You might remember some time ago that I asked if any blog readers were interested in swapping African Violet leaves.  I have plants that needed to be repotted and I always lose a lot of leaves in the process so once I repotted, it would be a good time to swap.

The day before I planned the repotting I contacted the people on my list who had messaged me asking to swap leaves.  I also hauled all of my plants down and set up a spot to repot them at.

African Violets need to be repotted regularly.  I would say once a year for
sure.

If you look in the picture above you can see that some of the centers of the plants are no longer centered in the middle of the pot.  That’s because they need repotting.

If you check out this one below, you can see that the root is starting to show.  That’s a clear indication that it’s time to repot.  As leaves are lost, the plant center crown can no longer hold in the middle and they start to fall to the side.  If you’re wondering if you should repot a plant or not, seeing the root or seeing that the plant center crown is no longer centered is a clear indication that it’s time to repot.

As I was repotting, leaves would come off and I would set them aside.  Often plants grow unevenly putting more leaves out one side leaving the plant looking uneven.  In those cases, I picked leaves with the hope of evening out my plants.

I would wet a napkin or paper towel, lay the leaves on…

Then… Continue reading →

Remember I said I wanted to get a red African Violet….well, I caved in and ordered.  I don’t remember which blog reader but someone mentioned the Violet Barn in a comment.  Well ever since then if I have a spare few minutes I’m over there checking out African Violets.  I’ve held off and held off knowing that if I buy on violet, I’ll like keep clicking “add to the cart” until I have lots.

Well…I did cave…and I did get several.  I was a little apprehensive wondering how they would ship but the company says if I wasn’t satisfied, they would work with me so…would I be satisfied?

I opened the box and so far, so good.

Care instructions were included….lots of cushion type packing for the plants too.

Here’s my sneak peak at the new little babies….. Continue reading →

I’ve been getting more and more questions about my African Violets.  I do not claim to be an expert.  I can only tell you what works for me. One of the first question I got was: What are the flower pots that I have in my window with the starter plants?

I purchased these through Amazon.  When I originally purchased them the pots were white and that’s what I prefer.  I was kind of sad when I saw that they are now only available with terra cotta colored planters. (here is a link for them)

Each little pot for started plants has a “wick” like this.

Part of the wick goes into the water that is in the bottom of the clear container that the pot sits in and the other part goes up into the bottom of the of the pot holding the plant.  This wick allows the small new plant roots to suck up the appropriate amount of water that it needs. One of the reasons I am successful with growing my African Violets is that I use these pots.  My little starts always have the right amount of water. There are white 2″ pots that will fit the clear cups that I will likely order next time.  I like the look of the white in my window better than I like the terra cotta.

Next up I get asked about pots for the larger plants. Well I have come up with my own self watering method for them.  I save all the containers I get when I purchase a violet.  The ones from Wal-Mart are especially useful.  They already come with a pot inside a pot which is what self watering is.

I end up with a problem though.  I have trouble once the plants are larger in lifting the inside pot out.  Here’s what I do to remedy that.  I place a recycled plastic lid in the bottom of the outside container.  That prevents the inside container from going to the bottom of the outside container.  I put water in there and the plant can get it and I can still lift the inside container out without damaging the plant.

See how the recycled lid lifts the inside container higher? Continue reading →