Planta
Back to Anything about plants

Do any of you make your own African violet soil mix? I have a ton of… | Anything about plants | Planta community

Mullein

Do any of you make your own African violet soil mix? I have a ton of amendments for my aroids, but I only have one tiny violet, so I don’t really want to buy a whole bag of specialty soil. I have a some fine peat that I decided ages ago I hated as a mix-in lol, but the violets might actually like it! I also have perlite, sphagnum, worm castings, and all that jazz Gotchya day pic for tax 😉 I recently learned that variegated African violets actually go all green during the hot months. Who knew?? So even though mine has become green and plain looking since this pic was taken, it should go pink and white again in the fall 🤗

Attachment 1 of 1
4 likes 6 comments

6 comments

  1. eatyacarbs

    mine is thriving in a 1:1 fine peat and perlite — i would have added vermiculite if i had any, but i didn’t!

    Attachment 1 of 1
    3 likes
    • Mullein

      Oh perfect! That’s easy ☺️👍 Mine had a couple of dark purple flowers for a moment. My go-to fertilizer isn’t particularly geared for blooming since I’m mostly a foliage junky lol. But hopefully my violet is still happy even when it doesn’t flower I think I saw you comment on a post a while ago actually, about banana peels as a diy potassium source. Was that you? I think potassium is the one that helps plants bloom, so I’ll have to look into that ☺️

      1 like
    • eatyacarbs

      I did post somewhere about the banana peels trick — it smells pretty gross lol I use fox farm big blooms on this violet — it is the higher potassium (and phosphorus) that promote blooms

      1 like
    • Mullein

      Noted. Thanks!

      1 like
    • Hithisisjessica

      Thank for your comment! I was looking for this Info! When looking online it says 1:1:1 vermiculite, perlite, & sphagnum peat moss(or noir). Is fine peat the same as sphagnum moss(bc I do have that)? Also I was wondering if I could do potting mix(miracle grow) instead of vermiculite bc I need to not spend anymore on plants right now🙈

      0 likes
    • eatyacarbs

      Skip the vermiculite and you’ll be fine. A bag of MG perlite and a bag of MG peat moss will set you back about $12. I would not use MG potting mix for your violet. It needs to drain very quickly and I definitely recommend you use a specific AV pot

      0 likes