African Violets

[Demeter]

I’m going on a plant craze as of late and I will soon have 7 new types of African violets that I will be propagating from leaf. That means I’ll more than likely have say ~21+ young fancy African violets (more than I have space for!)

Was wondering if anyone would like to have a couple in the distant future should they grow well. I’d expect them to be a shippable size in the winter/spring months but we shall see.

I do have a couple plants that I have multiples of right now and I think it’s time to down size to try and make room for the new arrivals. Let me know if anyone want one of these little guys, there’s one plant in particular that has a few suckers starting so I need to cut them off and either toss them are get them rooted.

 

[JettsPapa]

Keep me in mind please. Between my sister, daughter, and daughter-in-law I'm sure I can find a home for one.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

Love the ruffled edges! How much are you charging?

 

[Demeter]

Love the ruffled edges! How much are you charging?

If you want a mature plant, 4$ plus shipping. I have 3 mature plants, 1 pink, 1 purple/white, 1 surprise (think it’s pink, can’t remember).

 

[Mhamilton0911]

is the ones pictured the actual plants for sale? or their potential?

 

[Demeter]

is the ones pictured the actual plants for sale? or their potential?

For the pinks, those are 2 different plants. One is the actual the other is my parent plant. For the purple/white it’s the parent plant, the one for sale is smaller but has the same bloom color.

 

[Demeter]

My leaf cuttings came in 2 days ago, both sellers sent me an extra so now there are 9 new types. They’re all labeled and planted, just need to wait a few months to see growth. Waiting is the hardest part.





One type was sent as a sucker, this one is called Rob’s Humpty Doo, a type of trailing violet. It has a bud, perhaps it will bloom.



I repotted a bunch if violets and cut off the suckers from the one pink, the two largest ones are trying to take root. I’m going to hold onto these till they flower, I learned that some suckers can produce mutations called chimera and it sounds interesting.

 

[Demeter]

I bought plants from the violet barn and they arrived about a week ago. They were in the mail for an entire week but they are perfectly fine, they were packaged with great care.

Introducing my growing collection



EK Prekrasnaya Slavyank, Russian standard



Rob’s Loose Noodle, a miniature



Pixie Runaround Sport, a trailing mini chimera



Mac’s Elegant Emerald, another miniature



Carnival blues, this one is going to be a big plant at maturity.



And here’s one of the pink ruffled plants, finally adjusted after repotting and it’s now being wicked. Nice healthy leaves



The two suckers cut from the big ruffled pink, they have healthy roots now and I expect a growth spurt soon. They’re in cat food containers. Also shows Rob’s Hunpty Doo plantlet in a medicine measuring cup!




The leaf cuttings are taking forever and a day to get going. A couple died on me completely, I blame the leaf quality and shipping methods as the ones that died came from all the same seller. I’m seeing the beginnings of root and possible plantlet formation on the stems but no baby plants yet.

Also put in another order from the violet barn, I just couldn’t help myself. I need to stop but there’s no one to keep me in check

 

[Demeter]

An update to keep this thread alive. I’ve been buying, propagating and repotting a plenty.

I removed a few more suckers and put them in tiny glasses, one was still connected to a leave so I left it as is. Also put down a couple other leaves.



Here’s my newest mini violets, they are dainty.



The two suckers I removed and potted are now blooming!

 

[Demeter]

Plants doing well for the most part. I’m getting into trailing violets and now have 6 types. Only one is blooming, here’s Rob’s Humpty Doo.



Here’s the a baby tray, it’s a mini cupcake container




My original NOIDs with the pink ruffles are in full bloom, I repotted the largest one and trimmed some old leaves so that means the blooms had to go too. They have a lovely shimmer in the right light.








Then there’s Vanilla Trail, this is from a leave I got in the mail. This particular plant has a funny leaf, which could be something called “zippering”.

 

[Sofiafish17]

Hi, I don’t really know much about African violets, but my grandpa always had flowers in his garden and they filled his windowsills. He had so many African violets, and now African violets remind me of when I lived at his house when I was younger. I don’t know what variety he had, but they looked like these photos I found





the color of them was kind of in the middle of both of these. I was wondering if you had any that looked like these. Thank you!

 

[Demeter]

I would guess they are the average un-named grocery store varieties. I don’t have any solid colored violets like that but it shouldn’t be too hard to find some. Shop around at the big box stores like Walmart and whatnot, I bet you could find some.

Alternatively you can brows The Violet Barn, you may not find the type you have in mind but they are still beautiful to look at. All the ones they sell are named violets too

 

[Sofiafish17]

Thank you!

 

[Demeter]

Small update, a lot of plants are finally growing decently. If only the cat would stop knocking them over and/or getting hair on the leaves.

Great Nebula, the second bloom I’ve had. This one is very cute.



And then the beast that gives me trouble, Carnival Blues. I cleaned it up which means I plucking off the blooms. I like the flowers, if only the plant would behave! Attempted to start a few plants from bloom stalks and a leaf.








One of the trusty pink ruffles, second bloom cycle for this one removed as a sucker in previous posts.

 

[Kribensis27]

Beautiful plants! I used to have a ton, but I gave them all away a while ago. The cats had started laying on top of them!

The leaves would then collect cat hair and get all messy. They're also incredibly hard to clean. The cats would even bite off flowers any time they grew!

It became too much to deal with, so I got rid of them. I regret doing that to a huge level. They were great plants. I still have my streptocarpus, episcias, and columneas, but they're somehow less attractive to the cats.

I'm going to get more soon, I just can't decide on varieties. Violet Barn has too many options!!! Anyway, I guess I'll watch this thread now.

 

[Lakefish]

I had the same problem with my devil child knocking over, chewing, and digging in my plants. Thrift store to the rescue! They are high enough now to be mostly safe. Mostly! I used monkey hooks in the wall. They are plenty strong enough and don’t leave a big hole. Plants are just a bit sad now from neglect. Lol.

 

[Demeter]

After pruning, grooming, repotting and propagating, many plants are producing lots of buds and this is only a few of them!







This one in particular has me impatient. Coral Temptation is supposed to have very cute blooms, the color so far does look very coral-like. The shape of the blooms should be pansy-like which is currently my favorite bloom type.



I ordered another batch of violets when it was still a little chilly. Only one plant suffered but of course it was the one I was really looking forward to. Rob’s Inner Orbit got chilled and killed all the central leaves. I clipped them off and now I am seeing promising new growth at one leaf node.

 

[Kribensis27]

I'm so jealous! They all look amazing. Btw, I finally got another violet! It's an unidentified variety from a grocery store, but I love it. It's a prolific bloomer and has a gorgeous dark purple color. It's also HUGE! Other violets at the store are usually small and not very impressive, but I just had to get this one. It's nearly 10 inches across, and was only $4. I'll add a pic when I get home, I'm just so happy to finally have a violet again.

 

[Demeter]

Coral Temptation did not disappoint! This was the first bud to open, there’s more on the way.



Vanilla trail, this plant is still a tiny baby hence the medicine cup. A mature Vanilla Trail is stunning.



I had to repot Tina’s April Fantasy. That means removing most the flower stalks.





For those that don’t know, fantasy refers to the streaks and splashes of color on the flowers.




More plants will be blooming for the first time in a few more days or so. I’ll be back with more!

 

[Basil]

Oh wow. Just found this thread. Now I have reading material for my work break tonight .
I had a ton of African violets many years ago, including several mini varieties as there was a small greenhouse near me that specialized in the minis. But I gave them all away when I moved to an apartment facing north.
But now my house has perfect windows so I should get a couple.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

I love all these! I have a sunny shelf that needs some beauty.

 

[Demeter]

I love all these! I have a sunny shelf that needs some beauty.

I am propagating some for fun but it is slow going. Mature plants cannot be shipped, only starter plants so you’d need to raise them up yourself anyways.

 

[Kribensis27]

WOW, I need to get my hands on a Coral Temptation eventually! That's amazing!

 

[Basil]

Ohhhh, violet barn has micro-minis! I may just have to order one of each of their three varieties!

 

[Demeter]

More flowers!

LE Gieselle (supposed to be purple and white)





EK Prekrasnaya Slavyank (Russian for something probably)



Mac’s Pure Poetry



Bristol Black Cherry, this is a Strep which is a cousin of violets.



Another pinker bloom from Vanilla Trail



Carnival Blues



Yachiyo Sport (chimera) yet again, lots of flowers



And a few more!
Rob’s Loose Noodle



Texas Space Dust



Ma’s Ice Breaker (chimera)



A family photo of ones in the last post.




Two of the NOIDs ( no ID) that are clones. In the very first post the purple flowered plant is the same as these. Temperature plays a big part in bloom (and leaf) coloration for plants with multiple colors.





And then there’s a leaf with powdery mildew growing on it. I went through all the violets and cleaned their leaves with 50/50 rubbing alcohol and water. Mildew is the bane of my violet collection. I need to get a couple fans to help control it.



I also recently purchased some orchids for cheap. They were being sold in batches as rescue/greenhouse-rejects. 5 total, all random Odontoglossum orchids (Odont for short). These guys are a little rough looking but that’s why they were cheap, I think I can bring them around and hopefully I’ll have some blooms next year!

They are loving named Odont A-E going from largest to smallest. I hope to keep track of their progress here.





Bonus pics of a couple other orchids, these are the ones often found in grocery stores.






Plus a picture of my white Christmas cactus. Grew this one from a little cutting a few years ago. Too bad their blooms only last a couple days.

 

[Basil]

This is a total enabler thread lol!
I ordered the following from Violet Barn:
Rob’s bunny hop is a pink micro miniature violet, Irish flirt is a pretty light green flower miniature violet.
Apple pie and smidgen are miniature tropical begonias, and peperomia minima and hedera silver king are terrarium plants.

Rob's Bunny Hop	1
Apple Pie	1
Hedera h. Silver King	1
Peperomia minima	1
Smidgen	1
Irish Flirt	1

 

[Sofiafish17]

Are any available for sale right now? I have my eyes on a few of them.

 

[Demeter]

I’m not looking to sell any right now. I want to get a decent number of young plants going before offering any up for sale. I’m not even sure I’ll be shipping any if I can sell them locally.

Should I decide to ship some I’ll be sure to make a note of that on this thread!

 

[Basil]

I got my Violet Barn order yesterday! Wow, what gorgeous little plants. And look at the micro-miniature, Rob’s Bunny Hop! I’m in love! Can’t wait to set them up in their permanent display but I work this weekend. Of course, I’ll post when I get it done.

 

[fishl0rer]

those are beautiful!