Chapter 11 - African Violets

Although the African violet does originate in Africa, it is not a violet at all, but belongs to the family of herbs known as Gesneriaceae. It gets its name from the predominant flower color, although African Violets are also grown with pink, blue and white flowers. The botanical name is Saintpaulia in honor of Baron Walter von Saint Paul who was the first to discover them and bring them back to Europe in 1893. In the last ten years or so African Violets have sprung from comparative obscurity to enormous popularity and for good reason. They are handsome plants that are almost perfectly adapted for indoor life and they bloom almost continually.

Description. The African Violet is a low-growing, hairy-leafed plant. The leaves are roughly oval in shape and dark green. There are more than a hundred varieties of Saintpaulia whose blossoms range from pink to mauve to blue to violet. The flowers, although generally smaller, will sometimes run up to as much as an inch and a half across.

Growing conditions. Except for the low humidity factor, African Violets are almost perfectly adaptable to home-growing conditions. They will thrive in a much warmer atmosphere than will most house plants, liking a temperature of 70° to 75° during the day and not below 60° at night. In the winter if the temperature in your house gets down much below this point, the plants should either be moved away from the windows for the night or covered with a newspaper or burlap tent as described in Chapter 3. Because the natural condition of the African Violet is the moist and humid one of the African jungle, it needs even more humidifying than most plants. The best way to effect this condition is to set the plants in a deep pan or saucer on an inch layer of pebbles filled with water to just below the pot. This will keep the air around them moist. Of course, you should also follow the other humidifying practices as described earlier, such as keeping a bowl of water on the radiator near the flowers.

African Violets should be watered either from below, or from above with a watering can with a long spout which will reach inside the foliage and wet the soil without splashing the leaves. One of the major troubles the home gardener runs into with Saintpaulia is the problem of white spots forming on the leaves. This is almost invariably caused by cold water splashing on them. Always use water at room temperature or warmer. Although some authorities believe that warm water sprayed on the leaves of African Violets or other heavy-leafed plants will do no harm, it certainly can't do much good and so the sensible thing is to avoid it. You can also use the wick-watering system which is described in Chapter 3.

One of the reasons that these little plants are such a joy to home gardeners is that they do not require, as do almost all other flowering plants, a great deal of sun. An east or west window is best, although many African Violets have been known to grow and prosper in a northern exposure. Of course, a north window is not much good in the winter when it gets no sun at all, but as a summer home it works out very well.

a northeast confer featuring African violets note the variety of leaf and flower sizes

One important point to remember about Saintpaulia is that it not only does not require outdoor "plunging" in the summer but is one plant which definitely should not be allowed outdoors. So keep it in the house and enjoy its colors all year long.

To keep the leaves of your African Violets free of dust, clean them with a soft brush a small soft paint brush will do the trick nicely.

Soil. Because African Violets like a rich soil whose content of humus is higher than that needed by the average plant, special soils have been prepared for the purpose and can be purchased in the same stores that sell your other garden supplies. As with the other commercially packaged soils, this mixture has been scientifically prepared to the exact specifications demanded by Saintpaulia for maximum growth.

When potting an African Violet, be sure that the earth is not packed in too heavily as these plants like a well aerated soil. Also, since they are more tolerant than most of constant moisture at the roots than most plants, they will thrive in a more roomy pot.

Plant food. The tremendous popularity and widespread acceptance of the African Violet has enabled the suppliers of home garden plant foods to prepare dry fertilizers specially for the needs of this one plant. This plant food should be given to your plants periodically in amounts specified on the label and, of course, when you are repotting or starting new plants from cuttings.

Propagation. The most common way of propagating African Violets is by the leaf-cutting method as described in Chapter 7. This should preferably be done in the spring so that the new plants will have the benefit of the summer weather to grow in. It will generally take about ten or twelve weeks for the first new leaves to appear. A successful new plant will flower after four to six weeks. Therefore if you begin the process in the early spring you should have a grown and flowering garden of Saintpaulia by fall.

African Violets can also be propagated by a method known as division. If the crown of your plant begins to grow so thickly that it starts to lose its capacity to flower, the plant can be divided into several sections and repotted. The procedure here is simple and can be followed with other plants that lend themselves to this method, such as ferns, ground ivy or sansevieria. Turn the plant out of the pot and gently remove the earth from the roots. Try to do this without disturbing them too much. Don't, for instance, bang the ball of earth against the table to loosen it. Then with a soft stream of lukewarm water wash the remaining dirt away. You will see at the base of the crown that it is divided into segments, each with roots attached. Separate these from the main section of the plant, again as gently as possible, and repot in individual containers suitable to the size of the division. Water the new plants thoroughly and give them a feeding of African Violet food. Make sure they are kept in the shade for a few days before setting them in an east or west window.

frican violet ruffled queen

Pests and diseases. Chapter 9 covers the problems of pests and diseases and what to do about them. African Violets are subject to attacks of mealybugs and red spider, but, as we said earlier, these enemies should not be allowed to get into the house in the first place. If you should have an epidemic of these little creatures, use only insecticides which have been prepared for use on African Violets, such as our own New Era African Violet and House-Plant Spray.

Varieties. As we said at the beginning of this section, there are now over a hundred varieties of Saintpaulia and the number is growing all the time. The most popular are Blue Boy, Pink Beauty, Amethyst, White Lady and Orchid Beauty, but there are many, many other varieties which are extremely popular and deservedly so. A few have been illustrated in this section.

African violet sea girl

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