Violet care

Home care

suitable light in moderate amounts of climbing plants

In order for the plant to grow twice as fast, it can be provided with additional lighting using fluorescent legs. In addition, in this case, Saintpaulia will bloom twice as fast, and the leaves will become brighter and more lush.

pot volume is very important

The soil

airy and loose, with a predominance of a slightly acidic reaction

Thus, it will prevent soil acidification. Very little coal is added to the mixture. It absorbs various unpleasant odors. But a lot of moss is required. It must be harvested from the summer, dried in the sun or in the oven. It is then cut into small pieces with scissors and added to the soil mixture. He will give the substrate airiness.

Transfer

until the roots are visible from the drainage hole

If the plant has already formed a long bare trunk, then it must be transplanted with a deepening. To do this, slightly crush the pot, as a result of which the soil will easily move away from the walls and the plant can be removed without damaging the root system. On top of Saintpaulia, 3 rows of young leaves are left, the rest are removed from below. Next, a part of the root system is carefully cut off with a knife, leaving the required length for planting in a new pot. Then the violet is placed in this or a new pot, filling it with soil to the bottom row of leaves. From above, the soil must be slightly crushed.

Watering Saintpaulia after transplanting is not recommended. The plant can be watered in a day, when the earth settles well. If the soil seems too dry, then it can be placed in a pan of water so that the plant absorbs the required amount of liquid.

Fertilizers and feeding

you need to constantly feed

For a good life, Saintpaulia needs all the nutrients, but some need more, some less. Most of all, the plant needs nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. With their deficiency, violet leaves turn yellow, and growth and flowering slows down. The lack of iron, boron and magnesium is expressed in the loss of leaf elasticity, and the petioles become very brittle. In winter, plants are fed once a month, in autumn - 2 times, in spring - 3 times, and in summer - every week. It happens that organic fertilizers are used as top dressing: bird droppings or cow dung.

Watering

in uniform watering

Many hobbyists use the so-called bottom watering, in which the pot with the plant is placed in water for a while. This process takes a long time and is therefore inappropriate when there are a lot of violets. In addition, watering from below can cause nematodes to appear. Therefore, watering from above will be much more convenient. In this case, it is better to use a watering can with a long spout to avoid water getting on the Saintpaulia leaves.

It is recommended to use distilled water for irrigation. If you use tap water, then it must be allowed to brew for at least a day. The water should be a little over room temperature. Watering with cold water can cause white spots on the leaves. The most important thing is not to let the soil dry out to the bottom of the pot. Watering is necessary for the flower when the top layer of the soil has already begun to dry out.

Many flower growers also prefer to use wick irrigation for violets for indoor care. Wick irrigation is usually based on the use of a single cord.

Strong temperature fluctuations and cold drafts should be avoided.

Humidity

Air humidity significantly affects the condition of the plant.If the air in the room is too dry, then the tips of the leaves of Saintpaulia begin to turn yellow and shrink, the flowers become small and wither quickly. This most often happens in winter when heating is turned on in apartments. The most optimal will be 50% air humidity. To maintain this humidity, the pots are placed on wet sand, which must be constantly moistened. You can also put saucers in a baking sheet with water, on which the pots with the plant are placed. Saintpaulia loves steam. Therefore, the kitchen will become a favorable place for her.

Pruning

The Uzambara violet does not need to be pruned. Pruning is done only when the plant needs to add splendor. For this, the upper leaves of the violet are carefully cut off.

Interesting varieties of Saintpaulia with photos and descriptions

It is impossible to describe all the thousands of varieties of violets, so below are some interesting cultivars of different breeding, which will allow you to acquaint you at least a little with the beauty of the flowering of this beautiful indoor plant.

A series of violets "Chimera" of different selection with a wide stripe in the center of the petal or a variegated pattern that differs from the general color. Can be either simple or terry, for example violets "Dance of the Galaxies", "Wheel of Fortune", "Parker" or "Ariel" from this series.

"Dance of the Galaxies"

Breeder Ralph Robinson's gorgeous Rob's trailer violets are stunning: Show Stopper, Lituanica violet with a high rosette, VanillaTrail1 ampel, Dancin Trail, Cherokee Trail and many other spectacular cultivars.

"Lituanica"

Violets of selection D.Ness:

• Orange-Pekoe with large double coral flowers;
• blue, terry "Crinkle blue";
• pale pink, terry "Satin Rose" with jagged leaves;
• "Blueberry Puff" - simple dark blue flowers, strewn with blurry light pink spots, similar to the glare of the sun;

"Blueberry Puff"

tricolor violet "Fantasy Gold" with terry petals in fuchsia, yellow and pink.

"Fantasy Gold"

Usambar violets Buckeye (Buckeye) - a foreign series that makes your heart sink in admiration!

"Big Snowstorm" is a snow-white terry Saintpaulia variety with variegated green-white leaves.

"Irish lace" with fringed creamy petals, the edges of which are decorated with a light green border with brown splashes.

"Irish lace"

Semi-double violet-lilac "Buckeye Ballet Master".

Buckeye Ballet Master

Violets Optimara - today the Optimara concern is the world's largest producer of Saintpaulias on an industrial scale. Their series is characterized by a standard color of leaves, flowers are mostly simple.

Optimara Rhapsodie Clementine

Collections K. Morev

Violet "Zephyr" - very large flowers of a delicate white-pink shade with a fringed edge of the petals.

"Zephyr"

Variety of violets "Blue fog" from the Morev collection with double flowering of a light blue color.

Semi-double lilac-white violet "Amadeus".

"Amadeus"

Series E. Lebetskaya:

• violet "Isadora" - double flowers with pink petals, decorated with strokes and spots of a violet hue;
• terry violet "Gold of the Scythians" - creamy yellow petals with a fringed dark pink border along the edges;

"Gold of the Scythians"

White violet "Queen of Ice" selection by E. Korshunov with large double snow-white flowers.

Queen ice

Violet Humako of Dutch selection is a series of Saintpaulia varieties with predominantly simple flowers.

Humako "Sweet"

A unique variety of violets "Snow Dahlia" of Berdnikov's selection - white-light green flowers are similar in shape to miniature dahlias.

"Snow Dahlia"

"Mac's Scorching Sun" of the G. McDonald series is a miniature rosette with green-yellow jagged leaves and simple red-scarlet flowers decorated with a white border, the leaves are green-cream.

Reproduction

Errors in the conditions of keeping and growing violets often lead to the fact that it is necessary to save the plant urgently.This cannot always be done by simply transplanting a flower.

In order not to happen that the only specimen of the collection died, it becomes necessary to have a spare plant of this variety. You can propagate violets:

Leaves. It is used when the stalk has already begun to rot and there is nowhere to take another leaf, or there are still very few leaves, then 1/3 of the leaf is taken. In this case, all the rot is cut off, the remaining leaf blade must necessarily have at least one vein.
The cut is allowed to dry until a film is formed, treated with activated carbon, placed on the ground so that the cut fits snugly to the substrate, and placed in a plastic bag;

Cuttings. The most common way, especially for beginners. At the outlet, a healthy leaf breaks out, preferably from 2-3 rows, together with a handle and sits in a glass of water, soil or a peat tablet. For the first time, violets are placed in plastic bags;

Stepsons. Carefully separate the stepson from the mother plant. As in the case of cuttings, we place them in the environment that is most familiar for rooting, put them in bags or a greenhouse, wait for the roots to appear;

Peduncles. This method is applied to chimera violets, since when propagated by cuttings and leaves, their grade is not preserved. A fully blooming flower or a freshly faded flower is selected, the buds will not work

Carefully separate the selected flower with a sharp disinfected knife or scalpel, place it in a glass with wet sphagnum moss and in a bag or greenhouse. The peduncle has taken root if a rosette has grown next to the bracts.

The most common methods are 2 and 3. Also, leaf propagation at home is very popular among flower growers.

Collectors prefer to root the saintpaulias in soil or peat pellets, as in this case the root system becomes stronger and less injured during transplantation. After breeding, violets need proper watering and care.

Reproduction of violets at home

There are three main ways:

• Stepson and flower stalks. A young part is taken from an overgrown old individual, placed in a separate bowl with a prepared substrate. This allows the young animals to retain their unique parental coloration.
• Cuttings or cuttings. A violet leaf is taken - dense, medium-sized, necessarily healthy and not lethargic. It is cut off along with the leg, which is immersed in a jar of water. After the roots appear, the new plant is planted in the soil. This is one of the most common methods, but it does not always preserve the mother color of flowers.
• Seeds. Like many other plants, Saintpaulias can be grown from seed. This requires heterosexual bushes installed side by side. After pollination, a uterine capsule appears on one of them. It is worth waiting for it to dry completely. You can also use products from stores.

Diseases and pests

The initial stage of powdery mildew

Below are discussed the most common problems that can occur when growing uzambara violets, as well as ways to deal with them.

Diseases

Despite successful acclimatization in apartment conditions, Saintpaulia is susceptible to a large number of different diseases. The advantage in this matter is the fact that most of them can be cured, since the plant is quite tenacious. The main thing is to prevent the disease from reaching a neglected state. The table shows the symptoms and methods of treatment for common diseases.

Pests

Unlike diseases, there are few pests of Saintpaulias. Most often, the plant is attacked by greenhouse aphids and mealybugs. The fight against the former is similar to the fight against the common aphid.

In the case of a weak infection, a soap-garlic solution is used (50 g of soap are dissolved in 5 liters of water and juice from 2-3 cloves of garlic is added). If the aphid colony does not respond to such an effect, chemical agents are used. Their contact insecticides Confidor shows itself well, the best intestinal remedy is Karbofos, from the systemic preparations, the nicotine preparation Aktara can be distinguished.

Greenhouse aphid

Mealybug usually appears from poor quality substrate. At first, this arthropod is located near the roots and is almost impossible to detect. Later, individual representatives move to the axils of the leaves, then, as the population of the colony grows, they move to the leaf plates.

Within a few days after emerging from the surface, the pest can affect the entire flower as a whole and it will be very difficult to fight it.

Mealybug on Saintpaulia

Both adult worms and their eggs and larvae have good protection against contact-type drugs, therefore, to combat them, it is necessary to use systemic agents: Mospilan, Confidor-maxi, Aktara.

If, when transplanting recently acquired material, a worm is found in it, all roots should be removed from it, then the rosette without roots should be dipped into any insecticide and transplanted into fresh soil under a mini-greenhouse. The roots will grow back in about 3-4 weeks.

Cyclamen mites predominantly affect the growth point of the flower. This leads to the fact that the young leaves of the rosette become smaller, curled and deformed. The buds of the affected plants usually dry out, and if they bloom, the leaves of the flowers are also deformed. In addition, plants exposed to the attacks of this arthropod have a high probability of infection with bacteriosis and rot.

The result of the activity of the cyclamen mite

Conventional insecticides are not effective against ticks. The same can be said for systemic drugs.It is necessary to use special means - acaricides. The preparations Fitoverm, Akarin, Aktofit and Vermitic help well against all types of ticks.

Projects of country houses for 6-10 acres: 120 photos, description and requirements | The most interesting ideas

1. Seven Secrets of Success:

Botanical name: Saintpaulia.

Family

Homeland of the plant. Africa.

Description. Despite the huge variety of varieties, the genus Saintpaulia or Uzambara violet consists of only 20 evergreen perennial herbaceous plants, most of which form low leaf rosettes. Some Saintpaulias develop short stems with age.

The root system is superficial, the leaves are dark green, pubescent, rounded, up to 10 cm in diameter, on short petioles. There are plants with variegated leaves that have various forms of white or pink stripes and spots.

Peduncles appear in the center of the rosette and bear several flowers at the top.

Flowers in a very diverse range of colors, except perhaps for shades of yellow, simple and double. The petals can be rounded or corrugated.

Height. Saintpaulias grow quite quickly, for adult plants they remain miniature, and the tallest species do not exceed 40 cm.

Classification

By outlet size

In total, more than 32,000 varieties of the Usambara violet are distinguished. So we can confidently say that the breeders did not work in vain. The smallest flowers do not even reach 2 cm, violets with petals up to 4.5 cm fall into the middle group.The largest petals can reach 10 cm.But apart from the actual size, it must be borne in mind that the perception of flowers directly depends on:

• the ratio of their size to the size of the foliage;
• the number of buds forming;
• air humidity;
• air temperature.

By flower shape

The outwardly simplest type of violet flower was named "Anyutka". This is a 5-petal bud. Most often, there are 2 relatively small petals on top compared to the lower petals. The so-called "bells" are a little more complicated. This word alone is enough to understand exactly how they look. The so-called "star" (5 petals, almost the same size) is considered a very attractive type.

By color of petals

It is customary to call flowers "chimeras" in which the middle and edge of the petal are connected by peculiar stripes. Outwardly, they look like the spokes in a bicycle wheel. The word "Fantasy" denotes flowers covered with areas of contrasting or darker than the main background, tones. These plots might look like:

• spray;
• strips;
• glimpses.

Some flowers have rimmed petals. It varies significantly depending on the variety. The multicolored varieties of violets are highly valued. But those that are painted in 2 or more shades of the same paint also look attractive.

By the number of petals

Terry is usually called those Saintpaulias, which have 2 or more rows of petals. Semi-double flowers have 6 or more simple petals. In this case, there may be a kind of scallop (sometimes a bow) in the middle. However, the second row cannot be 100% full. Of course, semi-double varieties will be slightly smaller.

By type of leaves

If the foliage has a simple texture and uniform shape, it is classified as a flat (otherwise they say simple) type. The "Girl" view has deep scallops. Most often, these scallops resemble a circle or a heart. In the heart, where the base of the leaves is located, there is a white or yellow mark. Pointed leaves are called leaves, the edges of which converge in strictly defined places.

Violets can also have quilted leaves. They are characterized by uplifts in the gaps between the veins. If the outer edges of the foliage look carved or uneven, they are referred to as lace format. Variegated violets are a very attractive solution in many cases. Their feature is the presence of inclusions (cream, white, pink or light yellow).

By leaf color

It is customary to divide variegated violets into several types. If the variegated areas are gathered at the edges, then this is the "Tomi Lu" format. When the leaves are variegated only inside the crown, and around the perimeter they are more uniform, it is customary to talk about the crown type of variegation. There is also mosaic diversity. As you might guess, these are multi-colored areas scattered more or less uniformly over the entire surface.

Leaf propagation

And how to grow violets at home from a leaf? This method of obtaining outlets is considered one of the simplest. To do this, take a leaf together with a handle, put it in water, or germinate immediately in the ground. Each method has its own characteristics.

Growing violets and taking care of the leaf at home are reduced to periodic examinations of the plate for decay. In order not to lose the leaf during rooting in water, you should add a piece of charcoal to the container or put an activated charcoal tablet.

When rooting in the ground, greenhouse conditions are created. In this case, the planting material is planted at an angle of 45 degrees, burying it into the ground to a depth of no more than 1 cm.

As soon as young foliage appears and reaches a height of 3-5 cm, it is separated from the mother leaf. The latter can be rooted again.

To separate the children, it is necessary to remove the leaf together with the shoots, carefully separate the young growth from the leaf, and then divide it one by one. Each baby is planted in separate pots. For planting, use a soil similar in composition to the one in which the leaf germinated. In the first two weeks after planting, it is best to create a greenhouse environment. They will help young plants adapt more quickly, accelerate rooting. Periodically, the outlet is transshipped into a pot with a larger diameter of 1-1.5 cm.

1. Seven Secrets of Success:

Botanical name: Viola.

Family

Homeland of the plant. North hemisphere.

Description. Violet is a large genus consisting of 550 - 600 perennial, biennial or annual herbaceous low-growing plants or shrubs.

Sometimes these plants form short, sturdy, erect stems, but often they form a rosette of leaves.

Leaves are simple, green, soft, cordate or round, with a jagged edge. The leaf surface is often pubescent. Some species have finger-separated leaves.

Flowers are solitary, often fragrant, bright, in a wide variety of shades, their petals are often painted in different colors. The diameter of the flowers reaches 5 - 7 cm.

Height. Home violet reaches 15 - 30 cm.

Details about feeding Saintpaulias

At home, Saintpaulias grow on rather poor soils, therefore, when compiling earthen mixtures, amateurs try not to give them too many nutrients. But since the root system of the plant is in a small volume of the substrate, over time, the soil in the pots is gradually depleted. Therefore, you have to periodically feed the plants. True, you should not feed immediately after transplanting - within two months there will be enough food for the Saintpaulias.

When feeding plants, one should not forget that an excess of nutrients can cause various undesirable effects. For example, excess nitrogen leads to vigorous growth of leaves to the detriment of flowering. "Overfed" plants become unstable to diseases and pests. With a significant excess of phosphorus, Saintpaulias age faster, the buds fall off, and young leaves are deformed. If there is a lot of potassium, the plants stop growing, the leaves turn yellow.

The concentration of nutrient solution for dressing depends on many factors, in particular on the size of the pot, the composition of the earthen mixture. Finally, it is taken into account that Saintpaulias are plants that cannot tolerate a high salt content. Too concentrated solutions (more than 1.5-2 g of salts per 1 liter of water) are harmful to plants.

Saintpaulia, or Usambara violet Tropical World Nursery

The smaller the pot and the amount of soil in it, the weaker the salt concentration should be (but you need to feed it more often). Plants on loose soils can be fed more often than on heavy ones - in the first case, fertilizers are washed out faster.

When watering saintpaulia with a highly concentrated solution, the roots are damaged in plants, the leaves become soft. If urgent measures are not taken, the plant may die. In this case, it is necessary to spill the earthy lump well with warm water (0.5-1 l.) In small portions. Then the pot is placed in a shaded place.

The optimal concentration of fertilizers for Saintpaulia can be considered 1 g of complex mineral salts, diluted in 1 liter. water. Each next top dressing in this case is carried out in 15-20 days. Feeding with weaker solutions (1 g per 3 liters of water) is also effective. Such solutions can be watered more often - after 5-6 days. Also noteworthy is the constant feeding with watering - in this case, 1 g of fertilizer is dissolved in 6-8 liters. water.

Saintpaulias should be fed only during the most favorable season for their growth. So, in the middle lane, it is desirable to fertilize from March to September.

Diseases

Such a plant can get sick in case of improper care. Foliage may turn yellow due to excessively low air humidity or direct sunlight.With excessive humidity or low temperatures, rot can appear on the roots and foliage, which can cause the development of fusarium and gray rot.

Also, the plant is susceptible to infection with powdery mildew. And from pests, aphids, nematodes, ticks, thrips, podura can settle on it.

The affected leaves must be cut off, and then the plant itself must be treated. For the "treatment" of violets, you can use Agravertin, Fitoverm and Fundazol (depending on the disease).

Useful articles from the "Floral" section:

Useful articles for the gardener:

• When to collect mint for drying for the winter: harvest time, how to store
• How to collect and store tomato seeds at home: harvest time
• Supports for peas: how to make, garter methods
• Planting beets before winter: when to sow, timing, care
• The best apple varieties: the tastiest and most fruitful

• When to harvest walnuts: timing, storage
• Mushroom picker calendar 2020: when to collect, auspicious days
• Autumn work in the garden and garden: what needs to be done
• Do I need to dig a garden before winter: timing, what fertilizers to apply
• Apricot compote for the winter: delicious and simple recipes