I was given an African violet rose bouquet a couple months ago and while it’s still alive (no leaves have fallen or rotted off), I’m wondering what I can do to help it grow and bloom. I think a couple tiny leaves have emerged closer to the bottom but I feel like it should have more movement at this point? I’ve never had one before so it’s in indirect bright light and in a double cup (how I got it). I add water when the soil seems dry on top. Any advice?
Do you provide nutrients? The plant may just be lacking enough nitrogen to start growth. It won’t begin new leaves if it doesn’t think it can afford to develop them completely and will usually just have some buds waiting for those nutrients. It could also be that it doesn’t have the root system required for growth yet and it’s just working on building up roots.
2 Mi piaceThere’s a fertilizer mixed into the soil so I haven’t added a liquid fertilizer. I believe it was a new cutting so it is building roots, though I haven’t seen any peeking through the soil. Not familiar with them and their root structure so I might have unrealistic expectations lol. Any fertilizer you recommend? I can start adding it.
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I think your plant looks great. It’s not leggy. It’s probably focusing on roots. Nitrogen is great for leaf growth, not for blooming. I’m struggling with my pumpkin vine because I was fertilizing regularly with a nitrogen heavy mix but I want it to bloom so I’m going to cut this fertilizer and switch to bone meal.
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You’re going to want a fertilizer that has a decent phosphorus amount (the second number on the 1:1:1 scale). I use a pump-bottle one from Miracle Gro that can actually be added directly, doesn’t need dilution, so that helps me feel like I’m not overwatering the plant in the process. It’s not a fool-proof memory tool, but the numbers mean Leaves-Flowers-Roots.
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I have always found my African viola lets are just slower growers than most of my other plants.
1 mi piaceAfrican violets like to get root-bound before they bloom. Also some like to hit a certain temperature for a while to bloom, so those often only bloom once a year with weather changes. It looks very happy, so just keep doing what you're doing and it'll flower when it's ready
0 Mi piaceAlso looking up that cultivar, it gets quite a bit bigger (at least one or two full rows of leaves more), so it might just be young. It should give you a lot of flowers when it does bloom though
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