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African violets
African violets, genus Saintpaulia, are beautiful, colorful, frequent blooming, bouquets of flowers. If, that is, you can give them what they want. If you give African violets all the conditions they require, you will be rewarded with an almost constant show of flowers with colors that almost span the rainbow. On the other hand, if you don't give an African violet exactly what it wants, it may mold, droop, turn brown, wilt, or any number of things that seriously detract from the beauty and health of the plant.
The good thing is that figuring out what your violet wants isn't very difficult. They prefer bright, indirect light. It needs to be bright to get the plant to flower, and it needs to be indirect to keep the leaves from burning. An eastern window where the plant gets a lot of early morning sun is ideal. African violets are also ideal under fluorescent lights. If you have an office that is brightly lit with fluorescent lights, then a violet will probably do well. Watering is also a key element. Violets like to be kept rather moist. An excellent way to do this is to sit the pot on a bed of rocks, with a strip of an absorbent material stuck into the bottom of the pot, and resting in the rocks (see photo below). A strip of nylon pantyhose works well for this. You then simply water the rocks. When the level gets low, or dry, fill the rocks with water. Since the nylon works as a wick, the plant does not get so much moisture that it rots, but can take water as it wants. Another good way is to plant the pot in a self-watering type of pot. You then water from the bottom. Be careful not to get the leaves of a violet wet when you water.
Care rating:
