African Violet

African Violet, also known as African Violet, is a perennial evergreen herb of the genus Gesneriaceae.

African violets are native to the tropical regions of East Africa and prefer a warm and humid semi-shady environment. If the light is insufficient, the flowers will be few and the color will be light, even only the long leaves will not blossom; if the light is too strong, it will cause the leaves to turn yellow and scorch, which can be maintained in a place with bright light and no direct sunlight. The suitable temperature for growth is 16 ℃ to 24 ℃, and not less than 10 ℃ in winter. It is necessary to avoid sudden rise and fall of temperature in cultivation, otherwise the plant is easy to die. Keep it in a cool and ventilated place in summer to avoid hot and humid environment and hot sun exposure. Usually watering should not be too much, to wait until the basin soil is slightly dry before watering, basin soil stagnant water is often the main cause of plant decay. During the growing period, the mature thin liquid fertilizer or compound chemical fertilizer is applied every 7 to 10 days, the content of nitrogen fertilizer in the fertilizer should not be too much, otherwise the leaves will grow luxuriantly and bloom very little. If you encounter this situation, you can remove part of the leaves to make the plant grow new leaves, in order to consume too much nitrogen fertilizer in the soil, and so on, a large number of flowers will bloom. Proper application of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer in the emergence of buds can make the flowers large and colorful. Fertilization is stopped at low temperatures in winter and high temperatures in summer. When watering and fertilizing, it is necessary to avoid splashing water and fertilizer on the leaves, let alone spraying water on the leaves, because the water droplets stay between the leaf hairs, and the leaves will produce ugly maculae and even rot. But in order to increase the air humidity, you can sprinkle some water around the plant. Change the pot once every spring, because the plant is small, the root distribution is shallow, it is appropriate to use the shallow pot with a slightly larger basin mouth. The basin soil requires loose and fertile slightly acidic soil, which can be mixed with 3 parts of rotten leaf soil and 2 parts of sandy soil, or 1 part of rotten leaf soil and 1 part of peat soil. The growth of the plant weakens after two or three years of cultivation, so the new plant should be propagated and the old plant should be renewed.