How To Grow a Show Stopper
WHETHER YOU COMPETE OR NOT
I grow my violets simply for the pleasure of enjoying their beauty. I love the beautiful flowers and leaves and I enjoy sharing them with other violet enthusiasts. I let them do their own thing. I don't try to force them to fit my schedule. I like to grow babies from leaves.
I don't have a violet club near me, the closest one to me is in another state so I can't tell you how to get a blue ribbon. I don't collect ribbons and I don't use my violets to compete with other people, not that there's anything wrong with that but I don't have the time, opportunity or desire for all that. So I can't tell you how to compete, but I can tell you how to grow a show stopper violet even if you don't grow for show or have a violet club nearby.
MOST PEOPLE DON'T GROW FOR SHOW
So I won't drive over a hundred miles to join a club. And I'm O.K. with that. I've learned just as much through social media and by experience than I might have learned in a club anyway. We have no shows or sales near me but guess what? I can get any violet I want by ordering online. I can find Optimaras sometimes at my local hardware store to rescue and go online to name them. There are also online facebook clubs where you can trade or sell with other enthusiasts. And I grow way more hybridized named violets than I do Optimaras. But I do love some of the Optimaras just as much because they are so hardy, available and affordable. And you can find the names of them at MyViolet.com . That's the way they do it so you can name your violet and I'm cool with that.
Competitors might pick off every flower so their plant will grow enormous and bloom at a certain time for a show. Some AV enthusiasts pick off every flower because they are afraid they will get bugs if they don't. And some hybridize so they can name them after themselves and go down in violet history. There are people who grow for show and compete for show ribbons. But I think most people buy one or two and just need a little help keeping them alive. That's the real beauty of this hobby. Everyone can enjoy their violets the way they want.
NAMING THEM
I just love it when little baby leaves poke through the water or soil. And I love it so much when my flowers bloom that I take their pictures. I love the way they bloom year round and brighten even the most dreary day. I can be having a bad day in every other way and then go tend to my flowers and it really makes everything good again. Isn't that what a hobby is suppose to do?
So I don't have a problem getting the names for some of them the way that's provided for me from the grower. Once a violet is identified by the grower, it is no longer a NoID. Unless you do sell, compete or hybridize, it doesn't matter all that much.
LIGHT IS THE KEY
You cannot grow a lot of flowers without lots of light. My best bloomers are wick watered in a frosty paned south window on 12" spaced shelves under supplemental LED grow lights that are on for 12 - 14 hours a day. I use the cheap little under cabinet blue/red grow light sticks I got from Wal-Mart. Cost me about $10 a piece. You don't have to spend a fortune.
If your healthy plant is not blooming and it's had a few weeks rest period, it needs more light.
NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT GOOD SOIL
The soil is everything. Good soil (or soilless mix) will retain the water and nutrients just right so that your plant can thrive. Usually when a plant starts to look bad, you need to look at the soil first. Sometimes it's pests, sometimes it's too much water, and sometimes it's the ph level, but many times just repotting a plant will rejuvenate it. Repotting also gives you a chance to check the roots for health.
You can and should make your own super soilless potting mix for your flowers. What works for someone else might not work for you because your growing conditions are different. You can mix your own, it's easy! If you want to get results like mine, use my soilless recipes as a starting point and fine tune them to your own liking.
PUT THEM ON WICK WATERING
Consistency is the key with watering whether you bottom, top, mat or wick water with a mild AV continuous fertilizer. You don't have to buy anything expensive or fancy. I don't use any bloom boosters or other fertilizers in the soil. I use Optimara's violet food cut to 1/4 strength in my water. A steady even supply of water and food is what your violet wants. Many puny plants can go to super stars just by moving them over to wick watering. You will literally see them puff up and have a growth spurt within days when you have your mix right. If you really want to grow a show stopper, you have to put them on continuous watering. They love it!
MY 3 BEST TIPS
1 - Spray every violet that comes into your house with an organic 3 in 1 spray like Maggie's Farm and isolate new plants away from your collection. The spray will kill any pest on them but be vigilant to spray every 5 days for 20 days to kill pests in all life cycles including thrips, mites and fungus. Use preventative organic spray regularly on all your violets.
2 - Check your violets every day. Each time I pick one up, I blow on the flowers to see if there are thrips present and if it's getting enough water by how heavy it feels. It's a habit.
3 - There must be light, light, light. If you want more flowers you need more light. Period. Simple as that. Nothing else you do will give you more flowers than increasing your light.
You don't have to compete to want to grow your flowers to their full potential. I grow african violets for the sheer pleasure and enjoyment of it. I have my own experience to share but I'm really just in it for the love of the flowers and the pleasure their beauty gives.
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I grow my violets simply for the pleasure of enjoying their beauty. I love the beautiful flowers and leaves and I enjoy sharing them with other violet enthusiasts. I let them do their own thing. I don't try to force them to fit my schedule. I like to grow babies from leaves.
I don't have a violet club near me, the closest one to me is in another state so I can't tell you how to get a blue ribbon. I don't collect ribbons and I don't use my violets to compete with other people, not that there's anything wrong with that but I don't have the time, opportunity or desire for all that. So I can't tell you how to compete, but I can tell you how to grow a show stopper violet even if you don't grow for show or have a violet club nearby.
MOST PEOPLE DON'T GROW FOR SHOW
So I won't drive over a hundred miles to join a club. And I'm O.K. with that. I've learned just as much through social media and by experience than I might have learned in a club anyway. We have no shows or sales near me but guess what? I can get any violet I want by ordering online. I can find Optimaras sometimes at my local hardware store to rescue and go online to name them. There are also online facebook clubs where you can trade or sell with other enthusiasts. And I grow way more hybridized named violets than I do Optimaras. But I do love some of the Optimaras just as much because they are so hardy, available and affordable. And you can find the names of them at MyViolet.com . That's the way they do it so you can name your violet and I'm cool with that.
Competitors might pick off every flower so their plant will grow enormous and bloom at a certain time for a show. Some AV enthusiasts pick off every flower because they are afraid they will get bugs if they don't. And some hybridize so they can name them after themselves and go down in violet history. There are people who grow for show and compete for show ribbons. But I think most people buy one or two and just need a little help keeping them alive. That's the real beauty of this hobby. Everyone can enjoy their violets the way they want.
I just love it when little baby leaves poke through the water or soil. And I love it so much when my flowers bloom that I take their pictures. I love the way they bloom year round and brighten even the most dreary day. I can be having a bad day in every other way and then go tend to my flowers and it really makes everything good again. Isn't that what a hobby is suppose to do?
So I don't have a problem getting the names for some of them the way that's provided for me from the grower. Once a violet is identified by the grower, it is no longer a NoID. Unless you do sell, compete or hybridize, it doesn't matter all that much.
LIGHT IS THE KEY
You cannot grow a lot of flowers without lots of light. My best bloomers are wick watered in a frosty paned south window on 12" spaced shelves under supplemental LED grow lights that are on for 12 - 14 hours a day. I use the cheap little under cabinet blue/red grow light sticks I got from Wal-Mart. Cost me about $10 a piece. You don't have to spend a fortune.
If your healthy plant is not blooming and it's had a few weeks rest period, it needs more light.
NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT GOOD SOIL
The soil is everything. Good soil (or soilless mix) will retain the water and nutrients just right so that your plant can thrive. Usually when a plant starts to look bad, you need to look at the soil first. Sometimes it's pests, sometimes it's too much water, and sometimes it's the ph level, but many times just repotting a plant will rejuvenate it. Repotting also gives you a chance to check the roots for health.
You can and should make your own super soilless potting mix for your flowers. What works for someone else might not work for you because your growing conditions are different. You can mix your own, it's easy! If you want to get results like mine, use my soilless recipes as a starting point and fine tune them to your own liking.
PUT THEM ON WICK WATERING
Consistency is the key with watering whether you bottom, top, mat or wick water with a mild AV continuous fertilizer. You don't have to buy anything expensive or fancy. I don't use any bloom boosters or other fertilizers in the soil. I use Optimara's violet food cut to 1/4 strength in my water. A steady even supply of water and food is what your violet wants. Many puny plants can go to super stars just by moving them over to wick watering. You will literally see them puff up and have a growth spurt within days when you have your mix right. If you really want to grow a show stopper, you have to put them on continuous watering. They love it!
MY 3 BEST TIPS
1 - Spray every violet that comes into your house with an organic 3 in 1 spray like Maggie's Farm and isolate new plants away from your collection. The spray will kill any pest on them but be vigilant to spray every 5 days for 20 days to kill pests in all life cycles including thrips, mites and fungus. Use preventative organic spray regularly on all your violets.
2 - Check your violets every day. Each time I pick one up, I blow on the flowers to see if there are thrips present and if it's getting enough water by how heavy it feels. It's a habit.
3 - There must be light, light, light. If you want more flowers you need more light. Period. Simple as that. Nothing else you do will give you more flowers than increasing your light.
You don't have to compete to want to grow your flowers to their full potential. I grow african violets for the sheer pleasure and enjoyment of it. I have my own experience to share but I'm really just in it for the love of the flowers and the pleasure their beauty gives.
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NOTES
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