Managing a Collection

Managing a violet addiction is not easy. You can rapidly become overwhelmed if you're not careful and if you find that your hobby is getting to be a chore, you need to have a way to make it easier and more fun.

There was a time when I had over 300+ African Violets growing in my collection. I propagated them, traded leaves and plants and even sold a few. For several hours a day I was constantly repotting, checking, watering, spraying and messing with them. I talked about them, blogged about them and wrote about them. It was more like a job than an enjoyable hobby. 

I've grown them in all kinds of mixes, with and without wicks but at some point your hobby becomes too much of a chore when you don't look forward to attending to them every day anymore. That's when you need to manage them so you can enjoy them again. I personally sold all my plantlets, only keeping my very favorites and only sometimes propagating a leaf now and then so I don't get overwhelmed.

I've learned to cull the weaker, less loved ones out of my collection, I've pitched a few in the trash and I've become more selective about how I care for them. I used to grow them in the open air and fight gnats and an occasional outbreak of thrips but I haven't had to fight bugs for a few years now. I do keep my sprays on hand just in case.

Now I keep most of my violets enclosed in plastic domes or containers to keep the humidity high. It also cuts the amount of water they need since it doesn't evaporate as much as in the open air. I do keep a little hole in the top of the domes and boxes for excess moisture to escape. I've been growing this way for several months now and have not had one problem with powdery mildew. I've made it manageable for me to go and enjoy other things in life while not being totally obsessed with my violet addiction.

Now I only have to water them about once every week or so. I've made it easy on myself and I enjoy my violets more than ever!