Guest Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 The tl/dr is that I want to know if Optimara AVs are harder to raise than simpler varieties in a damp climate in a drafty house with a less-than-perfect slaveowner and evil underaged overseer well-meaning but clueless AV newbie. There will be more information to follow if you don't know what I'm talking about and still want to help and bla blah blah everybody's got mealybugs and crown rot boo hoo blah hoo blah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 I love African Violets but I’m a newb on them. Have you asked on the gardenweb forums? They’re geniuses there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicJen Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 Optimara is just a particular breeder/brand of AVs. They are no better or worse than others. I personally really have loved AVs from the Violet Barn but it really doesn't matter so much what breeder your AVs are from. What I will say, is that in my personal opinion, the standard sized AVs are easier in some ways for newbies than the semi and minis. I find the standards easier for beginners because since you can pot them in larger pots, they don't dry out as quickly and therefore seem to be able to withstand a bit more hardship if you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 (edited) Thanks, OrganicJen, and I'll check out the GardenWeb forums. That might be more appropriate for the next stage of the journey. Boo. I was hoping they were mega drama queens and not appropriate for beginners, and this would be a simple matter of gently steering me away from the gifted subforum and towards the special needs board. So crown rot is always fatal and dilute alcohol only works on mild cases of mealybugs, huh? Probably the least expensive thing to do is toss all 16 and start fresh. That's not what I'm planning on doing, it just sounds like the least expensive thing to do. Hi ho hi ho to GardenWeb forums I go.... Edited October 4, 2017 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicJen Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 Remember that if you have any healthy leaves its easy to propagate new AVs from a leaf or part of a leaf. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 Remember that if you have any healthy leaves its easy to propagate new AVs from a leaf or part of a leaf. That's what I'm doing, it just feels weird to tear sick, dying friends limb from limb to try to save them, lol. I also have an adorable baby snakeplant. The cat ate the Peace Lily so that's out. I want greenbabies so this kid's adolescence doesn't hurt my widda feewings quite so much as the other kids' did. The cat is my roommate's and furbabies aren't going to work for me anyway. Do the leaves from the plants with crown rot need to be isolated from the leaves from the plants with very bad mealybugs? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 I have grown AVs for a lot of years - even got the blue ribbon at the county fair a few years ago - but I really don't take very special care of mine. Alas, I have not had crown rot or mealybugs to advise upon. Do you bottom-water them with warm water? They aren't supposed to get their leaves wet much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 I just started bottom watering the mealybug ones when the crown rot ones got here from the slave ship nursery I bought them from and I got some free food and some care instructions. I'm not very good about remembering to leave the water out overnight to warm it up yet, though. My sons got me the original plants of the ones with the horrific infestation and I was naive enough to think that all the suckers meant some sort of mutation that made them resistant to brown thumbs. I even bragged about how "the worse I treat them, the more they reproduce! I'll trade you for a baby spider plant a cat treat for my roommate's fur baby!" To make a short story long, they LOVED the attention and are blooming up a storm. I overwatered the Optimaras. It wasn't the nursery's fault and I refuse to disclose which nursery it was to avoid possible misunderstandings.The new babies from the leaves will have a much better adjustment to my home and less-than-perfect habits so it's not about money at all. I may still wind up insecticiding the mealy bug ones. It's not like we're going to eat them and I couldn't care less that they're ugly, I just don't want them to be in pain. I could still have cute little green babies somewhere else if I trusted my hygeine habits more and lived in a bigger house, lol, I'm just silly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City Mouse Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 Your post reminded me that many, many years ago I used to grow African Voilets. I vaguely remember going to a couple of shows even where I bought some fancy varieties by the leaf. I cannot remember why I stopped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 (edited) I'm another that used to grow African Violets and enter them in shows. I had quite a lot of plants in my late teens. I don't remember them being particularly difficult to grow and didn't have problems with crown rot or bugs but it might just be a different climate where I am. It was damp but not draughty in our house. Maybe it's just the stock here copes with that better. Also I used to have a massive tray of gravel that they sat on rather than individual under pot trays so they were pretty free draining. I haven't thought about them in years, I might get some more. Edited October 5, 2017 by lailasmum 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicJen Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 I haven't ever had bugs or crown rot either. I fill up gallon milk jugs with water and keep a couple sitting out for my plant watering so that I always have room temp water. I just pour it into a small watering can with a narrow spout and I water from the top between the leaves do that I'm watering on the dirt and I stop when some comes out the bottom. I do that about once a week for standards and more often for minis. No special care really at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2017 Share Posted October 5, 2017 (edited) I had them in my teens and never had a problem, but so many variables are different now that it may be impossible to track down exactly which ones and fix them. Boo. African Violets were always my favourites. The ones my sons gave me have memories of being the best and most thoughtful present anyone could possibly have given me at that particular time in my life and the ones I bought for me so that I could believe that life could still turn out to be beautiful were innocent victims. They didn't deserve to die. I'll start a Snake Plant guru thread when I'm ready or zombify this one when the babies are ready to be separated from the leaf cuttings in 4+ months then, depending on how things work themselves out. Much appreciated even though it wasn't what I hoped to hear. Edited October 5, 2017 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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