Potting African Violets
I love houseplants and have a greenhouse full of beautiful potted specimens that are brought into my home whenever I entertain. Among them is a collection of African violets, Saintpaulia - herbaceous perennial flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae, native to Tanzania and Kenya.
I recently purchased several African violets from Surry Gardens in Surry, Maine, a premier full-service greenhouse and nursery company, and one of my favorites in the area. Yesterday, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, potted up the frilly, elegant houseplants, and added them to my growing collection.
Enjoy these photos.
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- The plants in the foreground are all African violets. These plants take little indoor space and can be grown in small groupings for a showy display. The taller plants are weeping blue ginger, Dichorisandra pendula. Ryan is planting each one in a Guy Wolf pot. I’ve been using Guy Wolff pots for many years. He makes every one of his containers by hand. http://www.guywolff.com/
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- This African violet is ‘Arctic Snow’ with showy semidouble white flowers and medium green foliage. Pinch blooms from the growing African violets when they are spent. This will encourage the development of more flowers.
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- This is ‘Louisiana Lullaby’ – an African violet that flowers with semidouble-double lavender blooms with purple markings on the top petals, and medium green, ovate, quilted and serrated leaves.
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- I love the markings on this African violet, ‘Blueberry Ruffles’. It has velvety, dark blue, deeply ruffled, semidouble pansy shaped flowers and ruffled foliage that’s dark green with variegation in shades of white, cream and pink.
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- Here is another ‘Blueberry Ruffles’ – these will look great in my collection.
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- ‘Blackberry Jam’ also has variegated leaves. It flowers with semidouble dark red-purple star blooms.
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- There is a hole at the bottom of each pot. A clay shard is placed over the hole to help with drainage. I also like to use clay pots because they allow proper aeration and moisture to penetrate through the sides and to the plant. We always save shards from broken pots – it’s a great way to repurpose those pieces.
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- Ryan trims any spent flowers or leaves that look damaged or old. These leaves will usually reside on the lower rung of leaves.
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- Use a potting mix that is very light and porous and contains peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite in equal parts. A quality mix will enhance aeration, while keeping the soil moist, but not soggy.
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- Ryan fills the pot with a scoop of mix – he fills to just below the top of the pot’s rim.
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- Ryan gently removes one of the African violets from its pot, being very careful not to damage any of the roots.
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- To stimulate new root growth, Ryan loosens them with his hands.
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- Ryan carefully places the African violet into the new container. He chooses a pot that is just slightly larger than the plant’s original vessel.
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- He adds more soil and tamps the soil down to prevent any air holes. In general, you should keep the air temperature, around your African violets as close as possible to 70-degrees Fahrenheit. Do not allow temperatures to drop below 60-degrees or rise above 80-degrees Fahrenheit.
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- Here is a closer look at one of the variegated leaves of this ‘Blueberry Ruffle’.
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- Plants are generally very easy to pot – it just takes a little time. Here is another African violet being moved to its new container.
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- Once again, Ryan tamps down the soil surrounding the plant. When keeping African violets, try to provide them with at least 50 to 60 percent humidity.
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- All five of these new African violets are now potted up and ready to move into the greenhouse. African violet plants are picky about water, so take extra care – always use room temperature water and water at the base. Never splash the foliage; just a drop can cause foliar spots and damage. And only water when the soil feels less moist to the touch.
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- They join some more of my African violets on a table where they can drink in lots of natural indirect light.
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- I have some African violets in my Winter House servery – these plants do well in this room because of the filtered light. African violet plants with dark green foliage usually need somewhat higher light levels than those with pale or medium green foliage.
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- Be sure to keep your African violets away from any floor vents, fans, or entrance doors to avoid air drafts and bursts of cold air. Just a little bit of care will help maintain your African violets for years. What are your planting tips? Share them with me below.
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