The fool proof flowering plant

by Christina

I love houseplants and I LOVE flowers. My house may not have seen the business end of a mop this week but I still have fresh flowers on my table. I need blooms, I don't know why but I do.

 

I love african violets. They bloom all year long, one month of flowers one month off. And if you follow these tips they will live forever. I've killed so many plants, so many but never one of these. I keep them until I move, give them away and start over. In fact, my mom still has the ones I gave her 12 years ago when I left Seattle. These are seriously fool proof. So, here's what you need.

An african violet.

An african violet pot. (this link is horribly overpriced, they are about 8 bucks at Lowes or HD)

Liquid food

dirt

The trick really is the pot. These require the perfect amount of moisture at all times and the insert of the pot isn't glazed so the plant is constantly drinking the amount it needs, also, it keeps the leaves dry, if you get them wet, the water burns them.  About once a month I refill the pot, put a dropper of fertilizer in with it and it lives on a table that gets a few hours of sun per day. So easy and it's so nice to have a little pot of flowers year round. 

 (Photo of my violet)

Comments

[J]

I remember my grandmother having these when I was a kid! But-- do they need a lot of light? We don't have good windows in our apartment for plants and it has been a problem keeping some plants alive because of this, but this plant sounds great if our dark apartment won't kill it.

[Christina]

J,sadly, no, without the proper amount of light they wont bloom. The greens will be fine but you wont have any flowers.

[J]

Ah well, back to the drawing board! :)