Keep the growing mix (peat-based houseplant mix is fine) slightly moist; wait until it feels dry, then water abundantly, drenching it. Wet leaves can result in leaf spot, so it's best to water from below by pouring tepid water into the plant's saucer and letting it soak up what it needs. After 20 to 30 minutes, drain any surplus. Fertilize young plants with a foliage-plant fertilizer rich in nitrogen; mature ones need a flowering-plant type, richer in phosphorus. Ideally, add one-quarter of the recommended rate at each watering.
Grooming
It's important to remove faded flowers and older, yellowing leaves. Give your plants a quarter turn each time you water so they don't grow unevenly.
Once a year or so, repot your plants, sinking them deeper in the soil in their new pots to cover the bare stems that eventually form. Don't overpot-a planter should be about one-third the diameter of the rosette.
Watch out for suckers (secondary stems growing from the leaf axils), which can result in irregularly shaped plants and reduced flowering. Remove suckers on rosette-type violets (although they're to be encouraged on trailing varieties).
Pests and diseases
The worst pest is likely the mealybug, which resembles tiny patches of white cotton and is found under leaves and at leaf axils. To control, dab them with cotton swabs dipped in rubbing alcohol, but you may have to start new plants from carefully cleaned leaf cuttings.
Flower thrips cause pollen to spill onto blooms, and their nibbling on the flower lobes may cause a mottled appearance. To see if they're present, blow on a few flowers; you'll see the thrips scatter to safety. Remove all flowers and buds for a good six to eight weeks to control them.
Leaf diseases such as powdery mildew are not common but can be devastating when they occur. Remove damaged leaves and increase air circulation to prevent a recurrence.
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5 Comments
I placed an African Violet leaf in a small four inch pot and kept watering for about four months. Now I notice small growth near the leaf. Can anyone advise me how to help it grew into a plant and get it to flower? Thanks.
Just continue as you are. What you see is a new plant beginning.
Last year I bought several African violets in blue, white, pink and purple. Now they are blooming beautifully again but all of them only in purple. how can I get the coulors they had before again?
I am new to the African violet world although my mother had windows full of them. I have been told that they prefer clay pots to plastic ones and would like to move my one plant that is in a plastic pot. Is there a method short of rinsing the roots and putting it into the clay pot with new soil? Any hints would be appreciated. Thanks.
Thank you for your reply. Sorry about the delay in answering you. The African Violet has many leaves now, maybe 25, but no flowers yet. I feed it with high P fertilizer (NPK) high P in order to produce flowers but nothing yet. Thanks, again.