If I'm understanding the situation correctly, the double-petaled flower blossomed, then closed up, and then reopened as a single-petaled flower?

Posted by ultra_violet none (My Page) on Sun, Nov 17, 13 at 18:31

The situation is that the flowers were all double-petaled a month ago. Then the bloom stopped. Old flowers faded off. New spikes appear. Now, the newly formed flowers start to open - they are all single 5 petal flowers.

My cultivation involves higher temperature, more light, and ample water. The old flowers were formed during cooler, darker and dry period. Are these changing the flowers?

This post was edited by jujujojo on Sun, Nov 17, 13 at 19:00

You have changed its environment. You indicated you purchased it in flower. It came from elsewhere.

You moved it.

It is like you moving to a new house, and learning where your new fave spots are. This can be a stressful time.

It is acclimating itself.

It also might be sporting. Perhaps another bloom cycle will tell the tale.

can you post a pix?

dave

Dave,

The plant was in stress when at store. It was a little too dark, cold and dry.

When I first bought it, the self-watering pot needs to be empty of water, most of the time. I observe my plants and know what they want.

Now, the plant has thrived in my house. It is not in stress. It loves the warmth and light.

Now, I fill up the outer pot. The plant loves it. The plant develops flowers and leave very fast. The leaves are fat and glossy, with a number of spikes growing up tall.

Juju,

Any time you change a plant's environment, it is stressful even if it is moving to a better environment. It needs time to settle in and acclimate itself to its new conditions. Also, changing the growing environment can and does change the blooms of a violet. It will need some time to acclimate itself and go through a few bloom cycle before it stabilizes. Dave's remarks are quite on the nose as much as it pains me to say so.

Linda

Posted by whitelacey 6 (My Page) on Mon, Nov 18, 13 at 1:32

Honest opinions are welcome.

Although I am still in doubt - that there might be some gimmick.

Juju,

Not to be snarkey but, having been in the Hort. business for over forty years, it is not an opinion. It is a fact. African Violets have been extensively hybridized and with such out-cross breeding, genetics have a propensity to become a bit unstable. Any change in growing conditions can awaken and stimulate recessive genes to begin to express themselves.
There is no 'gimmick' that will cause a flower to bloom double and then single.

Linda

I have 2 plants of Pretty Miss Kelly, grown from the same leaf 4 years ago. I think the official description is single to semi-double.
One plant has flowers that are always a single star shape.
The other usually is a semi-double. It has 5 outer petals in a star-shape, but a varying amount of additional petals around the center. Sometimes it looks quite fluffy. Sometimes it only puts out single 5 petaled stars. The amount of pink fantasy puffs and blue steaks always vary from flower to flower.
They have been sitting in the same window all this time, although it is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. I have always assumed that is what causes the variations in the one plant. It seems to put out fancier flowers when it gets cold.
As the others are trying to tell you, it may settle down and go back to it's original form. Or maybe you bought a single/ semi-double and it is expressing its single form right now.

I think this is what is so cool about african violets!! That they can do all this change depending on the growing environment.

I would love to know if there are any scholarly articles out there, if any graduate students have studied the effects of cooler versus warmer temperatures on blooming in african violets. I bet Optimara has sponsored some such research; I would be curious to know about it.

I am thinking that when they readjust - they will start blooming better. What you see - because the reaction is delayed - the blossom buds that were set while in a dark store - so they are poor orphan looking things - but next ones will probably be better.

Hi Jujujoo,
As others have advised, AVs commonly produce both doubles and singles on the same plant at different times or at the same time.

A hybridizer that I purchase a lot of plants from writes in their description for some AVs that they might produce very different blooms on the same plant at the same time, or with each blooming cycle. They probably write that so that buyers will be prepared for changes.

This post was edited by fortyseven on Tue, May 20, 14 at 0:59

I will post some pictures. I think I took the pictures before. I will take some pictures after. I keep beta-fish. The fish water changed out each week is used for my plants. They love it. No, I do not use additional fertilizer.

@Becky: A while back Dr. Rob wrote about the effect of different growing conditions on the appearance of AVs. The link is below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Different Can Be Good by Dr. Rob

Becky,

I have found some articles from Cornell and Purdue but not much else. It seems like an area that would be interesting to look into.

Usually, anything I have read by 'experts' seems to be written by someone who has never grown violets. The articles contain many untruths such as: never get the leaves wet, water only from the bottom, flowers come in purple and pink only. It seems as though they are copying from old literature about violets. It would be nice to read a scholarly paper but I've yet to find one except by our grower/sellers whose business it is to know such things.

Linda

This post was edited by whitelacey on Thu, Nov 21, 13 at 0:19

Ultra.

Good article by Rob. And he repeats my mantra:

Plants are living things, which means any two of them will never be exactly the same, and each will adapt to its environment, and our care, in its own way.

Linda

Hi Linda If you come across the Cornell article, I'd love to see it. J

This post was edited by fortyseven on Tue, May 20, 14 at 1:01

I agree with most of the views above.

I have a few other kinds of AVs. One has white flowers tinged with purple/blue. I have always thought they are mostly single 5 petaled. They now bloom in semi-double. Yes, this one also has extensive vegetative growth with glossy fat leaves now.

HI Sounds like a pleasant surprise to have a single producing s- doubles. They probably like the environment you are providing

Joanne

Now, the purple one also has new semi-double flowers opening.

Funny how AVs seem to shape up and get with the program when they know they are being discussed. Vain little creatures methinks they be!
Joanne

Finally, here is the plant. It is not redoubled but great. I love the color - very bright. This is an Optimara plant from WalMart. I think I bought it in October 2013. The pot is a self-watering pot.

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Posted by fortyseven 9 (My Page) on Sat, Nov 23, 13 at 13:20

Yeah.

They change all the time and I just notice my little Buckeye Extravaganza bears one single petal flower and one double detal flower at the same time.

I'm happy as long as they remain healthy and keep on blooming.

It's beautiful.

This post was edited by fortyseven on Tue, May 20, 14 at 1:03