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African Violets
One of the best known and recognized of all the common houseplants, African Violets are grown in the windowsills of many kitchens. Questions here include topics such as lighting, watering, proper soil, fertilizing, popularity, and propagation, as well as showing African Violets as a hobby, how to get started and finding shows.
164 Questions
What time of the year do African violets grow?
They will grow all year if cultivated properly. African violets grow very well under a fluorescent light. Some hybrids will flower three or fours times a year while others will only bloom once a year.
What are some common pests that African violets get?
Some common pests that invade African violets are; soil mealie bugs are the most common and troublesome, thrips, gnats, and mites, other problems would be botritis, fungus rot, powdery mildew. You can cut down on pests by spraying them with Neem oil once a month, found in a hardware store, also is a good leaf shiner and nourishes the foliage.
What is the matter with violet plant with curling leaves?
too much watering from the top, water it from the bottom in a saucer, or stand in a saucer wth water.
What are the main parts of the African violet?
1. The flower blossoms contain the reproductive parts of a plant. 1a. The two small yellow sacs in the center of the blossom are called anthers. They contain a fine powdery pollen. The pistil is the female part of the plant. It's sticky end collects the pollen and sends it down to the ovary. 2. This bud will develop and become a blossom. 3. Bloom stalk contains peduncle, pedicel, and cluster of blossoms growing on one stem as a unit. It appears from the juncture of the main stem and the petiole. 4. Petiole stem that connects leaf blade to the main center stem. 5. Suckers in the diagram to the right shows where crowns form between the stems. These are encouraged on trailing (multiple crown) varieties. Remove any suckers on single crowned plant varieties. (Sucker's can be rooted in soil for an additional plantlet) 6. Developing seed pod resulting from fertilization of eggs in an ovary located at the base of the pistil. 7. Spent blossom this is an old flower that has wilted. I have placed a PDF file in the related links, this has all the information for you.
Yes. When newly opened the may be used to decorate salads or in stuffings for pultry or fish. Souffles, cream and simmilar desserts can be flavored with essence of Viola flowers. The young leaves are edible raw ro cooked as a somewhat bland lead vegetable.
No. A stars color is determined by the heat it produces. Like a peice of metal when heating up will got from red to yellow to white (red being cooler the white) a star color is determined by its color. to get a better example of this see this chart which shows star temperature in Kelven.
Stars can be classified by their surface temperatures as determined from Wien's Displacement Law, but this poses practical difficulties for distant stars. Spectral characteristics offer a way to classify stars which gives information about temperature in a different way - particular absorption lines can be observed only for a certain range of temperatures because only in that range are the involved atomic energy levels populated. The standard classes are:
Temperature
O 30,000 - 60,000 K Blue stars
B 10,000 - 30,000 K Blue-white stars
A 7,500 - 10,000 K White stars
F 6,000 - 7,500 K Yellow-white stars
G 5,000 - 6,000 K Yellow stars (like the Sun)
K 3,500 - 5,000K Yellow-orange stars
M < 3,500 K Red stars
The fact is that starts just don't get that hot. Btw indigo would be before violet in the color spectram and I don't believe any stars of that color exist either.
Why are African violet leaves turning purple?
The cool weather is the factor that caused the leaves turned into purple color of some st.paulia species.
Mites, thrips if you get a bad infestation. My cats have been known to take a bite once in awhile.
Violets need to have partial sunlight and minimal water. They also need to stay out of the cold weather. If these guidelines are met, violets can last forever.
Artificial lighting for African violets?
Artificial lighting is excellent. Use shop lights from hardware store, the inexpensive type. Purchase the fixture 48in long. Use bulbs, one cool and one warm type. Place six to eight inches above plants, this can be accomplished by attaching fixtures under a shelf. They do make the adjustable wire types from a hardware store. Also, rubbermade types. Leave lights on 8 to 10 hours a day. Consider these will give off some heat.
How much fertilizer you need in a year for African violets?
Oh, dude, African violets don't need that much fertilizer. You can just give them a diluted dose every 4-6 weeks during their growing season. Like, they're not picky eaters, they're just chill little plants. Just don't go overboard, or they might get a bit too hyped up on all those nutrients, you know?
Is growing African violets a good hobby?
Growing African violets for a hobby is a lot of fun. You can even join the African violet association www.avsa join a club near you and start showing your African violets, it's very rewarding. Also, this is a wonderful hobby for children.
Can soap water harm an African Violet?
Yes, soap can leave spots on the leaves and may burn them. If you are using it in hopes to kill insects, it's best to use pure neem oil.
How do you create more humidity for African violets?
You can create humidity around your violets by placing pebbles in the plants saucers and sitting plants on top, keep filled with water to just enough so that plant pots are not sitting in the water. You don't want your plant to become water logged and rot. Another way is by sitting containers filled with water around your violets. Also, you could place a humidifier in the room.
Can you separate your African violet plant?
Yes, please look at the related link from another similar question. You separate them the same way.
Are African violets poisonous to pets?
African violets are not poisonous to pets if they eat a little but not a daily diet. Warning; Cats love to eat African violets, maybe give your cat some cat grass so it will possibly leave your violets alone.
Can you use African violets in a corsage?
Yes but you would have shop around and place the order early.
What is Russian African violet?
There are some Russian Hybridizers that have raised very large varieties of African violets within the last five or so years. Please see the related link.
