I was so honored to be on the Bloom and Grow Radio this week, talking about African violets with Maria. She and I are sure that African violets are at the brink of a major comeback with young plant parents. So I decided to put all my African violet blog post links in this post, so they are easy to find.
“Grandma” Plants
Let’s start with the notion that they are old fashioned “grandma” plants. My grandma would love the violets of today. She had pink and blue ones—that’s it. Now there are so many hybrids with unusual flowers and variegated foliage. She would be amazed!
Repot Your Plant
Violets can develop a long neck or stem, letting you know its time to repot your violet.
Revitalize your violet
Another post about revitalizing a violet that is needing some help.
Sunburned violet
Did you know your violet can get sunburned IN your home?
Problems
Sometimes there will be problems, like powdery mildew.
Thrips
Thrips are insects than can be a big problem for African violets. This post helps with ways to control them.
There is another solution to thrips
Optimara, a violet company in Tennessee, has found a solution to thrips. They hybridized violets to take away the pollen sacs. Read about them here.
If you have purchased an African violet at a store, here is a post about how to care for it after you get it home.
I have friends that professionally grow violets to sell them at African violet shows. Here are the two posts I wrote after visiting their home –Part 1 and Part 2.
I hope having all these posts together is helpful. If you have any questions or think there is something I missed that is important for the care of African violets, let me know in the comments. Happy growing!
I have bought three beautiful african violets, different colors, where all flowering, but in two months they have not flowers at all but leaves are ok. I put them inside, with lot of light but not sun. They came with a string connected to the water in the bottom. Could you please let me know what am I doing wrong? I will appreciate your help.
Hi Patricia, I would say they are just going through their time of resting after flowering. If you give it the right light and keep them evenly moist, they should rebloom soon. The string is a wick pulling the water up into the plant and keeping it moist. Does it seem to be working?
Lisa