The Ultimate African Violet Care Guide
African Violets have a reputation for being complex and challenging houseplants to grow. Like many tropical houseplants, African Violets have specific needs and requirements. Continue reading the ultimate African violet care guide and learn how to conquer this flowering houseplant!
Grow Indoors
African Violets must be grown indoors or in a temperature-controlled greenhouse. African Violets are very sensitive to temperature and humidity fluctuations. Additionally, these tender tropicals are very sensitive to direct sun. While they need bright light to thrive, they require indirect light as they can burn. To complicate things, they will turn brown and spotted if they receive water on their leaves or flowers—more on watering later in the blog post.
Watering African Violets
African Violets like to be watered through absorption. In other words, they prefer bottom watering versus watering on top. As mentioned earlier, if they receive water on their leaves or flowers, there is a potential for damage. To water, fill up a shallow container (a deep saucer works well) with lukewarm water. Place the plant in the water, submerging half of the pot. Allow the plant to absorb water for 12-24 hours. If you need to refill the saucer, do so to ensure the plant absorbs as much water as it desires. Once the plant feels heavy, remove the plant from the saucer. Tada! The watering is done. Water African violets when the soil is almost dry but not completely dry.
Give ‘Em Space
While African Violets aren’t complete loners, they like their space. While they want to be nice and snug in their container, they do not like to be too close to other plants. Therefore, ensure your African violet is not touching other plants. This can cause the spread of insects and disease and can also cause browning of the leaves.
The Proper Container
While leaving your African Violet in the grower’s pot may be easier to transplant into a self-watering African Violet container. The containers are specifically designed for African Violets. The pot where the African Violet is planted is made of porous clay and slips into another pot made of porous clay. This combination allows the plant to soak up the water through the rootball.