tweezers: perfect for the job. [Digresson: He's totally smiling right now because he always liked to grab whatever seemed appropriate for any job. One time he tore some gashes in the collector bags on our lawn tractor (he never confessed as to how he managed that), and repaired them the only way he knew how: with surgical suture techinique, ha ha! He's been gone 13 years now but I "see" him every day, and especially when in autumn I set up the collector bags so as to handle the fallen leaves.]

The plant is not wicked. I always let it get noticeably lighter but never dry before watering. My observation is that I can go nearly two weeks between waterings. This is not yet a greedy plant; but maybe I should actually water it more, because it's possible that since it's in such a small pot I'm not noticing the change in weight soon enough (not a lot of volume to judge by). From how wet I see the wicked pots stay, it's likely that this teensy one could stand to be wetter more often.

Re soil: I repotted it sometime in June, but the result was *so* much damage to the leaves because it didn't occur to me to use a spoon. (Duh...) All I used was my fingers. That's when it started shedding leaves, and I've blamed myself ever since, and chalked it up to experience. My own mix is heavy on perlite, but with such an itty bitty, and being so new to the fancy, I was and remain reluctant to be too heavy-handed with removing old soil. Should I be less conservative?

Right now I feel content to wait. My inclination is to possibly water a little more often, and wait for some of the leaves, especially the newer ones, to get larger. But if I'm mis-reading the situation, please correct me.

Many thanks,

Joan

Hi Joan, just remember as the seasons and temperatures change so will the needs of your plants.

While it is true the wicked plants have wetter soil, because they are constantly damp, there is also a greater air flow thru the pot from the wicking and evaporation process.

I would recommend keeping the plant barely damp, and keeping the suckers off unless you wish to let them get large enough to root. I would rather put down a leaf or two though.

Good luck on your violet! Rosie

Thanks, Rosie, for the totally new-to-me concept: that wicking may actually increase air flow. That makes me less concerned for the rest of my collection, that *is* wicked.

Barely damp does it, for Apple Orchard. 👍🏻 And with this plant being so tiny all on its own, the very idea of suckers gives me the willies.

I do not feel confident enough at this time to pluck off such a tiny leaf to put down. OMG there are practically no petioles at all! I think I'm going to have to just keep her going as she is until she gets at least some leaves that are thumbnail size. (Dammit, Rosie and Joanne, you guys always told me I was going to end up with fluorescents in the basement. I'm already set up for that, lights, timers and all, for bringing begonias and fuchsias out of dormancy in February, but sheesh. I didn't want to run them all winter. Sigh. Oh well. It's cheaper than less healthy indulgences.)

Maybe if I can keep Apple Orchard self-sustainingly happy past the solstice, and thereafter see a burst of exuberance, I'll harvest and put down a couple of leaves.

Well. It'll all come out in the wash. I'll report on this thread whenever there have been significant developments.

Rosie, I re-read what you wrote. I think you are absolutely right about this pot being too wet. Saying I watered it "every two weeks" is actually an exaggeration: it's like it has never needed any water at all. So I took a look at the bottom of the Solo cup and there's only one hole down there, and that hole has been blocked all summer because of course it sits on it all the time! So there's been no air movement either. This morning I took a sharp knife and cut four notches in the bottom edges of the cup, so there are holes there now that will never be blocked. I almost want to make a couple of slits in the sides of the pot.

Poor little violet. I've been abusing it. :(

Thank you, Rosie, for making me think more.

One thing I do to solo cups (a hint I learned from a good friend) is before I fill it, I take my scissors and side down on the bottom I cut horizontally, so you actually cut a slice of an oval out of the bottom side of the pot. Wish I could draw on this sheet of paper. And sometimes if I think it has too much water in the pot as you seem to think yours does, as soon as I make the cut the water pours out. Give it a try. Rosie

I did ALL of this today, Rosie. :) No water came out, thank goodness, but I'm pretty sure more air will get in. Here's a photo. (And I did cut slits in the sides of the Solo, one of which is visible in the attached photo. There's no such thing, from my viewpoint, as too much air, or from my personal standpoint, too much "work" for maintenance of my relatively modest collection.

The pot is as it came from violetbarn.com, before my mods: nicks out of the lower edges now, a some slits in the sides. Those slits are pretty tiny, but they can't hurt and they might

help.

Well,,,,wonderful! And I agree, the more air the better. If you have any aquarium gravel you could put a little in the bottom of the container it sits in to lift it up a bit to facilitate air flow. Just keep track of how fast she drys out since she is not on a wick. Rosie

Yeah, good idea, I'll do that. I have some of those flattish glass beads, that I use in flower vases. Those should work. I don't think it'll dry out too fast yet - still humid here - but next week heating season begins, and that's when I expect to see more changes. Probably good ones, from this violet's point of view, hah. Thanks again.

You're welcome! Rosie

Excellent mini. not that new - the hybridizer Sergey Kuznetsov- a very kind and talented man passed away from cancer in his early 40s in 2017. Rich Folliet was going to publish an article in

AV magazine about his varieties.

Minis - grow slowly... there is no magic thing besides patience. and frequent repotting...

WELCOME BACK IRINA!!!!!!!!!!!! Missed you and your infinite wisdom! Rosie

Rosie, my darling... most of the time I cannot find my wisdom... the same way I cannot find my car keys, my cell phone and my butt with two hands... And do not forget the everyday occurrence when I find myself in a guest room - and have no idea what do i need there...

I just laugh - and say - ma'am, it is only going to get worse, get used to it,,,

Ohhhh,,,,,missed your sense of humor! But you are always there when we need your wisdom! Somehow you find and share it! Rosie

Just keep diggin!!! Should be somewhere...

Irina, thank you so much!

My Apple Orchard is still really tiny. It's only been twelve days since I gave it extra ventilation, but I'd say it already looks happier. I even had to water it two days ago, woo-hoo! It'd been going three weeks between waterings the rest of the summer, poor sad little critter.

So, re frequent re-pottings: It's still really small. No leaves reach over the edge of the Solo cup. Should I still repot it, and what does "frequent" mean in this context? Four months, or is six soon enough? It only arrived on June 2. I repotted mid-June (because I'd heard I "should," I had no idea, no "feel" for it, just... learning, watching, and learning some more).

Thanks again!!!

Joan

Joan - I would think 4 months is good - and your plant sense is on a button. What about your light - when we used 2T12 - we kept standards at 10 inches distance between the lights and leaves and minis - at 6".

I.

Irina,

Natural light so far, supplemented with some LEDs as day length has decreased (since early Sept). However, I recently was on the AVSA website and viewed the 2020 virtual convention video, "Spectral Enlightenment," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW0dsgss968 (highly recommended).

Unfortunately, one of the lights Minh Bui, the lecturer, said NOT to get was by the same manufacturer as what I have. His analysis was that those lights are WAY too high in the red spectrum. Mine are a newer model, not as yet reviewed and evaluated for spectrum claims. But his review makes me a little scared to use them more than I absolutely must. So I turn them off during the day, and turn them on in the early morning and late evening, in an attempt at blue/red balance. I have NO IDEA re the actual blue/red supplied by these LEDs I have. I have no measuring instruments. All I can go by is observation.

My violets - nine of them - are on a one-by-four foot space (will have to expand eventually, I can reach to one-by-eight when necessary), and have these LEDs over them, for use when ambient light levels are low, which they will be increasingly in coming months. I cannot light this space using standard 4' tube light fixtures because there's no means by which to suspend them. The space in my living room.

My training suggests that I observe and adjust as necessary.

I don't want to have to exile my violets to the basement, on tables and under lights, for the winter. I can do it if I have to - the usual four-foot fixtures, modified re ballast, with the mix of light tubes Minh suggests (I'm okay to do the re-wiring but sigh, more research, but then what's new, it's just DIY) - but the joy would be gone. It is my daily shot of encouragement, shot of life, to observe them in situ and in detail, every single day, whether blooming or not. Some days it's why I get out of bed with enthusiasm, to go see what's been happening.

Other days I'm too busy/there are too many demands, hah! Still... I treasure those days when what I get to do in the morning is just walk the dog, make coffee, and see what happened with the violets.

Sounds to me like your recommendation would be to repot this violet just about now. Should I increase the pot size (I have a "plug" size pot from Violet Barn), or just go with what the present root structure seems to suggest? Recent reading on AVSA suggests "mold" re-potting is preferred by many competition growers: minimal disturbance to roots, and minimal increase in pot size.

???

In any case, I think I'll stick to watering from above. It's such a small plant, and I do pay attention to it.

Joan

I do not think it needs to be in a bigger pot. I would repot so the soil level in on the level with rim.

Second suggestion - when you water from the top it compresses the soil and squeezes the precious air pockets - that's why your soil settles down from the rim level. Bottom watering will be a little bit better. I do not think big plants care, but tender minis do.

Third suggestion - winter is coming - invest into a a thermometer that shows current temperature, max and min temperature - and when the cold from the window will drop the night temperatures will be pushing min temperature under 65F - move them away from the glass. I think I bought mine in WM for $10. It shows temperature and humidity as well and uses 2 AA batteries.

Your little plant is quite healthy, so I wouldn't worry too much.

Thank you so much, Irina! I will repot and do bottom watering. I have several of those temp-sensor sets, with max-min recording. If I notice it's getting cold by the windows I'll crank the heat, since there's nowhere else to move them where there's enough daylight. However, the other thing I do in winter is cover all the windows with plastic. It certainly helps maintain more even heat throughout the room, especially when winter winds blow.

Joan

My best friend was from MN - and she sure just added another layer or 3 to her clothes in winter... Never cranked the heat too high... Tough people, these MN gals...

Irina, chuckles over your humor!

rob's plants are notorious for suckering...just scrape the suckers off and go on your way...it may not be budding b/c so much energy is going into the suckers...enjoy

All minis are prone to suckering, not only Rob's. To miniaturize the AV- the hybridizers of yesteryear used crossing AVs with Saintpaulia magungensis.. and one more which I do not recall right now. It is a trailer... so they always try to put another crown out. Plus even normally well behaved plants sucker if they are stressed. They try to leave the progeny by all means. If you dry a regular rosette plant to the bones.. and then revive it - it is possible if you water it sparingly giving it a time to regrow feeder roots... it is pretty much guaranteed that when it starts recovering - it will send a bush of suckers. And if you stress Rob's mini... it will sending sucker indefinitely... one after another.

Update:

I did repot, Irina, with a higher soil level. Plant was very happy and has seemed to go from strength to strength. I've pulled off just one or two more suckers, and it's now in bud: I can see four stems forming. But I wonder if I should try again, because you can see here that it's getting a little bit of a neck, maybe a quarter of an inch, that I didn't notice/try to bury last month.

I finally figured out, from an article in a back issue of AVSA, that the label on this pot indicates when it was first potted up: April 28 this year. So it was a very, very young plant when I received it.

I think you should refrain from doing anymore to it. Neck will not hurt it. Give it a chance to readjust. NEXT potting cycle address the neck but I think the only thing you should do now is just keep the suckers gone. Let the plant "cycle" and "destress" a little.

Now,,,,,that is just what I would do. My own opinion but it works for me. Sometimes I think we over fix what's wrong and the plant is continually "handled" and we don't give them enough time to "reboot". JMO,,,,,,Rosie

I agree with Rosie. Next 4 months just talk to it.

;-))

It gets a bit of a whisper every day. :)

Joan

Don't forget you can always play a radio nearby! lol Rosie

It's classical MPR all day, here. Especially during the last few weeks. ;) But I think it's the personal attention that really matters. I've noticed the new leaves are finally getting larger and am hopeful that by next repotting I can move it into a 2.5" pot. I'm very curious to see the ultimate size of this plant, in, what, a couple of years?

There's an article in the latest AVSA mag about the work of "SK," in "Alexei Kuznetsov Remembered". Back when I was shopping, and picked up Apple Orchard, there were other SKs available at Violet Barn. That is no longer the case. But I will be on the lookout, going forward. I suppose everybody else will, too.

Joan

More on minis and semi-minis: just one grower's ideas, to be sure, but I listened to Annie R's podcast of Sept 20 (2020), of a 2019 interview she did with Anne Nicholas, in which care for minis and semi-minis is discussed. https://allaboutafricanviolets.com/2020/09/20/all-about-african-violets-episode-3-057-its-all-about-the-minis-and-semis-with-anne-nicholas/

One of the things Anne says is that air (she calls it "oxygen" but of course it's actually just plain old air) is critical to the health of these smaller plants, and she discusses why it's different between minis and standards. It has to to do with the very small pots. She uses an even lighter mix for minis, than what her husband does for standards. (Plus, she too puts holes in the sides of her mini/semi pots! Woohoo, I was glad to hear that my instinct to do the same was on point.)

The only other point she (Anne) made was that repotting should occur every 2-3 months, although 4 is acceptable, because they move a lot more water/nutrients through the soil, proportionally, over the same period of time. I'm actually seeing this now: I have to water Apple Orchard at least a couple of times a week now, where there were periods over the summer where it sat sulking for weeks at a time. I'm considering applying a wick, actually.

She also recommended "tickling" the roots with a small, pointy tool like a bamboo skewer (she uses the non-bristle end of an artist's fine paintbrush), if there's no time for repotting at the correct time. The purpose of this "tickling" is to move the roots away from used-up soil, toward other parts of the pot. Of course, she had a collection of hundreds of plants. I think I can manage the repotting....

I'm not endorsing any of this, just putting it out there. What do I know, I'm just a newbie, but if anyone wants to look in on that podcast and comment and compare experiences, that would be cool.

Thanks,

Joan

Irina, on suckering AVs,

I appreciate your explanation of minis above. I once had a large standard LLG oldie variety that suckered. I wondered if removing the suckers caused more suckers to form where the sucker was removed.

It was when I was new. The plant probably wanted to be a trailer but I did not know about trailers at the time.

I had a few trailers people gave me, as they were popular in Calif. At the time, trailers were not as popular as they are now.

I also appreciated your information about the kind-hearted Russian man hybridizer who died so young.

I am curious to know what the Russ varieties are crossed with to get their extravagant beauty. Or maybe they use more of the original stock. From the days before AVs were "domesticated" to be perfect whorls, like umbrellas.

Joanne

I think they started by combining both American varieties and Russian - but eventually every good hybridizer develops his own line of plants where he or she knows the parentage and can give a good guess on potential progeny of each cross. May be back cross if there are desirable recessive genes are to be revealed. These are knowledgeable, detailed and talented people who work on selecting the very best and improving it. In our country we are to some extent limited by trying to select show worthy plants - and Russians and Ukrainians are mostly aiming for the bigger and brighter blossoms. Though a lot of their hybrids get a good contribution from the American hybrids used in these crosses - with a long history of being selected for the symmetry. It is just another thing about living in a small world nowadays. We benefit from a combined goodness.

i not talking about Japanese Rose beetle or noxious weeds... This is a contribution we can live without. And Europeans are dealing with a Colorado Potato beetle that doesn't have natural enemies there.

Joanne,

I ordered the book last week. :)

Joan

Irina, Nice comments, intriguing! Thanks!

Joanne

Anytime, Miss J.

I would prefer Pauline's book. Even it is a bit outdated - it is really well organized. List of instructions.

The other book is assembled out of a collection of articles. I think Joyce Stork - a very knowledgeable lady, former AVSA president, was writing advices and answering the questions of growers for many years and the book to some extent preserves this format.

But it is a question of preference. I kind of appreciate the no-nonsense recipe book... fry cubed onions for 5 minutes, add finely chopped garlic, in 2 minutes half teaspoon of salt and black pepper....

LOL, Irina! It's the "Growing to Show" (Pauline) book I ordered from the AVSA. Should be here any day now.

What's for dinner? Pesto pasta?

I made Taco soup - and fed the guests. It has beans. Now my friends are complaining... they rescue cats and they have quite a few that sleep on their bed.,...the post-Taco soup fireworks scared darn critters and they were jumping... every time...

I think air circulation under the pots is helpful. I went down to the hardware store and got a couple of the grates they use for suspended lights and cut them down to fit my PermaNest trays. I use a double layer, and watch when watering to see that I get drainage through, so they don't plug, and then they never set in water although there is water to evaporate around them for the humidity. Every pot I have sets on the grates.

Instead of using two grates, save the little "tables" that come in the middle of a pizza. Trim them to the height you need them to be, put them in each corner and one in the middle for good measure. Saves on doubling up grates! That is the system I use and it works wonderfully! Rosie

Heavy sigh, I usually make my own pizzas, but that is a good idea. I used to sell those to a couple local pizza parlors, pizza boxes, too, but that was a very long time ago. With Corona though I think I have bought maybe two pizzas since April and both were carry out to a friend's place. Even that's out now. She lives in a elderly high rise project that has recently banned all outside visitors. I don't have to like it, but there are lots of very vulnerable elderly in that complex; so they are trying to play it as safe as possible.

Well,,,,,just a thought but if you put the word out you need these little "tables" to a couple of your pizza eating friends they can put them in a paper bag outside their door and you can pick them up! Non contact delivery.

OR,,,,,,ask a pizza place if you can just buy a few! Whatever it takes! Rosie

Thanks, Rosie, but I already have all the grates needed for the flats I have light space for. I put my seed starting trays, my 6paks and my full sized pots all on the double grate so that none of them set in water drained from watering and all have air circulation below, and an evaporation source for humidity. For now I am set up. But I will remember your tip. There is a local pizzaria run by family members of a family friend only a very few blocks away. I expect they would help if asked. I may be adding another bank of lights. It just seems that however many banks I run, I run short of space!

You're welcome Old Dutch. If your method works then it is the best one for you. At least you have resources. Good luck! Rosie

One of the things I like about handling plants is that a variety of techniques work. There is almost always more than one way to get the job done. Very interesting!

Very true and it is most interesting to hear how others do things! Gives everyone more options and ideas if their method no longer works, and that does happen. Rosie