It is a tricky question. The general consensus seems to be that as a plant ages it will bloom less and lose some vigor. Restarting a plant from a leaf or crown also seems to counteract this problem. Why? I'm not sure, but as you pointed out it may have something to do with aging/maturity in much the same way as a plant won't bloom until it is mature enough. Does an AV absolutely have to be restarted every so often? That's debatable. There are many reports of plants that are 20+ years old and weren't restarted from a leaf or crown but may have been repotted to eliminate necks. There is of course some age at which the plant will die, but I don't know that anyone knows when that is for violets, and this is probably the only time it is truly necessary to restart from a leaf or crown. Perhaps thinking of it as a mature plant constantly regrowing itself we might think of it as a mature plant transitioning to a less mature state. I'm sure a lot changes in regards to hormone production when the plant is restarted and I suspect those hormone profiles may be more similar to a young plant. Just a thought that I'm not sure about.

Mark

Okay, I'm confused. Is your question about if violets ever die from old age or do they just keep re-inventing themselves?

Linda

I'm sure the age would depend on the roots, Once you cut some of the lower root off or bury part of the neck, you make the plant younger so to speak. The roots will be younger and the crown is always new. Getting rid of older roots and getting it to produce new roots is the key to keeping the plant young.

The question was really whether the plant had an actual biological age, being constantly rejuvenated. - apart from the status of maturity.

So technically, I guess, a violet wouldn't die of old age...

Karin

Interesting question. All plants have an age span-youth, maturity and senescence. This is easy to see in woody plants like trees that do not reproduce themselves but continue to grow on older growth.

But non-woodies, like perennials, are constantly reproducing themselves, almost from scratch and they all have an age span as well. African Violets are perennials and as such, would have an age span.

It would be interesting to know what the age range in the wild is but I don't know if anyone has ever determined that. I did read on the forum here that someone had a violet that was over 50 years old.

Linda

I suppose if you never repotted them and just left them to themselves, eventually the roots and older parts of the stem would die thus killing the plant. But for the person who is up on their grooming, repotting and keeping the necks short, I would think there wouldn't be an age limit.

I know there are still plants around that were bred back in the early 60's and even plants from decades before that, so age appears to not be a part of the genes that are passed down in the leaves, suckers or cut off crowns.

Ethel Champion had a plant of "Superman" that was supposed to be very old. 60 is in my head but that might be wrong. I never heard what happened to it. (Ethel died a few years ago.)

Diana

The original 10 US hybrids are all still around, and these were released in 1926 by Armacost and Royston. I doubt the original plants are, but vegetatively propagated descendants are. I do suspect though that repotting and starting leaves essentially resets the biological clock by changing hormone levels and such. A plant that is never repotted or restarted in any way will of course die at some point as all living things must.

Mark

Karin, According to the AV magazine of March 2011, juvenility in AV plants refers only to plants started from seeds. Plants started from mature leaves are capable of blooming sooner. Plants propagated from leaves do not have a juvenile stage. Article by Christopher Currey, "what makes AVs flower."
Joanne

WOW, forthseven, your message you left on May 24 just showed up in my email!

Hi
I have not sent any messages to the Forum by email,

This post was edited by fortyseven on Fri, Jun 6, 14 at 2:18