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African violets (botanically called Saintpaulias) have long been the world's favourite house plants. There is now a truly amazing array of different colour and plant forms amongst them.
These indoor plants are prized for their beauty, their ability to flower at any and all seasons, their ease of propagation, and most of all, because they grow very well indoors in conditions enjoyed by most people.
Want to know more?
Visit the Central Coast African Violet Club, Inc., a friendly group on the Central Coast, NSW Australia. We are devoted to promoting the growing of African Violets and associated Gesneriad plants.
To discover how to find us, click on About Us.
Coming Events
Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be held at the Halekulani Bowling Club on Saturday, 6 June. Attractions will be: Mid Year Show for Novice & Intermediate growers; Potting mixes for African violets; First flowers on a young plant (to disbud or not to disbud; that is the question).
More information on our meetings and other upcoming events is available here
To Contact Us Including Membership Enquiries:
By mail: The Secretary, 11 Geoffrey Road, Chittaway Point, NSW 2261
Email: (all enquiries): violetinfo@yahoo.com
Contact us now for a membership form - Membership cost is $8.00 per year, or $12.00 per family.
Our next
African violet show
will be held on
24 & 25 October 2009
See details here
See some photographs of the plants at our 2008 show here
A new African Violet book: "African Violets for Everyone", by Ruth Coulson . For details, click here.
Top Hints for Growing African Violets
Encouraging flowering. There are a number of reasons for African violets refusing to flower. Although the most frequently quote reason is “lack of light”, that is by no means the only possible reason. Consider the following, all of which are equally important - the plants need to be healthy, free of pests and diseases, growing strongly, of a single crown in most cases, fertilised and watered well, and growing in a suitable potting mix
Click here to to find out how to encourage your African violets to flower.
Watering African violets. African violets are ideal for gardeners who are frustrated by drought and water restrictions.
These plants, of course, do need water, but the wick watering technique that we use, and the fact that they are grown indoors means that not a drop of water is wasted, and heavy buckets don’t have to be carried around the garden.
How can you wick water? Click here to find out.
Fertilising African violets. All plants need fertiliser to promote their general health and to produce abundant flowers. It is generally found that using a "constant feed" regimen gives the most satisfactory results. Use fertiliser diluted to about one third to half the strength suggested for "two-weekly" or "monthly" application. Fertilisers that are most suitable are either liquid or soluble crystal or powder. This will make it easy to dilute the fertiliser in water and apply every time watering is done.
A fertiliser that has a high phosphorus content is most suitable. That is the P part of the N:P:K on the label. If that proves confusing, select a fertiliser that is formulated to produce flowers or fruit rather than leaf growth.
