"6 of one...half dozen of another"

"Graft" Babies on their own.

I separated the graft experiment offspring a couple of weeks ago and saved nearly all of the plantlets, no matter the size. There were slightly more variegated leaves than plain.
The plain leaves seem less unruly?

The odds any of them are actually a cross of Heaven's Reflection & Lime Jewel are probably slim. But what the heck!

The variegated leaf kept growing and the 2 parent leaves didn't seem to be "stitched together" at any place along the stems, although babies & roots were certainly mixed.   
The 2 types of leaves grew mixed around both stems.   
Probably to be expected!

Below the egg container is an actual plantlet of Lime Jewel and also Heaven's Reflections for comparison.

As sold by Ebay seller in August

Lime Jewel - December 2012

The original Lime Jewel received in August is proving difficult to grow! 
Leaves were removed. 
At first simply in an attempt to give the center leaves room to grow. And then just because I HATED the way they looked. 
It was Live or Die.


All new growth has developed but it's not what I'd call a well behaved plant in the least!

I'm determined to see this one through to blooming stage.  
The almost leafless plant photo below shows my Golden Rule:  
"Be Ye not afraid to yank the freaking leaves off!"
They grow back. Most of the time ;)

All the way down to this!

It looks as if it's "hungry" but I'm terrified of feeding it too much. I've started reducing number of hours lights are left on from 12 to 10. Mostly because it "feels" like stems are never really long enough and I'm wondering if length of hours lights are left on has something to do with this, rather than water pH or fertilizer. I continue to feed only twice a month - 15th(ish) and 30th(ish). 
Ish equals a day or so later, but not earlier usually(ish).

Oh, flowers!

How could this NOT brighten your day?

S. ionantha

With the all too vivid memory of how fast a collection of African Violets goes downhill if you don't pay attention to them - at least a little bit - every day, I'm relieved to be still enjoying their care after nearly 3 months.   
And happy to see I can still coax them into putting on a show! 

S. ionantha was a gift from Mrs. John in Montana and I'm so pleased this one forgave my rough treatment and has settled in. I've grown this before and would easily add it to my Top Ten Favorites List!  :)

Most days my second cup of coffee in the morning competes with the attention needed by a shelf of plants.

Rob's Heat Wave

Often the coffee goes cold!

I remember very well the overwhelming "I'll do it tomorrow" lack of energy that took over before, almost without realizing it was happening, until all my plants were dead or dying.  
I do not want to follow that path again. 
I keep remembering a quote from one of the vintage African violet books I own that scolds, "Don't be at it all the time." 
But it feels like so long as I'm "at it" I'll catch problems before they snowball out of my control.

Kandy Kitchen, maybe?

I'll admit there are still times when the plants might prefer a gentler, softer touch than my Rip, Repot and Ask Questions Later method!

Kandy Kitchen suffered a bit of a set back when I went to lift it back onto a higher shelf after watering and noticed some frighteningly red leaf backs.  So of course my first thought was "I've done something wrong!" - thus following the Rip & Repot routine one more time. I've been told this is likely birth marking, combined with sporting and not actually my fault. I'm not totally convinced it wasn't brought on by something I've done, but it was in pretty dreadful shape when I got it!

It was just looking as if it had turned the corner and lots of buds had begun to appear. Of course I didn't remember to go find a camera to document how the plant looked until AFTER I ripped off all its leaves.  I disbudded all but one bloomstalk. I wanted to at least see what it was going to look like in bloom.  
Turns out it's bloom is supposed to be quite different.   
I like it this way, but several new plantlets have been separated off on their own to see if they might grow better under my conditions from the beginning. 
Perhaps one will bloom true. And then we'll see which is nicer. 
Unless Mother Nature has other ideas!

Well, That Ship Has Sailed!

From the Cooperative Extension

So the same day I jotted off a note to the Schultz Plant Food people I also clicked the local Cooperative Extension website and wrote a note to them about the possibility of looking at my Lime Jewel plant under a microscope or something.

Hello,
I'm wondering if there are any experts in the office that take a look at houseplants to see what ails them? ;)
I bought some starter African violets on ebay...risky business I know.            (But was lured in by 100% positive rating and a bargain discount!)
The plant in question is Lime Jewel.
It has a very twisted growth of leaves and I'm not so certain the center growth is improving much. I have removed many leaves thinking maybe the new growth just can't get around itself.
I tried one lady's advice to put a bit of tissue over the center to see if too much light was the culprit. It just got a bit bleached out...
I suspect a combo of high temps and too much light/fert from the grower where it came - TEXAS! Perhaps... it was pretty hot there this summer from what I can tell?
Most of the other 10 plants are showing improvement. It may be this one with light green "quilted leaves" is not a keeper. Before I wash my hands of it ....I just wondered what was available to local want-to-be gardeners at the extension.
Laurie
...just signed up for the newsletter and thought what the heck - I'll send a note. Totally understand if this is not something the extension deals with :)

A reply! 

The following advice will no doubt explain the title of this entry.

Hi Laurie, 

Thanks so much for your excellent questions.  It's really tough to make a diagnosis without seeing the actual plant.  It sounds like you haven't had the plant in your care for very long.  If so, I would take the wait and see approach for at least another few weeks.  If plants have been stressed, it can take a while for them to recover.  You'll want to avoid removing any more leaves.  It's best to not remove any leaves unless you think they may have a fungal problem because any photosynthetic tissue can help with your plant's recovery from stress.  

I'm sure you know this already, but African violets preform best in diffuse, indirect light. They are sensitive to over fertilization, so be sure to follow the directions for use on any fertilizers that are appropriate to use on African violets (more is not better).  Twisted growth does sound like a fertility issue, but (again) it's tough to say without seeing the plant and knowing more about how the plant was treated before it reached you (which may be impossible to find out).  Usually commercial growers are set up to provide the appropriate conditions for the crops they are growing.  Therefore, I doubt that it would be a sunlight or heat issue even if they did come from Texas.  Sometimes, fertility issues can happen because of inconsistencies with automated irrigation.  

I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck with your lovely African violets!  Let me know if you have any more questions.

Best wishes, 

Kate

I know crowns are sometimes removed to force suckering - that could then develop into new plants when removed from the mother. If the center of this plant improves it will probably be a miracle! As it was, the twisted mess was making ME stressed. So leaves got yanked in my usual ruthless gentle, loving manner. 
It will be what it will.
OR GONE!
This was an impulse purchase variety and I have no ownership/loss anxiety! 
I plan to only keep plants that make me happy.

I figure the propagating leaves of Lime Jewel are the ones surely to produce "mouse ears" first and most prolifically!