Hi,
I use Canadian Peat or PRo mix B generally and add equal portions of coarse vermiculite and coarse perlite. In a pinch I have also used a prepared potting mix and added equal portions of the same stuff. I would recommend that you try it out on one or two plants before you do all of yours just so you can see how it works.
Fred in NJ

water soluble ORGANIC AV fertilizer that I might use in my wick reservoirs?
Howdy ken
Go into this knowing that fred (and some others in this AV forum are better AV growers than I am)
I use a fish emulsion 5-1-1 every now and then, a orchid food 20-20-20 and 6-30-10 depending on what the AV is doing ( Flowering, about to flower, leaf growing, sucker producing ect) at all cost you do want a LOWER Urea Nitrogen % Number in the range of about 6-7 % ( I think a lower % here is even better)
This Urea Nitrogen % number is found in the N part of a ferts NPK
It takes a while to get use to when to use what water soluable fert when but you'll catch on.
I would lean to suggesting Schultz 8-14-9 (You should try this product in a side by side AV growing effort) however it lacks your request of " organic "
Ohh BTW fish emulsion does have a slightly strong oder don't be afraid to use as little as 1/5 the amount label requires as they are growing inside

Where to find these products: They will ship directly to you
1 800 274 9676

They have everything you need for anything you want to grow inside or outside however they only carry and sell plastic pots.

Thank you both for your help. I have been gardening organically for years and like to do so with my indoor plants as well. Appreciated the thoughts on fish emulsion. Now for those of you that are organic african violet mathematicians what happens if I combine the fish emulsion for growing (5-1-1) with the fish emulsion for blossoming (0-10-10) in equal amounts in my wick containers. Would that make 5-11-11 or would it be the average of the numbers 5-5.5-5.5, which if that were the case I would have a balance organic fertilizer. Sorry if this is getting too technical, but I'm new to the AV hobby and would like to get it right, although trial and error has been a lot of fun. Thanks in advance for your help.

Ken, it depends on what you mean by combining.

Say your normal dilution is 1 tspn/gallon, for example, and you have a solution of 5-1-1 and a solution of 5-11-11. If now you mix equal amount of the two solutions, you will get the average.

But if by "combine" you mean putting 1 tspn or 5-1-1 and 1 tspn of 5-11-11 into just 1 gallon of water, then the strength would be the sum of the two.

I would use the 0 10 10 while the AVs are in the flowering stages of growth and then divert back to the 5-1-1 at end stages of flowering if you opt 100% use of fish fertilizer

Concider that a AV isn't growing much root, leaf/stem while it is in it's flowering times and isn't flowering while it develops better/newer root and leaf (AKA possible suckers) During the flowering rest times the N and P values would still need to be more readily avalable more so than the K value
I would suggest a flip flop feeding method of the two ( this you will get use to as well) more so than a "combining of both" effort
For summer/spring/fall Ken I am sure you can find a worm or two and know what they can do as well for fertilizer.

BTW a bit off topic...Ken how did them Amaryllis turn out for you?
post there not here see you then lol

Thanks for your help Dave and justapeeker! I will have to wrap my brain around that and mull it over. Didn't think that I had posted anything about the amaryllis I just bought - do you have me confused with someone else? Thanks for the reminder though - I do need to get them planted!
Ken

Ken -

just a bit on cautious side -

fish emulsion stinks - and if you choose to keep your violets wicked on reservoirs - it can be really stinky. Watering from the top - will work.

Organic only? I am not sure that manure and fish emulsion can provide all the nutrients, they will be too heavy on N. Fish emulsion 0:10:10 - not sure how organic it is.

My guess is the plants are very flexible and they survive in adverse conditions. The issue with AVs - we want them to bloom - and have a nice healthy rosette of leaves. And they can bloom non-stop 10 months out of the year. The secret is a consistent balanced weak fertilizer. You start witholding N during the blooming - you will end with yellow edges and spots on the leaves. You will keep them on prevalently N fertilizer - lots of growth - not very much bloom. You will put them on bloom booster for extended period of time - lots of bloom, ratty rosette, not very much bloom in a long run.

Irina, the spoilsport

Irina,

Thanks for your help. I purchased some Dyna-Gro Grow and will try that. The organic thing was getting pretty complicated. You're not a spoil sport - I appreciate your help. I can be a little more open minded I'm sure.
Ken

Ken -

in my personal opinion DynaGro is just THE BEST.

I add a 1/8 teaspoon per gallon of Epsom salt as well - buy it in a pharmacy - for chlorophyll - keeps them green.

I.

Thanks Irina,

I appreciate the tip. I will steal some from my wife's stash when she isn't looking.

Welcome Ken (I'm playing catch up on post)

Before I became a serious hobbyist with AVs, I used what my Aunt had always used - and my plants were *always* filled with massive blooms and bright green healthy leaves.

Every time I would cook with an egg, I'd take the leftover shells and push them down into a milk jug filled with water. I'd keep using that water on my plants and then refilling the jugs without emptying the shells.

Don't have the foggiest ideas what vitamins/nutrients/etc that are in that egg shell or the whites that were clinging to them but they are organic and did produce some phenomanal plants.. and there was no mixing.

Currently, I am a huge fan of DynaGrow - Grow and Bloom.
I doctor my water with some Physan too.

Happy Growing,
Dora

Thanks Dora. That brought back memories. I've heard a lot about Dyna Gro so I am going to try that. Been saving egg shells to add to my vermicompost system and I have been grinding them to add to my AV soil mix. I helped my son with a science project in the greenhouse last summer using vermicompost in growing tomatoes. Adding 20% to the soil mix produced appreciably larger and healthier plants so I want to try that on some of the extra babies that I'll hopefully have and see what results that brings. Have a lot to learn yet and really appreciate your input. Have been looking at the past posts and it's obvious you and others know what you're doing - it's a great resource and I hope to be able to contribute some day too as an "expert". Am having surgery on my shoulder in a few hours so I may be off for a couple of days but I'm sure looking forward to recuperating with the AV Forum!
Ken

Ken,
Best wishes for a successful shoulder surgery and a speedy recuperation period (on here :) I've got some surgery myself coming up, perhaps a few surgeries and I too, look forward to working with my violets to promote wellness and calm.

I appreciate the compliment and believe that everyone is an expert in *something*, even if it's in taking care of duds, LOL. What value does life have if we can't take our lessons and joys and share them with others as a way to help them?

I'm looking forward to hearing about your experiment with the eggshells and how that goes.

Take care and speedy recovery.
Dora

Dora so you no longer use egg shell water at all anymore? If no, do you feel the plants get as big and healthy as before now that you use Dyna Gro as they would with the eggshell water? Would it be a no no to use both together?
Goodness Ken I do hope your shoulder surgery is a success and with little to no pain after wards! Do lets us know it went ok!
Dora lets hope no surgery is needed and the problem fixes itself or disappears!
Buds and bloom wishes to all!,,,Debbie

What I notice now that I did'nt have all those years is that I now have good "health" in my plants on *all* aspects. Before, they would either have blooms or good healthy leaves...but not both at the same time. Now, I have good healthy leaves, solid root systems, beautiful blooms and nothing pitiful in between. I use DynaGrow (both Grow & Bloom)

Thanks Debbie - it's not a question of if I"m having surgery...It's a question of how many and what other treatments will be necessary.
My path reports are back :(

Press On!

Ok I guess eggshells wasn't complete enough for all aspects of the AV's needs. The Dyna Gro covers all bases. Gotcha! ;-)
Sorry to hear of your bad path reports. You will be in my prayers. Hopefully it won't be as bad as they thought once they get in there. HUGS
Take care!,,,Debbie

thanks for all the well wishes. surgery went well - they fixed what was wrong plus. will keep you informed with progress of leaves i put down from cedar creek violets before the surgery as it develops. best wishes on your treatments too dora and hopes for speedy recovery! you are all great - glad i found you!

ken

Anyone use Jack's fertilizer for African Violets. It does have 4% urea.....which it claims won't hurt the violets.

Hey Ken!
Glad you felt well enough to get on and let us know your doing fine and the shoulder surgery was a success!
No stoppin' you now after your all healed up! Look out Spring!,,,Debbie

Dora, I'm thinking about you......and all that that entails.....

Barbara

HI Ken,
I just reread your original message and realized that I hadn't answered it. As for fertilizer, I have been using a combination of fertlizers. I have been using Optimara fertilizer which has no urea nitrogen and also alternate it with Dyna-Gro grow formula which is also sans urea. I like both of them very much and have been using them successfully for years. The only problem I have ever had was with Dyna-Gro which is a liquid and eventually it evaporates somewhat especially if you use small amounts. When the liquid evaporates it makes what is left stronger so you may have to adjust the amount that you disolve in the water. I now buy the smallest bottle and it has solved the problem of evaproation over a long period.
Glad to hear your surgery went well.
Fred in NJ

Hello All,

I've had some horrible virus, but now doing well. Welcome Ken. Glad to hear your surgery went well.
Dora, so sorry to hear about your Outer Orbit(?) It was beautiful. Also, hope your surgery goes well and no other treatments are needed.
I'm really behind schedule with my repotting. Finally taking isolated plants out to add to collection. Found Ness' Puppy Dreams birth marked, so I put down a couple leaves, perhaps something interesting will pop up. It's COLD in that room. Poor Rob's Boondoggle looks like a miniature holly bush. It's leaves have all curled under - hope it's just from the cold temperature. Bagged it just in case. Took pictures of it, will post soon.
Hope you all have speedy recoveries!

Mac (who now has blooms)

thanks fred and mac. i've got the dyna-gro grow to use when the leaves start producing in a few weeks. so far i've only lost 4 leaves out of the 70 or so that i put down from some kind of rot - they got pretty cool when delivered. thankfully they were packaged really well.

your evaporation comment reminded me of something i've been wanting to ask. when using trays with egg crate grating for wicking wouldn't the evaporation of the water cause the fertilizer to concentrate in the trays and eventually burn the plant roots?

the forum has sure made recovering more enjoyable - you'll know it's over when i can get my left hand up to the keyboard to capitalize again.

dora, hope all is going well for you.

ken

HI Ken,
I suppose that the left over fertilizer in the tray would eventually be a bit stronger, however, I feel that since I use 1/2 the recommended strength it would take a long time for that to happen. My comment about the liquid evaporating was specificially in conjunction with the bottle of Dyna-Grow that was left in tbe bottle. That's why I buy the smallest bottle. I had at one time purchased a large bottle and that was when I found out that the liquid had vainished but over a 4 year period. There was no way I could reconstitute the fertilizer and know what strength it was.
Fred in NJ

Ken, In my experience with community watering (trays with egg create) once the fertilized water evaporates there is a fine gritty film left on bottom of trays. Right now I 'm using a granular fert.1/8t. to gal of water. I rinse and wash trays before I add fert. water again. So far not a problem.
Mac