SEATTLE — Seattle gardening guru Ciscoe Morris loves the Living Tweedle out of houseplants, and his favorite houseplant of them all is the African violet.
“But there's nothing more frustrating than when you've got an African violet, you've had it for two years, and it never blooms. So I'm gonna show you the tricks to make sure that your African violets keep blooming.
Trick 1 – don’t put them in too big of a pot.
“I always grow them in just a little plastic pot they come in,” said Ciscoe. He adds that he puts the plastic pot inside a cool ornamental one.
Trick 2 – Water correctly.
“You never pour the water on the plant, that makes the leaves rot, it'll just wreck 'em. You don't want to overwater your African violet - so before I ever do it, I lift them up and see if they're really light, and that's when you give ‘em another drink of water. You don't want to wait too long - soon as they feel light, do it.”
Trick 3 – Find the right light.
“Lighting is really critical for these plants, I have mine in a western exposure right in front of a big window, but I have a sheer curtain in front of it, they just love that,” said Ciscoe. “Don’t let direct sun hit them, it’ll burn them up.”
Trick 4 – Fertilize.
Ciscoe uses Miracle Gro bloom formula and fertilizes his African violets in the summer once every two weeks at half strength and then once a month in the winter, again half strength. Also, remember to deadhead spent blooms.
Trick 5 – Keep them in the dark at night.
"If you're doing everything right, they got good light, they like room temperature, you're fertilizing them and they're still not blooming, there's two things you need to know. Number one, they have to have 8 hours of darkness every night, that's very important, don't stick ‘em by a nightlight or something like that. Number 2 is they can get too crowded.”
Ciscoe says after dividing your African violet, put divisions in a nice tight pot, and cover them with clear plastic bag to aid recovery – these plants like it humid.
Follow these tips and your African violets will bloom nonstop, and you’ll look like a horticultural genius!
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