March 2020 – African Violet
I remember my paternal Grandmother having loads of these, and Streptocarpus, on her windowsills! Even today it has a undeserved rep as “granny’s plant”. They were magnificent, and I always dreamed of having my own, but I thought there were some mythical way if keeping them alive/ flowering. But actually, they’re quite easy t look after but you do need to speak to them every day!
They are compact and flower freely throughout the year.
My mum harps on about only watering these from below, as does every book/blog/website you can find. However to be honest, this is only so that you do not put water on the leaves! If you do, they can turn brown. Not sure what Mother Earth was thinking when she evolved that, as surely they would be brown if rained on in the wild, but hey. But this family of plants have a very finely fibrous, shallow root system, and if they are potted deeply as most are, watering from below may not allow the water to reach all the way up to the roots! I have a bare patch of soil when I carefully water from the top (I like to live dangerously…) and my African Violet is thriving!
How? The African Violet does like to dry out a little before being watered again. Feed once a month during spring/summer, I just use a regular houseplant fertiliser. Pick off dead blooms and it will continue to flower. These will do well in a terracotta pot as they like to dry out a little between waterings, and not sit in water. The do love a bit of humidity; my tip is to put them on a gravel-filled plastic saucer, and keep water in this to the level of the gravel. Or nestle in among other plants – as the plants respire they release moisture so grouping plants tighter will mean they benefit from eachother’s evaporation! If you’re in the UK, you probably do not have to worry about humidity however. “Speak” to your African Violet every day; you need to ensure they are not sitting in water, too dry or getting pests/disease…
Where? I have mine in a large north facing window – it doesn’t get direct light at any point but it has a bright light most of the day, even in winter. Make sure the temperature doesn’t dip below 16C however; they do not love being cold!! Keep away from direct heat from radiators.
Friends? These will do well in the same window as Calathea, Stromanthe, Cthenanthe, Maranta, Hoya, Anthurium and most ferns.
Lina-Elvira 