Hi Taryn,

It's nice to make your acquaintance.

I'm not a newbie, but not so experienced as others.

I grew African Violets years ago, once I learned how to avoid killing them. I amassed a fairly large collection, perhaps 50 plants, but ultimately lost them to trhips and mealy bug.

After ditching my entire first collection, I didn't grow Violets for 10 years or so. But I eventually began collecting them again, after learning better how to avoid pest problems.

I have about 75 plants now, including some varieties that I only dreamed of having for a while. I've learned to avoid picking up Violets in retail settings, as these almost always have pest problems.

I've gotten many nice plants from Lyndon Lyon (they send larger plants), Rob's (his starter plants are somewhat smaller), Bloomlovers (she sends plugs), and Bluebird (they send plants in 4" pots). I've even recently started some plants from seed.

What I've learned to successfully grow a collection of Violets is summed up below ...

Give them plenty of light
Provide adequate water, but never overwater
Fertilizer every now and then
Avoid introducing pests into your collection

Some of my current favorites are Buckeye Butterflies, Blue Mist (a russian cultivar), Pink Feathers, Ruffled Skies, Pink Summit, and Storm's Eye.

tgplp,

See the link below for more AV discussion ...

Here is a link that might be useful: African Violet Discussion