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Got ideas?

Karin
9 years ago

Sooo, i've come up with a pet project for 2015.

a blog titled: 365 things to do with african violets.
(kind of a basic manual, but also expanding on the interesting things your average person doesn't know about, as well ad looking into myths such as trying to cross two plants by taping together two leaves when propagating...)

i can come up with probably about 50 things to write about on my own, but thought i'd ask you guys if you had more...

Or even if anyone wanted to participate and write a few articles themselves?

there are the obvious of course: buying an african violet, repotting, potting mix, pot size, pollinating, sowing, light, types of african violets, disbudding, wick watering, blossom shapes, leaf types, grooming... and then follow-ups on the projects of course...

Since i am trying of making it a daily thing, i am thinking it really should just be a photo and a paragraph or two. So I am not planning on in-depth essays - things like repotting could be a week's project, from selecting pot size, to potting medium, dividing out suckers, etc.

What do you guys think? Are there 365 different things you can do with / learn about african violets?

Karin

Comments (10)

  • lme5573
    9 years ago

    What about showing the different characteristics of violets? Show a picture/day of a pansy, star, double, single, bell, wasp, frilled, fluted, edged, bicolor, fantasy, thumbprint, darker eye. Then the leaf types - plain, lobed, girl, different forms of variegation, bustled, clackamus, and holly leaves are some of the ones I can think of. I've seen definitions on different sites, but some of the examples are pretty awful pictures, even line drawings.
    You can also go through this forum, read some of the questions asked by newbies, and it will give you an idea of the kinds of things new growers want to know.
    If you do this in a blog, be sure to tag your entries so people can do a nice search by tag and your blog will be like an African Violet Encyclopedia.
    You could have a lot of fun with this, but I think you'd need a good camera and a varied collection of African Violets.
    Good Luck!
    Lennie

  • Karin
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks Lennie,

    I like the idea of making the descriptions part of it :-) my collection isn't that varied yet, but I may know a few people who could provide some photos...

    The ability to categorize and tag content was the reason I picked a blog as platform for it.

    Now, I've got to decide if I need an avsa membership, fc2, Pauline bartholomew's book, and a judging handbook...
    One thing at a time...

  • shallons
    9 years ago

    How about common and even not so common pests and problems - what causes them as well as how to avoid and treat them. I've found lots of treatments for powdery mildew but only a few places that mention causes. It's nice to know what to avoid/do right as well as how to fix a problem.

    I'm looking forward to following your project!

    Shallon

  • fortyseven_gw
    9 years ago

    Yes, the things violets will do to get adopted. Such as looking shaggy and forlorn in the shops so an innocent victim will have pity on them. Once they wiggle their way into your home and hearth, they spread their subtle Violet Fever. It is odorless and tasteless, comes in every shade of blue-violet and is far worse than powdery mildew. Once you and your abode are infected, there is no known cure. The symptoms can be only temporarily relieved by an influx of the newest color combination.
    Is that what you had in mind for little known facts!?
    Joanne

  • fortyseven_gw
    9 years ago

    Duplicate deleted.

    This post was edited by fortyseven on Mon, Dec 8, 14 at 23:22

  • Karin
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Lol Joanne! It does seem to be the way. Mind, my latest "rescue" didn't turn out all that great. But waiting for the blossoms to open was entertainment in itself...

  • toronto.and.brisbane
    9 years ago

    very cool idea.... wow.... so some ideas.....

    are organic av flowers edible? they could be used for cake decorating.? .. they could be dried and framed ....

    you could show the different ways people water ... from regular to wicking to perlite and hydroton ... a few months from now i'll let you know how perlite works out.... hydroton I know you've tried and I will try ...then there's dixies growstones. ....

    and I had to do googles to figure out senks and wasps and drop blossoms and sticktights?

    ... oh ...and trailers/minis/micros .... and forms of flowers like ness crinkle blue ...is it a triple shaped? more than a double.... rosette???

    and why blues are not really blues but violet with a blue tinge.

    and there's some photos somewhere ... I wish I could credit the poster .... of wild av's blooming in the forests of Tanzania ....

    but I really love Joanne's idea the best.... that one is a sneaky one. :)

    This post was edited by toronto.and.brisbane on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 15:55

  • fortyseven_gw
    9 years ago

    'Ness Crinkle Blue is a triple. I have a photo I can post
    tomorrow on the Gallery.
    Although it is dark.
    The "rosette" refers to the pattern the leaves form.
    (I learned that from reading posts from Irina.)
    I am all for posting obscure, arcane bits of AV trivia on the blog! Personally, I enjoy reading about the hybridizers of yore, so others might be, too. In the U.S., we don't know as much about the hybridizers to the North. That would be a good topic. Joanne

  • Karin
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hybridizers, now there's one I forgot! Duh. Thanks :-)
    "Obscure trivia" - love it!!!

  • fortyseven_gw
    9 years ago

    A blog would be lots of fun. I think it should be separate from the forum using a free blog hosting site. Something involving higher Math and the parents that created color and leaf varieties would be
    unique. There are lots of blogs. The scientific ones have vanished. Irina did videos avail from Avsa

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