African Violet Care
Some Helpful Tips on African Violet Care
If you want to truly enjoy these beautiful flowers, you need to acquaint yourself with African violet care. They are not that hard to grow, but you can't just sit the pot on a windowsill and ignore it, either.
The African violet does originate from Africa, but it's not actually a violet. It belongs to the family Gesneriaceae. The common name comes from the primary color of the flowers, although you can also grow violets with white, blue or pink flowers.
This plant's botanical name, “Saintpaulia”, is in honor of Baron Walter von Saint Paul. He was the one who discovered the plants and took them back to Europe with him in 1893. These violets adapt very well to life indoors, and their blooming is almost continuous.
African Violet care begins with taking a look at your indoor humidity. These plants prefer more humidity than is often found in today's climate-controlled homes. Temperature wise, they will thrive with temperatures of 70-75 during the day, as long as they don't dip below 60 degrees at night. So if you sit them outside to enjoy some spring sun, make sure you bring them in before the overnight temperatures fall.
If you live in a cold area, and the outside temperature will drop below 60 degrees, you will need to move your plants away from the windows for the colder times. Since these plants are used to very warm and humid temperatures, African violet care does include humidifying their environment, if you wish them to thrive and bloom.
You can duplicate (as close as we in northern climates can) their natural humidity, by setting the plants in a saucer or a pan, with an inch of pebbles in it. Maintain the water level in the pan at just below the top of the pebbles.
African violet care involves keeping track of how often you water your plants, too. African violets should be watered from below, using the pebbles in the pan, or with a watering can from above. The watering can needs to have a long spout, so that you can water your violets without splashing all the leaves. A major issue with African violets is that of spots forming on the leaves. Cold water splashing on the leaves is the usual culprit in these cases. Use room temperature or warmer water, and try using a wick-type system to water from below.
These violets don't require a great deal of sun, although an east or west window will still work best for them to thrive. Another important part of African violet care is that these plants should only be placed in northern exposure windows in the summer, not during the colder months. You can dust your African violets to keep them looking their best, too – use a soft, small paint brush on the leaves only.