Saintpaulia or for us normal folks African Violet.
African Violet, these two words that can strike fear into any house plant owner.
My Friends 30year old African Violet
Unfortunately for many people their African Violets did not survive long and so have been tarred with the “too hard to grow or touchy” brush.
Which is a shame as these small beautiful flowering plants are actually very hardy and are extremely suitable for people who may have a tendency to forget they have an indoor plant!
If you know someone that has successfully grown an African violet they usually say ‘oh I’ve had that for years and I never do anything to it and it just grows!’
Overthinking, Over Googling, Overwatering and too much TLC is the most common cause of death.
Some people will tell you never let water touch the foliage, that will kill them.
Some people say only water from the bottom
Some people will tell you only wicking pots work.
Some people will tell you only use African Violet fertiliser, African Violet Potting Mix and special pots
Some people will do anything to make it work for them.
What we do! Boss lady keeps ours outside in the shadehouse (when they not in flower) and they get overhead water all the time, they get Triple Boost when we fertilise with Birchy. Boss Lady has planted them in Hanging Baskets, Terracotta Pots, Ceramic Pots, Plastic Pots…. They are huge and lush. We just don’t overthink it.
When they are in flower, I bring them in and keep them in a well lit position inside. Don Burke recommends you place your African violets within 30cm of a window. I haven’t got my ruler out lately but I’m sure mine’s about that give or take a metre or so. They do prefer a well lit, warm position, free from drafts and cold winds.
Variegated leaf African Violet
I water them maybe once a week like all the other plants. They have a saucer and they may sit in water for a couple of hours while they soak it up. I will try to wait until the soil is really dry then water till the soil is wet.
I prefer to pot my African Violets into a terracotta pots, they seem more breathable but wicking pots do work.
I use Searles Platinum Potting Mix and if mine haven’t flowered in a while and they are looking really healthy I stop the Triple Boost Liquid fertiliser and use a high flowering fertiliser like Silica and Potash.
That’s it.
No special instructions apart from, don’t over love/water them.
Now I am sure there are many people out there with their own methods of keeping African violets alive but I’m working with the theory “Treat ‘em mean keep ‘em Green”.
These plants are native to Tanzania and once cultivated became one of the most popular house plants in the world. I was reading that the first sighting was a botanist walking through the rainforest! In 1946 the first African Violet Society - The African Violet Society of America was formed.
African Violets grow up to 15 cm tall and up to 30 cm wide. Their leaves are oval, with fine hairs, and a fleshy texture. The leaves can vary between dark green, lime green and variegated. The flowers can be about 3 cm diameter and grow in clusters of 3–10 or more on slender stalks. There seems to be about a million different colour variations.
These are beautiful plants and once you find your ‘knack’ for them, you wont be able to stop collecting all the colours.