African Violets are so easy to grow... right? Not in my case! I just movesd a couple of weeks ago, and have realised that my african violet's leaves are growing UP instead of OUT! It hasn't flowered since I purchased it over a year ago. What am I doing wrong? I have tried to place it in indirect light, and have also tried to place it where it got artificial light. Nothing seems to help :( Can you help? Please give me some advice!
I would move it to a sunnier window .. it sounds like it is trying to reach for some more sun .. and it should bloom soon .. Marion
they do best with western light and do like full sun. they also do well with basic strength grow lights situated 12-14 inches above them...lights should be on for 10-12 hours every day (i use a timer). soil should be african violet soil for best growth and flower performance. i found that the african violet pots that are self-watering are the absolute best for them! you fill the resevoir with water and the insert (that the soil and plant are in) soaks up the water as needed - so, you avoid over-watering as well as under-watering and really only need to check/refill the resevoir about every 12 days or so. very convenient!
On another note, you don't want to over-feed Avs, because you can end up with a ton of nice green healthy leaves, but no flowers....
Thanks Joc! My husband bought me a few of those self watering pots, I didn't think I needed them but i guess I was wrong. I will also replant it with the apropriate soil, who knew you needed special soil? Thanks 4 the tips! My violet will thank you too LOL!!! Have as good one Jocelyn!
Check out this link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHrl7FmPVO0&feature=related It helped me a lot with my African Violets! And look at some of the other videos listed on the right side of the page after you've looked at this video. There is a lot of good information. I like actually seeing how to do something. I had 2 african violets and neither one of them were blooming. One was getting huge! I started looking at it and realized that it had more than one stem. So I decided to divide it according to one of those videos I suggested. I ended up with 4 plants from the one! I was really concerned about whether they were going to grow or not because it looked like there was no roots on them when I planted them. But they seem to be doing well. I lost a few leaves on them at first, but now they seem to be happy. I have all of them in the self-watering pots for african violets. They haven't bloomed yet. Still growing a root system. But I have them in a south window so they get plenty of bright light, and I have blinds I can close if it gets too bright. I've discovered that this window is very bright all year long, but the only time sunlight actually shines directly into it is in the winter when the sun is low in the sky. In the summer it is almost directly overhead, so it doesn't shine in the window. Perfect for africal violets! Can't wait until they all bloom again!
