A Few Plants that I love

Here are a few photos of plants that I used to grow. I need to get these back in my collection.

The first plant is Rob's Bed Bug. I used to love this semimini when I got it. It always shaped up nicely and the little purple rosebud blooms were a nice contrast to the variegated foliage. The next photo is of a semimini from Lyons. It is Cupid's Jewel. Another plant that was no fuss and shaped up nicely. The 3rd photo is Carousel Waltz. It is a trailer and while I don't grow many trailers this plant was quite prolific and easy to take care of. The 4th photo is of a non-blooming 'Deano' from Hortense Pittman. This is an older variety that I sadly lost. It was given to me by one of my mentors and I would love to get my hands on leaves of it again. Just for fun the last picture is of Rob's Bed Bug again but this plant was grown in a different location than the other. Can you see how different the foliage can be depending on the climate it was grown in?

Sticky Traps- A Violet Growers Best Friend

Ever go into your plant room and see fruit flies or fungus gnats flying around your plants? While they are not harmful they are a nuisance. The trick to getting rid of them is to hang sticky traps from your stands. Either blue or yellow work well because the flies are attracted to those colors. You can change the traps out every few months and those annoying buggers will no longer be a problem.

Chimeras----Pinwheels of Fun

Chimeras are a unique type of African Violet. They are a mutation and will not bloom true from leaf cuttings. They must be propagated by blossom stems, de-crowing a plant or using products such as Keki-gro. The easiest way to propagate them is by removing the crown, repotting it, and letting the plant sucker and harvesting the new plants. The second photo shows a plant that has had its crown removed for propagation. Since this requires more effort and time chimeras are more expensive than normal african violets. A great source for chimeras is African Violet Chimera They have an ever-changing collection of chimeras for sale. Be sure and check back on their page often because they change it frequently.

Just for fun here is a picture of a chimera I have called 'New Dawn.' It is a Lyon's hybrid and has pretty blossoms. I just potted this one up a few weeks ago and am waiting for it to form more roots.

Spending too much time on the violet sites!

I have to admit I have a little bit of a problem (obsession) with african violets. I am constantly checking my favorite sites (several times a day) to see if anything new appears. I must check ebay 5 times a day just to see what is up for auction. I belong to the African Violet Brat Pack and am constantly checking out the new postings from members. Two of my favorite sites are Darryl Hoover's Blog about growing african violets and the Barrington Bloomers Blog. Both are full of information and frequently updated. I love reading about individuals' experiences growing and seeing their photos always renews my interest in growing. Like I said it has become quite a "problem" and I should limit myself to checking these sites once a day but I can't help myself. Please check out their pages, you will learn a lot!

There are many ways to propagate leaves...Experiment and find the right one for you

When I first started growing african violets I put down every leaf that was given to me. I couldn't throw a single one out. I was taught to cut the petiole of the leaf to 1" and do it on an angle facing me so that when planted the tiny leaves would grow up in front of the mother leaf as opposed to growing behind it. First, I wash the leaf in a solution of mild dish soap (Ivory) and luke warm water. Then, cut the leaf on an angle and insert it into a solo cup filled 3/4 full of regular african violet soil. Next, I water the leaf with a plain water with 10 drops of superthrive per gallon. Finally, the leaf is placed in an individual plastic sandwich bag and placed under lights. Within 8 weeks tiny mouse ears will appear and when the leaves are about the size of a dime the plantlets are ready to be potted into their own pots (Topic for another post). I must mention that when putting down a leaf you must write down the name of the variety and the date it was put down on the plastic pot. Usually, I write down the variety's name, classification (semi, standard, etc) and the date planted. Now, just sit back and wait.

Like any grower I have experimented with different methods of propagation. As opposed to rooting the leaves in their own solo cups, sometimes I root the leaves right in plastic sandwich bags with a few scoops of soil. It requires one less step and proves to be fruitful. You can use a clothespin and hang the bags from your lip stand or simply lay the bags in the tray. I have also the small black portion cups that you get carry out sauces from restaurants in. They are very shallow and work well for semi, mini, and trailer leaves.

Let me also mention that people prefer to root their leaves in water and once the roots form, transplant them into soil. Personally, I feel that this method adds an unnecessary step to the process but for those like Andrea Worrell it has proven to be the best method for them. It must work because her plants are all perfection!

I have attached a few phots below showing leaves rooting in solo cups, plastic bags, and the portion cups. Make sure and experiment and see which method yields babies the fastest!!!

Blast from the Past

Well as I said before I have grown plants for a while and in some very interesting places. One of those happened to be my old dorm room at school. The setup was simple and I only had a few plants but it was still a fun time. Believe it or not the plants were pretty healthy and happy at school. While they were a distraction at times they helped keep me same. If I am proof of anything it is that you can grow plants in pretty much any location. All they need is love and care. Enjoy

Growing Show Plants

As I stated in my initial post, I grow for pleasure but I truly love growing my plants for show. It is challenging, fun, and can be very rewarding. I only have a few plants right now but "less is more" in this case. I am able to focus my attention of these plants and hope to be well rewarded come show time. The two plants that I am focusing on are "Looking Glass" and "Leading Lady." Both are large growers. My plants are a decent size. Since the show is in October I have a few months to get them in gear. I will post more about their progress in the weeks and months to come. Here are a few photos of the plants.

Everything you need to repot

Repotting African Violets is essential to achieve vigorous growth of your plants. For the casual grower it is recommended that you replant your violets every 6 months or twice a year. For those of us that grow for show it is more frequent. If growing for show, Pauline Bartholomew recommends "...to repot about every 2 months: 2 months in a 2.5" pot, 2 months in a 4" pot, and 2 months in a 5" pot..." Whether or not your grow casually or for show there a certain things you need in order to repot your african violets. I always gather everything I need before repotting because it makes the process much faster. You'll need newspaper (lay it down on your potting table and after each plant is repotted you can pick up the piece with all the old soil, etc and throw it away leaving you with a clean piece underneath. You will also need wicking material, pots, soil, perlite (if you put it in the bottom half inch of your pot), some sort of marker and label for the date and name of the plant on its pot, reservoir for the water, sucker plucker, knife for scraping the neck, and finally plain water with 10 drops of superthrive per gallon. It is not recommended to fertilize immediately after repotting because the roots are sensitive and you do not want to burn the roots or crown by fertilizing immediately. Regular fertilizing can resume 2 weeks after repotting. Enjoy the photo I have taken of "Everything you need to repot."

Tools of the Trade

Every violet grower has the famous tools that he or she uses to grow their plants. My tools have accumulated over time. I have inherited a few of them from growers that no longer grow and the rest I have bought over time. I am sure most growers would agree that certain tools are necessary for growing african violets. Foremost, a watering can is essential. It is also important to have a pair of scissors (for cutting holes in plastic solo cups), grooming brushes, dull knives to scrape the necks off of violets, a mediterranean sea sponge (for washing foliage), a sucker plucker, small spoon to put soil into pots, a chinese marker (I use it to write the name of the plant and date on white plastic pots, wicking material, sharpie black marker, 1/8 tsp measurement, turkey baster (to water small plants with delicate roots), eye dropper (for superthrive, etc), and finally tweezers. I have them in a few different sizes for different size plants. They are useful in dislodging a plant from its pot. These are the basic tools I use when grooming and repotting my plants.

Standards and Large African Violets

I have to admit the standards and especially large standards are my favorite african violets. There is something truly awesome about seeing a giant show specimen grown to perfection at 20+". While none of my standards are at that point yet I hope to have a few of them up there for our club's coming show in October. I have almost every issue of the AVM, kindly given to me by one of my violet mentors and dear friends, Bessie Pyle of Delaware. After perusing all the issues I was well versed on Marie Burn's and her exciting show plants. After seeing what she was able to do I told myself "I'm gonna grow monsters as perfect as she did." It is a work in progress but watch out because one of these days I will have plants equally as monstrous and plan on stealing awards at my local club shows and hopefully the AVSA national show some day. Below are a few photos of show specimens that I admire.
The first picture is Frozen in Time-2nd BIS at our 2007 Club Show-Grown my Judith Smith. The second photo is Opera's Paolo grown by Doug Burdick of NY. He won BIS with this plant in 2008. Finally, the last photo is another plant grown my Doug Burdick- Tomahawk. Simple red blossom but great show foliage

How I Grow My Plants

All of my plants are grown on individual reservoirs with a synthetic wick inserted in the pot. I have grown plants by top watering, bottom watering, texas-style, etc and have found that individually wicking each plant is the easiest and most suitable for my growing environment. My plants are given a dilute fertilizer solution of 1/8 tsp per gallon and a half of water with 1 tsp of Physan 20 and 2 drops of Superthrive as well. My lights are on for 10 hours a day. The soil mix is ProMix BX with perlite and dolomite lime added. I buy it from my club because I do not have the space to store the ingredients. Here are two photos of Leading Lady (Lyons) just for fun. This plant has beautiful large blossoms.

"Science Experiment"

My boyfriend Will does not understand my fascination with african violets at ALL. He thinks they are for old ladies and wonders why a young man (I'm 24) would want to grow these plants. His way of describing my growing is by calling it "A Science Experiment." It is quite comical that he sees it like that. He says the fluorescent lights hurt his eyes and almost daily he will close the closet door to hide the light. Don't worry! I am always there to open it back up. Living in an apartment has been a compromise. I was not willing to give up growing and he is not willing to have the light stand in the immediate living area. Therefore we have compromised on the closest. Here are a few photos showing you how I have the stand setup.

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my blog! I hope to have some fun sharing my adventures growing African Violets for Show and pleasure. A little about me. I live in Philadelphia and have been growing african violets since I was eighteen. The love affair started for me when I visited the Philadelphia Flower Show and came across the exhibit of the African Violet Society of Philadelphia. I immediately joined the club and was thrilled to put down my first leaves (which were generously given to me by fellow club member Betsy Branson). From that day I have grown violets under lights in my parent's basement, my bedroom, then in my dormroom in college. Now, living on my own and in a small yet comfortable apartment I am growing my violets under a 48" light cart located in a CLOSET (gasp!) in the apartment. While not the ideal location to house violets it is working so far. For those of you who read this blog you will play witness to trials growing in such a confined place. You might also hear me cursing my boyfriend for calling my plants "A Science Experiment." This blog is intended to be fun and a place where you can learn about, discuss, and share photos, etc. about african violets. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and check it out!

Kurt