I would suggest you to keep AVs on the top shelf, and try Streptocarpus on the bottom. These guys like it cold. Chiritas - now renamed "Primulinas" and Petrocosmeas would love your bottom shelves too.

You can give your AVs a butt warmer too - a heating mat - also to be turned for the night. I am thinking that the cold wet soil is the main issue for them to suffer when the temperature goes down. So depending on what is your method of watering - keeping them a bit on a drier side in winter can be good. My friend lives in the mountains - and she keeps her gessies on a bottom watering in winter, and on mats in summer. This way she prevents the root rot.

Good Luck

I.

Thank you for that. Do you know if different violets react differently? I think that the variegated ones like it a bit cooler. I'm thinking that the minis don't like it as cool. Some of the minis are not doing as well or could it be the potting soil issue?
Where would I get heating mats? that sounds like a really good solution.

Wendy =

if you have named violets, you sometimes can track the place where they were hybridized. "Suncoast.." - Florida, "Wrangler's.." - Texas etc. - usually they grow the best where they came from. (And probably croak in a cold sooner).

The variegated AVs show variegation better when it is cooler. They still do not like cold.
Another idea - you can cover your shelving unit with transparent plastic in winter. It will keep the warm air from the lights. You can get a 99c drop cloth from WM or much nicer thick transparent plastic - works about the same.

A friend of mine was obsessed with an idea how to save money on heating - and she tried all the tricks we could came up with to keep the AVs warmer. The result was always the same - hundreds and hundreds dollars worth of AVs went to rot. But I need to say that her idea of saving money was 50F. When I was going to visit her in winter - I would call her ahead of time and say - turn the heater on, I am on my way.

Now she lives with her son - and son insists on 70F. Guess what - now her violets thrive...

I.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hydrofarm heating mat

Thanks for the info. I am not able to order through Amazon for this item. (I am in Canada) But I have found it through Lee Valley Tools which is very close to here.