Experiments.

Some of the results are in! Club members experimented with a variety of components regarding violet growth and vigor.

The photos show a short and easy experiment resulting in some obvious change from the control plant to the experimental plant. Plant number one was watered with plain tap water for nearly two months with no additional supplements added. Plant number two was watered once a week with water and a water soluble fertilizer such as Miracle Grow. In only a short amount of time the fertilized plant was already showing improved growth and bloom. It was approximately 50% larger in only 8 weeks of growth.

Other more interesting experiments were done. One member watered with vitamin C added to the water. Although vitamin C is water soluble, and it would seem that it would not be able to "build up" in the soil, the plant with extra C did less well that a plant without.

Many people are somewhat confused about what size pot to use at what stage of a violet's life. It turns out that with two similar size and variety "babies", the plant started in the 2" pot grew much faster and was much larger than the plant started in a 4" pot filled with the same potting soil and grown in the same conditions.

The plants that were grown in natural window light and under fluorescent light showed some differences also. The plants that were of similar size and identical variety were placed in a bright window and under plant stand lights. The plants both looked good, were healthy and had a considerable flowers but the one in the natural light was a much more "open" plant. That is to say the leaves were spread out more and less compact. The blooms were somewhat shorter but spread out in a pleasing way across more of the plant. The violet grown under the lights was "tighter", more compact and the blooms stood a little taller and were grouped into the center of the plant in a more circular pattern. Both plants had a good healthy color and leaf size.

Someone tried growing plants and adding Epsom salts, which is magnesium sulfate, to the water. The plants, which were pale to start with and lacking some of the expected green pigment, greened up considerably. Magnesium is an essential element in the chlorophyll molecule. The advantage of magnesium sulfate over other magnesium soil supplements such as dolomitic lime is its very high solubility.

Other people tried manipulating plants by adding a natural "stress" to their lives to simulate wind moving the leaves. Although not conclusive, the plants that were wiggled and moved as if they were being gently blown in the wind seemed to grow more vigorously and had more sturdy leaf structures.

It would be interesting to take these rather unscientific test results and see if the same results would occur under laboratory conditions with control populations and more individual plants for comparison. What should we experiment on this year?

Club Plant Experiments

Here it is September already. Everyone should have thought about getting an experiment ready for the club project. I'm going to see if there is any difference in the growth and overall vigor of a plant that is watered with plain tap water and one that is "fed" each time it gets watered with a solution of tap water and dissolved nutrients.

My two plants pictured here both came from a big box store and have just been on a light shelf for the past couple of months. They are acclimated to my house and conditions.

Both are starting out fairly equal. Both have approximately the same number of leaves and are the same variety, the same size and have the same number of flowers. Each plant is roughly 8 inches across.


One bottle will hold tap water for plant number one.
The second bottle will hold fertilized water for plant number two.




Plant number one is roughly round with a diameter of about 8 inches.

(You can click on any of the photos for a larger view!)



Plant number two is a bit more oval with a nine inch "long side" and a 7 inch "short side". That averages out to both plants being about 8 inches across.




The plants will sit on a light stand evenly centered under the lights and they will periodically switch sides from left to right to keep things even. I will try to photograph them every couple of weeks to see if and when there is any noticeable difference in growth or size or appearance.

What are you going to do for YOUR club experiment???? Something simple.... or complex.... we will all learn something interesting from EVERY member participating! Please start your project now so that we will have some preliminary results to examine at the January meeting. The experiments may run longer!!!! If you have questions contact nsavctc@gmail.com we'll be glad to assist with ideas, methods or other concerns!!!

Myth Busting the Legends... or Experiments for the Club!

Really? Is that TRUE?

Busting the MYTHS behind the legend!

What? Design an experiment to find out what will happen when you change ONE aspect of growing your plants.
Why? To see if some of the “standard advice” about growing violets - what we’ve always heard - is really TRUE. To learn about something that interests YOU.
When? Starting now in the summer or early fall so that we can all report back to the club about our results at future meetings this year.
Where? You’ll do this in your own growing environment at home.
Who? Everyone in the club is asked to try at least one simple experiment of your choice so that we might all learn something new.
How? By taking two of the same plant or two or more leaves of the same variety and choosing some aspect of growing those plants to see if what you’ve always heard is really true. For example: rooting a leaf in water is faster than rooting a leaf in soil.

Ideas: Which grows larger and faster, plants watered with Superthrive added to your usual routine or plants watered with what you usually use?
Do young leaves produce babies faster than old leaves?
Do Episcias grow better in warmer conditions or cooler ones?
Does pollinating a strep on the first day the bloom is open make more seeds/pods than pollinating the flower 5 days after it is open?
Do Grow-Lux bulbs make plants grow better than regular cool white fluorescents?
Do Kohleria rhizomes store better in moist sphagnum or in plastic bags in the refrigerator?
Does watering with cold water stunt the plant as opposed to room temperature water?
Does water on a violet leaf REALLY cause a spot?

Here is the shortened write-up of the club's next proposed project. We'd like everyone to participate and try to experiment on some aspect of horticulture. Let's be creative, let's really try to find out something interesting. I would love to put pictures in the blog following the progress of the experiments!!! You may send an email attachment or an actual photo in and we'll get it into the blog.

The topic you choose can be something elaborate or simple, but every piece of information is valuable. Who would have thought that upsetting or wiggling the roots of strep babies would make them grow faster? But, Dale Martens tried this and showed all us strep lovers something extremely useful for getting streps to grow quickly and thusly allowing the grower to see what the babies look like months ahead of the old "tried and true" way. Let's find another really cool result like that one!