I have FINALLY realized I need a different goal in my Violet Life!
In the past, my motto has been
"Grow As Many Violets As You Can!"
So, how has that worked out for me???
If you know me personally, the answer is easy: It hasn't worked too well for me!
I would buy a leaf of every violet that I didn't already own.
I would also set a leaf of all my Favorites!
These babies would produce hundreds of babies.. and I LOVE to see a tray full of rows of multiple plants of the same variety.... possibly this aspect of growing African violets is even more satisfying to me than seeing them bloom!
A few months later, and I would have many, many... way too many plants.
To make the situation even worse, I typically set the mama leaves during the late fall, before shipping season ends, and when the ranch work slows up. That works fine during the winter as I have time to transplant the babies, watch and fuss over them.
As they grow, and begin to need potting up, the time is then Spring, and ranch work begins with a blast. I can usually manage to get them into larger pots, and the illusion that I can grow 200 + violets continues!
They begin to bloom, which is great as whole shelves of color are a wonderful sight!
But they also begin to demand more consistent care, watering more often, and grooming.
The summer temps get hotter and our work load builds!
I begin to cut corners on my 'hobbies', and before I know it, the violets are drying up... dead or dying. There are years in which I do better than average, but there are also years when I lose nearly every plant. Boy, was I glad I set leaves every other month!!!
By fall, I have lost many varieties and so I buy new leaves....
and so the cycle continues!
Add to this Cycle,
my attitude of keeping every variety that I have ever grown.... good and bad!
If it has been in my house for a few months, it is a friend, and I need to keep it for all time!
I have gotten better at 'culling' varieties that either didn't like my house, or that I didn't find attractive.
SO.....................................
For the FIRST TIME, I am setting goals for myself.
Time will tell if this saves 'violet lives' but it has already made a difference!
I have resisted the urge to buy more leaves. I have been able to give away my last plants of a few varieties, and I did not pot up every little baby from every leaf!
My Violet Goals
1. Make a list of my favorites and a few varieties that I must try.
2. Limit the list to 50.
3. Set leaves of my favorites and those on the list... not every variety I see in photos online!
4. Pot up only the best babies from each leaf.
5. Keep only 5 or 6 light shelves!
6. Watch each variety carefully and if there is any fault or weakness, do not hesitate to
cull that variety. On rare cultivars that I really want to have, I will try one more time. But 'two strikes and you are out' will be the rule!
7. Not all cultivars need to be fully mature mama plants at all times. There are a few varieties that I am keeping because they are old, hard to find, or for sentimental reasons, but are not at the top of my Favorites List. These could be kept as leaf cuttings, etc.
(HERE is a good article where the grower keeps different varieties at different stages of growth.)
8. Share my favorite cultivars and any that are hard to find commercially. Loxi, my local violet friend, has come to my rescue many times by supplying me with leaves of varieties I have lost!
9.
Cull. This one needs repeating. :)
10. Remind myself that growing, watching, and caring for varieties that are
Old Friends is as satisfying, maybe even more so, than the excitement of new varieties. This is one of the great joys that has been overshadowed by all the African violet photos shared online!