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woollady

loss of variegation...

woollady
14 years ago

hello,i was given a baby violet started from a variegated leaf.well the plant is growing well,but the variegationhas diaappeared.some sites mention lo temp and bright lite,how low should the temps be in the daytime>my plant sits on an east facing window sill,no direct sun but lots of bright indirect lite,daytime temps no higher than 77 degrees. the night time temps have fallen to about 60.what else can i do?i am disappointed in losing the variegation,it was cool,all white ruffly edge on leaves.thank you for any advice.

Comments (9)

  • larry_b
    14 years ago

    Hi Woollady,

    Again, it's a matter of temperature. It will variegate more when the temps go down. Probably this winter. Mine all do the same thing in the summer. Sorry for the bad news.

    Larry

  • woollady
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    hi Larry,thanks for your quick reply.how low should the temps be for the variegation to come back,just out of curiosity?thanks again

  • woollady
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    bump

  • chris_catignani
    14 years ago

    Hi WoolLady...I am not an AV expert but I found an earlier post(two years ago) from Irina that is most helpfull.

    --start--

    Posted by irina_co z5 CO (My Page) on Mon, May 7, 07 at 16:11

    TL variegation - most of the variegation is on the edges of the leaf - white, pink, cream etc., mosaic variegation - all over the leaf, crown variegation - new leaves are lighter color, when they mature they green up.
    But variegation is always very variable - it is more pronounced if the temperature is lower, in summer everything greens up. If the baby leaves are too variegated - the baby doesn't survive because it doesn't have enough chlorophill to feed itself - so it is a good idea to feed the variegated babies with a fish emulsion - hi nitrogen fertilizer - to green them up and give them more strength.

    The amount of variegation depends on the variety as well and out of the plug of new babies some come totally white - they usually die, some green and some - variegated, bit the green ones usually show variegation later. There should be some balance - because heavily variegated plants grow slowly and do not bloom too much.
    Good luck

    irina

  • irina_co
    14 years ago

    Oh God, I am getting quoted. I feel ancient.

    I would say it depends on the variety. My observation is that if the temperatures are no more than 72 -
    the variegation stays put.

    It is hard to control what is going on at the windowsill. May be at some point in a morning (because it is an east window) the plant gets direct light and it warms it up even more.

    I would say that a temporary decrease of the variegation is not necessary a bad thing. Your plant gets an additional boost - and it will add to the amount of bloom. Kind of seasonal thing - leaves outside change color - and violet leaves inside - too.

    I think the variegation is a pretty stable feature. If the plantlet came variegated - it will stay variegated. The only unstable thing is a leaf chimera. I got a Harmony's Little Stinker - and it can lose its stripe in a middle of the leaf and turn green pretty easy.

    Good Luck

    Irina

  • m3rma1d
    14 years ago

    "Oh God, I am getting quoted. I feel ancient."

    Yeah Irina, you hadn't heard? You're the next Confucius!

    :-)

  • irina_co
    14 years ago

    Hope not.

    And you know me in person - a lot of what i say is not really printable.

    I just bought the tickets to DC to the Gesneriad Convention. It HURTS!

    What about you and Lenny? Just for 1 day?

    Irina

  • woollady
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    thank you irina and everyone else,i talked to my brother today abput what is happening to the plant.he is mystified because he has two full grown plants the same kind,that are in huge pots,like 6",theyre blooming like crazy.they are in a southeast window with full sun until about noon.then he turns the blind to protect them.he keeps his house at a constant 80-85 degrees(yeah i know he's nuts)sometimes it gets even hotter,only in summer because he hates the high electric bills.he has never lost variegation,if anything they get more beautiful over time.what's up with that!

  • seamommy
    14 years ago

    I've had a lot of violets over the years and always just kept them in a window away from drafts. This past winter I did something different though. I started veggie and flower seeds in trays under grow lights in January. As they grew and got too big for the trays they got transplanted and many went out to the greenhouse or the cold frame. But I still had those grow lights going so I stuck the violets under the lights just to see how they'd do. What a remarkable difference in my violets. The leaves began to grow and expand, the blooms became much more vibrant and one plant that had be variegated when I bought it again began to take on that exotic look. All of them grew and developed new blooms while under the lights. And I remembered that my faviorite violet store up in Denver had been the Violet Showcase where all the plants were under lights and many were in moisture tents as well. I was assured that violets will grow and bloom without all the coddling treatment and they do. But how they thrive when they are coddled. My next project is to build a table for my violets that is attractive enough to be in the living room, but that has a built in grow light and retractable moisture tent. All my flower and veggie seedlings have gone out to the garden now and the grow lights have been turned off for now. But the violets still look better for the shot of light they got for 3 months. I wonder if your variegated leaves would take on more stripes if they could manufacture enough food under grow lights? Cheryl