AuntBarbie -

I do not know in what part of Florida you are but generally the outside is way too hot for AV. There are plenty of other gesneriads that will thrive in a heat - think Achimenes, Kohleria, Episcia, Sinningia. You can have your whole patio in bloom. Second thing - there are plenty of AV and gesneriad clubs in Florida where people can share their knowledge and starter plants with a newbie.

Neem oil is a good preventative - use 1/2 of what they recommend on a bottle - and spray later in the evening - so it will dry up before the next hot day. The mix only good for several hours - so make a bit of solution - spray - and trash the rest. Or use the 3 in one ready to use Shultz spray. It will hold.

I.

And separate into four individual plants, not one plant with four crowns.

Linda

HI Aunt Barbie, glad you joined. I grew up in Fla. Recently I had read about Murphy's Oil Soap being a very safe insecticide so I tried it and it seems to help with fungus gnats and hasn't hurt my plants. The mixture was 2 tablespoons to a gallon of water.
For your window that gets too much sun, all you have to do is hang a sheer curtain and it will cut the light down to about the right light for the plants, that is what I do in a sliding glass door that faces south and gets direct sun in the winter. And you can also move them further away from the window.
I also like Neem Oil, the amount is on the package, I got mine at Home Depot. I convert the amount so I can make very small amounts because it doesn't keep. Hope this helps.