Hill Gardens of Maine -- Saintpaulia...African Violets

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Restoring a violet that really needs it
by Fred Davis, Hill Gardens of Maine (To view other articles, click Archives)
(Click the photos for an enlarged view)

Every African violet will eventually need to be re-potted... partly because the soil is totally exhausted or, as in the case of the one pictured at the left, has spent several (15) years in the same pot. We had advertised in a local paper, asking readers of our weekly gardening column to give us a call if they had a violet that needed help. Our thanks to a new gardening friend in a nearby town for this sorrowful little waif-triplet. If ever an African violet needed help, this one sure did!

Above-ground leafless stems on this one measured 7-1/2 inches long, with the bottom of each stem completely rotted off, leaving the plants dangling on a single, thready root...each. Regardless of those stressful circumstances, two of the three were in remark- able condition... probably the result of occasional doses of liquid houseplant "food."

As far as I could determine, it had rarely been given a shower or had its soil flushed out during those fifteen years and, as you can see from the photo of the empty pot, fertilizer salts had built up in a thick layer. Tough little plant! Nothing short of a miracle it lasted that long.

So...let's see what can be done to bring this tired little plant back.

The first step in recovery—while still in its original container and slippery, muck-like "soil"—was to give it a thorough shower and completely saturate everything. I let it sit for several hours to drain—protected from any chance of direct or even filtered sunlight.

Next came careful de-potting and removal of soil from what was left of the roots. All old soil was washed away with water adjusted for about room temperature. Then all the old dried leaves and about half of the oldest green leaves were snipped away...leaving only a modest rosette of the newest and healthiest.

Since two of the three plants in the pot were salvageable... and because I personally like a double-plant—back-to- back—specimen, I opted to put both back in the same pot. Sadly, the third likely wouldn't make it...so into the compost pile it went.

It took a little help to hold the two together in the right position...one to hold, the other to carefully spoon in fresh, new African Violet Potting Soil (we could almost hear the plant sigh, "Aaaaah!") and lightly press it down.

Final step, after we were satisfied we'd done about all we could, was another room-temperature shower to rinse foliage and clean the outside of the now scrubbed out pot, give it a few minutes to completely drain out, and then it was set aside to dry well away from any chance of direct or even filtered sunlight. We won't be giving it any liquid feeding for a couple of weeks...then we'll start it off on a weekly diet of half-recommended-strength Peter's Blossom Booster (10-30-20).rrow we'll put it up in the curtained kitchen window with the rest of our small collection where, in time, it'll get its weekly feeding aTwo Months Later— Here's the final result. Well rooted. Filled out. And, a week after this picture was taken, covered in new buds and flowers. Click on the photo for a closer view. This one actually took a little longer to blossom...perhaps the result of reduced winter light...or lower temperature in that kitchen window. Whatever. At any rate, it's now back to its beautiful self and back with its original owner. With care, the right light, every-other- week showers and flushes, and regular applications of either 10-30-20 or any good quality African violet fertilizer, it should remain in near constant color...until the next time it requires re-potting.

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