I think you are correct - this is a culture issue.

Something with your water? What's your Ph? Too high?

Check your water - if it is a city water - they should have the numbers available, if it is your own well - send a sample for testing. Do you use water softener? What fertilizer do you use?

My best guess is the water is alkaline - and if you do not repot HD violets - your alkaline water can be neutralized by the heavy peat mix the HD violets are potted in.

If you bring new violets - get some store bought water - and use it on your newbies.

I am thinking that your best resource is your AV club. They already figured out how to countereffect the AZ difficulties.

Good Luck

irina

Thanks Irina. Actually you are talking about what I have questioned - pH. I haven't checked the pH of my water for several years, but when I did, it was more alkaline than recommended. A lady I used to know (through violets) gave me a small jar full of granules that are used to lower the pH of pool water. She was putting 2-3 granules in a gallon of water to lower her pH. I used them pretty regularly for awhile and thought I saw improvement, then later I wasn't too sure. I've also added peroxide to my water, but again, not always. I used either Peter's or Schultz fertilizers but I don't fertilize for the first several months after repotting, since the soil has fertilizer in it (I use approx 1 part african violet soil to 2 parts perlite for wicking mix). Maybe I'll be able to get a little info from the ladies at the show in February. Thank you for your help and suggestions.

Peters and Schultz are now 8% urea - and this is not good. Try DynaGro - it is usually in a orchid department of of good nursery. 6 months without food - is way too much. But I think we agree on the issue - alkalinity is probably the main problem.

I am sure the local ladies already figured out -what to add, how many granules etc.

I.

So the beautiful show plants do not continue to be beautiful once you have purchased them and brought them home.

This is not your fault or culture problems. Many of the show plants have been prepared, sometimes for 18 months before show. They have been completely disbudded for this time, allowing one flower to come in occasionally. They have been fed a rigorous program of feeding calculted first to get the leaves or foliage to become large and to lie and a good position, then to get buds to become more numerous, then to get a real kick to get those buds to become flowers on a certain date. At the same time they are receiving more and more light--up to 16 hours a day.

All of a sudden show plants a put into dark boxes and taken for a ride to a dark showroom with little air and none of it circulating.

They may beome "mixed-up" not knowing what to do when all of a sudden they get light, they hear hundreds of voices oooing and ahhing and appreceiating them

They they are again placed into your box to go to your home with different lighting, air and attention. They remain the same for several days, a week, maybe two.

But they are exhausted! They will still flower but they really need a long rest. They may start to deteriorate. Maybe you don't have the same pH as the previous owner had; maybe you water more often, or less often.

Plants have periods where they are at their prime. From there they can only go down for a while. That may be a few weeks or it can be a very long time for a plant that has been so treated.

Mind you I have take 22 inch monsters home which have lasted over a month. Since I was selling leaves from them, I knew they would go into decline for me.

Sometimes I think we expect too much from a beautiful show plant. If it remains beautiful for a month we should consider ourselves lucky. Let it rest and six months later maybe it will flower again.

Nancy

Thanks for the help, both Irina and Nancy. I think I'll probably just buy leaves if I get to the show. I'll have to wait a long time for a plant, but it should be better in the long run.

It is a big challenge to grow AVs in Arizona. Heat, dryness, water - everything is off the chart. These ladies grow these big blooming plants with a lot of pampering, probably with reverse osmosis filtered water in a grow room with high humidity etc.

So - Nancy is right - the change is too harsh for them.

If I want a specific variety - I try to buy a starter or a leaf - and if the only thing what is availble - is a full grown plant - i will take all the flowers off, take lower leaves and put them down and repot the purchased plant in my mix. It will be some time - but it will come to bloom again - but the starters I got from the leaves I put down will always grow better and bloom better because they are 100% adjusted to my growing conditions.

I wouldn't buy the show plant - Nancy is right - it was forced - and is in decline. I usually try to bum a leaf from the winner - after the show is over - the grower is removing the flowers and downsizing the plant anyway. . The largest and the most beautiful violets I saw were presented by Tom Greer from Atlanta. He grows them with pressurizing his growing room with CO2. Unbelievable out of this world plants. But the rumors are that even the leaves from his plants are hard to start. They are so used to all this pampering that they rot without leaving the babies.

I.