The Violet Voice Group

The Violet Voice Group
Online African Violet Club
CHAT????

Is anyone having trouble getting into CHAT?

I ended up in some chat room where there were a bunch of people from different groups all wondering how they got there, too! After that, I
couldn't get into any chat room!!!

It was funny though....a lady called greenleaf asked me....."So how do you grow African Violets?"

I said it was a long story and exited......
...
Plant Labels
I'm trying to find the best and lest expensive source for plant labels, preferably 4-5 inch long. Any suggestions. Locally I can buy 1,000 for $35 so there no shipping cost involved. That's 3 1/2 cents a lable. Anyone know of a better deal? Not sure I want to invest that much into labels.

Nancy
Ever had two devestating bugs at once?
A member of my club gave me a plant. When I got it home, I unpotted it and with bare eyes I could see the very, very wite substance on the rootball that I hate to see. I asked her if she knew she had soil mealies. She said she couldn't have them because she knew some of her plants had cycleman mite.

I looked carefully at the infested treasure the friend had given me. No sign of mite, but a possibility it was there. I didn't want to keep the plant but I did want to...
Will Chat Forum be Working This Wednesday
It's Tuesday and I just checked the chat forum. It's not working.

Nancy
I figured it out!
I kept trying to get in with the wrong profile! Doh!

I am a hobby grower in Illinois. I like growing all kinds of things, but AVs are currently my obsession. I tend to question why things are done because I want to know the science and the underlying principles to things. So, please forgive me in advance if I tend to ask a lot of questions or even ask why someone does what they do. It's...
Hello All
Hi Everyone,
I joined on Nov 8th but had some trouble posting. I've been lurking though, reading all of your very informative posts. I have been growing violets since I was ten, my grandfather grew them for many years & taught me about these fascinating plants. I vividly remember him teaching me about propagation & I was hooked ever since. When I was in my 20s, I grew over 150 plants as wedding favors & tried a little hybridizing and sold my plants to a local...
New Member....just joined...

Hello All!

From looking at the membership list, I know a couple of the people on this forum, but certainly not everyone!
My name is Jeff Jackson and I hail from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
I love to hybridize African Violets and sometimes Sinningias. My favorites right now are Wasps, anything variegated, and Fantasy, Fantasy, Fantasy!

Love to make new connections and hear about what people want in terms of African Violets. Can't wait to get to know...
playful spectrum - or not
Does anyone recognize this flower? It is labeled Playful Spectrum. I posted it here once and Fred said he didn't think the name is correct. I just looked at it on FC2 and it doesn't look the same, but I can see that is could have reverted back. The biggest difference I found is in the leaf description - mine has a light red back and medium green leaves. But this is definitely not a fantasy flower. Perhaps it is just totally mislabeled! It is more purple...
Sports...or what?

We've had several discussions about noids, sports, and plants that don't bloom true, etc...so I'm wondering just how to qualify this.

I have 2 plants of Rahpsodie Cora.....from my original plant. When small, I let each bloom on one stalk so I could see if they were true. Then I kept them disbudded for several months. I noticed they seemed to grow bigger and better than the original, but since my growing conditions changed dramatically with...
When was the first time you saw an AV?
I just read Nancy's post about her mother's introduction to AV's and thought it might be interesting to learn when everyone saw or became interested in AV's.
I can remember clearly seeing my first violet back in the early '40s at my Aunt Jennys. We were there on a visit and also to pick cherries from their trees in the back yard. Inside in her dining room on a small stand near a window was a small plant with fuzzy leaves in a clay pot. I was told not to touch it...
Leaf Trimming experiment
There was a discussion a while ago about the "proper" way of cutting the stems of AV leaves for propagation.

Do we cut them in a way to get LOTS of babies?
To get roots and babies growing in a certain direction?
To get just a few very well formed plantlets?

So I cut 4 leaves each in a different way, placed them in a baggie hung on the back of a shelf behind the light fixture.
And forgot about them!...
INTRODUCING HYBRIDIZER AGNETHA WIDDEL
Agnetha Widdel is from Sweden. I believe she works only with standards. Her most recent work is with Clackamaus foliage. This type of foliage is rarely seen. In fact, I doubt there are five hybrids with this type of foliage available.



TWO-W TROLLHAR

Well named! This one truly looks like a TROLL! This is a wasp type blossom. I...
WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT PLANTS THAT DON'T BLOOM TRUE?

Many of my plants are putting on quite a show right now. And this is the time I like to grab that plant and check it with the picture on FC2. If it doesn't look anything like the picture I mark NT (Not True) on the plant and replace it until I can give it to my son. I have two Star Eclipse that use to bloom true. Now they are growing solid blue. I think maybe if I put them on a lower shelf more white will show up. If they don't bloom with thumbprints next showing, I'll...
Mellow Magic
I have 4 of Mellow Magic and 3 of Ma's Midland Fantasy if anyone wants them this week since we know the weather is predicted to be mild.
suckers again
I have spent the last three hours repotting - I thought I should make progress. It is almost a mistake because I could not throw out the suckers, which are so large, they really are not suckers anymore, but plants on their own. I have Mellow Magic and Ma's Midland Fantasy if anyone wants to take a chance on the mail. I will be glad to send you a plant. I also formally potted up, The Madam into two pots and into...
Optimara Oneida
I have been trying to get Optimara Oneida for three years. Very few people are selling it on Ebay. The only person who is selling won't send to Canada.

I even tried to buy from Selective Gardener but they won't send to Canada either.

I managed to buy a leaf from someone who would send to Canada, but the leaves were not in good condition when I purchased them and did not survive.

So I am STILL looking especially hard for Optimara Oneida. I'll pay...
INTRODUCING HYBRIDIZER CLEMENT PERREAULT

Clement Perreault is from Quebec. He has a lot, most, of his hybrids pictured on FC2. Only the most recent ones are not on FC2.

Perreault is now a snowbird, flying each winter to his home in Florida so he has given up hybridizing. Hopefully he still has seed and is able to sow a few to get a few new hybrids per year. We will see in next spring's shows.

Perreault works exclusively with large variegated standards.With the standards, he has all colors except yellow...
Friday the 13th
Everyone do be careful today - it is Friday the 13th.
African Violet Inventory
There is a small article on page 41 of the current AVSA magazine about tracking an aftican violet inventory. John Regan is using his iPhone application called Bento, to track his collection and have it in his pocket when he is away from the violets. He also expresses his desire to see FC2 available for the iPhone. ( I don't think I could read FC2 on the screen if I could see it on my cell phone!)
When I started collecting again last year, I began with a list...
Rob's Artful Dodger
laurie, I just noticed tonight, that you were interested in Rob's Artful Dodger leaves. Sorry I missed it back then. Rob's is full of leaves and I will be happy to send some to you. I don't think it is too late, and certainly worth the chance. Email me at
jancarol55@hotmail.com with your address, and I will get some out in the mail ASAP. The next few days are supposed to be warmer so the sooner the...