Violet Grooming for the Non-Violet Grower

 At first glance most people would be pretty happy to have this violet on the coffee table. It's got nice shiny leaves and plenty of flowers. But, after a closer inspection, you'll see that there are a few grooming needs that will make this violet much more attractive and improve it's growth and overall health in time.

I'm going to say right now that for a serious violet grower/shower this plant would never have made it onto their shelves for starters and if such a plant was in their collection they would strip it down to about three leaves and start it all over again. This tutorial is for the person who doesn't want to start their plant all over again but just wants to spruce it up and see that it's healthy and will continue to provide pretty bloom and enjoyment at home for a long time to come.

 When you peak under the leaves you see all sorts of tiny (baby) leaves. Ideally, a violet should have the largest of its leaves in the outer most row and then have them decrease proportionally with the smallest leaves in the center.

In the very center of this picture besides the small leaves you will note the two leaves that are close together but not in the center. This is called a sucker and needs to be removed so that the parent plant will not create a twin plant side by side and ruin the round "rosette" shape that violets are grown for. This is the very start of another new plant.

 Here you see some spent blossoms that are dead. It's a must to remove these and keep your violet clean so that bugs and pests don't have a place to hide and make your plant sick over time.

Besides, fresh flowers are lovely to look at, dead ones just look like the plant is neglected.

You can see some of the larger leaves twisting and bending instead of being straight. This problem is a little harder to fix but there are things to try besides taking off that outer leaf.

Ideally, these twisted leaves probably be removed but sometimes you really don't want to make your plant into a tiny "starter plant" because it's looking good otherwise. So... you can try gently moving the leaf into the position you want it to be in and inserting a straw, coffee stir stick or toothpick next to the leaf stem and holding it in the place that you wish it to grow.

 If you look closely you will see that the main stem of this violet is not in the center of it's pot. This won't hurt the plant persay, but it looks so much better if you have it centered.

Take the plant gently out of it's pot, loosen a little of the dirt in the root ball and place the violet back in the center, filling in any extra soil you might need to fill the pot again properly.

 Here's the plant with some of the extra leaves removed and the dead flowers taken off. There are gaps and holes where leaves should go but with time and placing the plant in even lighting these issues will right themselves for the most part.

You can see the stake moving one of the rouge leaves into a more desirable position. A couple more well placed sticks and soon the violet will be much more symmetrical. Remember to occasionally turn the violet so that it gets the same light on all sides and doesn't tend to grow to one side like this one did.

This violet also shows that it perhaps had a little less light than is optimal, the petioles (stems) of the leaves are longer than they could be. More light will make them grow shorter and make the plant appear rounder.

By taking the time to tend to your violet now and then, you get a plant that uses it's energy to grow proportionally, bloom more regularly and make a more pleasing display. It' well worth the effort!

We'll see if our grooming helps this plant make some pleasant improvements in a few weeks. Stay tuned for future photos.....
Comments??? Questions??? Disagree???? Tap the comment button and let's hear what you wish to tell us!

From Store to Show Violets

The upcoming show has a new category. The GROCERY STORE violet. What do you do with what you typically get at the store?

This one is from the home improvement store actually, but you see a bunch of stuff wrong with it.

It has baby leaves, broken leaves, spent flowers, suckers, what doesn't it have wrong?

 First, the baby leaves come off.

Look for the small leaves that are directly under the largest outer row of leaves. The outer row should logically have the biggest, oldest leaves. When they are little you know that they are from the starter plant and they are babies.

 Take off all the spent blossoms, the  broken stuff etc.

 Look deeper under some of the leaves. See the small plantlet that is starting in the center. It's the little thing with three leaves  and it is NOT the center of the plant, as you can see the center is further back not in focus right now.









 Here is that small three leaved sucker removed. You could plant up that portion to make a baby plant.

One of the lower leaves is rotated to the right. If we reposition it, it might straighten up in a couple of weeks and fill in the gap.

 Toothpicks work nicely to gently move the leaf into the position you want it to be in.

Now the cleaned up, and groomed plant is under lights and we'll see if it can be taken to the show as an example of what you can do with a plant you just purchased from a regular store but want to look like a "show plant"

Please feel free to comment.

A Well Groomed Man.....

A well groomed man is all well and good, but a well groomed violet..... now that is a thing of beauty! Here are some tips to get your violet looking it's best for your home or for entering in a show!

First, a soft make-up brush works wonders for getting light dust and things like cat hair off of the fuzzy leaves. Be sure that the bristles of the brush are soft enough to use on your face or skin.
A plant with all the dead and faded flowers removed, and any dead or fading leaves taken off will be much less likely to have pest or disease problems. Don't be afraid to remove the spent flowers, the plant responds by producing more new flowers.

To help decide how to maintain a balanced and full rosette shape for your violet, you can see how removing a leaf or two will look before actually snapping them off. Place a little piece of tissue paper or flexible material over the leaf in question and you can see what the effect of that leaf's removal will do to the "look" and the shape of the plant.


If you have a leaf or two that would look better if it were moved into a slightly different position, you can use a little stir stick, or straw to gently move it and hold it in the new position for a few days. After three or four days check the leaf. It will likely be happily in it's new position.

If you notice some powdery mildew on the bloom stems of your African violet you can brush on a solution of fungicide (that is appropriate and approved for house plants and indoor use) and many times the fungus will be cured and the bloom still fresh and able to be left on the plant.

A well groomed plant will have fresh, bright blooms (like #239 here) and nice shiny, clean leaves. Notice that the shape of the plant is balanced and circular in a proportionally sized pot.

Have questions for us???? Send a note to nsavctc@gmail.com and we'll see that you get an answer to your AV related question!

Thanks to Barb W. for the models in this post!!!!