Why violets do not bloom well and how to care for them
The growing interest of gardeners in Saintpaulias is explained by the simple care of plants, in exchange for which they generously delight people with magnificent flowers. Rosettes grow quickly, violets are easy to propagate, and no effort is required to make buds appear above the foliage.
But sometimes indoor plant lovers are faced with a situation where the violet stubbornly refuses to bloom, without forming a single peduncle month after month, or forming single medium-sized corollas. What is the reason for this behavior of the outlet, and how to make a violet bloom?
The main thing that needs to be provided for the plants so that they bloom profusely and for a long time is competent and comprehensive care. Adult, developed and healthy rosettes, receiving everything necessary for growth, necessarily form peduncles in the leaf axils. If this does not happen, then something is interfering with the plant, or something is missing.
The reason why the violet does not bloom is a lack of light
At home, indoor violets do not bloom well when, caring for them, the owners put the pots on the windowsills of the windows facing the north side. In this case, you can notice not only the absence of buds, but also a slowdown in growth, stretching and poor turgor of the cuttings.
On the southern side, violets bloom well in spring, but with the arrival of hot days, they are often at risk of burns and rapid drying of the soil, so here the Saintpaulias are not too comfortable here.
On the windowsill, where violets most often grow among novice florists, it is reasonable to wait for the formation of a peduncle in the period from March to September, when the duration of daylight hours is maximum, the rest of the time you can not do without shelves or shelves with backlight, where violets will be comfortable all year round.
Illuminated shelves for violets
In such conditions, plants not only bloom beautifully, but also grow faster. Lighting is organized using specialized lamps for backlight plants that provide plantings with the required spectrum of radiation and luminous flux.
To make the violet bloom, for standard-sized sockets, lamps are suspended at a height of 20 cm from the pots, and if there are miniature varieties in the collection, the lamps are lowered to 15 cm.
Such lighting provokes plants to form the rudiments of peduncles. When they appear, the lamps are raised, otherwise, in addition to the buds, the entire green part will develop intensively, distracting the pitchfork from the flowers.
At the same time, experienced florists remind that different varieties have different needs for lighting. If the collection has rosettes with light or variegated foliage, such plants require less light output than violets with rich green leaves.
Therefore, the best option if the florist has at his disposal a specialized rack, where on a shelf with an illuminated violet you can find a worthy place, according to his requests and needs.
Pot size for planting violets
Another common reason why violets do not bloom is the wrong pot for the rosette. Forming lush foliage, Saintpaulia does not need a lot of land.If a florist, “feeling sorry” for a flower, transplants a rosette into a pot with a diameter of more than 10–12 cm, he should expect that a “grateful” plant will begin to grow, fatten, sometimes completely abandoning flowering.
Indeed, as the outlet grows, the saintpaulia is transplanted into a large bowl, but a simple rule is observed.
The rosette diameter should be two or three times the size of the pot. This volume of soil is sufficient both to support the development of the flower and for its lush flowering.
Pondering why the violet does not bloom, and what to do in this case, the florist should pay attention to how much space the plant takes in the pot. After all, an excess of soil not only provokes the growth of greenery, but such soil can also accumulate salts, sour, become a breeding ground for fungi, pests and bacteria.
Temperature setting to make the violet bloom
You can make violets bloom by adjusting the temperature in the room where this decorative culture is grown. The optimal temperature for Saintpaulias is considered to be in the range of 20-25 ° C.
If the temperature in the room is higher, the intensity of flowering decreases, and the flowers that appear quickly, sometimes without even opening, wither. In addition, the abundant peduncle formation in the heat greatly weakens the violets, which then require a long accumulation of strength.
How to care for a violet to bloom? When it is not possible to transfer the plant to a cooler place, it is better to cut off those few buds that have formed. This will save the strength of the plant for the time when the heat subsides. In addition to this measure, a fan can be placed next to the plants, preventing cold air from entering the outlets, and protecting them from the scorching rays of the sun.
If the temperature conditions are met, violets show all their decorative qualities. fantasy varieties react especially well to a decrease in temperature, the main charm of which is in a bright fringe, a border on the petals and an unusual color of foliage.
Air humidity is a necessary condition for flowering
As well as high temperature and excessive dryness of the air, this is a good reason why violets do not bloom. For comfortable development and flowering, Saintpaulias need an air humidity of about 50%.
In an apartment, especially in the period from autumn to spring, when the heating devices work, the air is sometimes much drier, which slows down the growth of the outlet and the set of buds. Especially strongly from such a lack of care for indoor violets, why they bloom poorly, young rosettes and plants already "aged", which in the near future need rejuvenation and transplantation, suffer.
You can provide plants with comfortable conditions for the formation of peduncles by using household humidifiers, as well as placing trays of water on the racks with flowers. In special cases, when the appearance of the plant suffers, the outlet is sprayed with warm water without affecting the flowers. The procedure, if necessary, is repeated after two or three days.
Watering as a measure of care for violets
As for spraying, only warm water with a temperature of 2-3 ° C than the air in the room is used to irrigate violets. Beforehand, the water must be defended, leaving it in an open container for 24–48 hours. During this time, volatile chlorine compounds leave the liquid, and salts precipitate, which do not in the best way affect the quality of the soil and the condition of the plants.
Warm water for irrigation is extremely important during the cold season. Moreover, the danger lies in the possible decay of the roots, which threatens plants both on illuminated shelves and on window sills.
When violets do not bloom in spring, the reason sometimes lies precisely in the fact that root rot has begun inside the soil coma. Therefore, between waterings, if water gets under the roots of the plant from above, the top layer of the soil should dry out. If the saintpaulias are watered through a sump, then the excess water must be removed 20-30 minutes after watering.
How to feed violets so that they bloom?
When asking what to do if the violets are not blooming, indoor plant lovers often force the plant to behave this way. It's all about illiterate or excessive feeding, causing serious damage to the health of the outlet and its ability to produce flowers.
The most common mistake is an overabundance in the soil. nitrogen, forcing the violet not to bloom, but to give all new leaves and form stepchildren, which, developing, take away the strength from the parental outlet. The violet plant, doomed to excessive nitrogen consumption, is less resistant to diseases spread by fungi.
You can make a violet bloom only with very moderate and competent use of fertilizers. The greatest need for feeding is experienced by plants that have just undergone a long and abundant flowering. In this case, complex compositions are used for flowering crops, and the content of phosphorus and potassium in them should be twice as high as nitrogen.
From florists you can hear the question: "How to feed the violets so that they bloom after transplantation?" But in this case, it is better not to rush at all with the introduction of fertilizers, since the plants requiring acclimatization will not be able to correctly perceive the mineral substances that have entered the soil, and besides this, fresh soil necessarily includes everything necessary for growth.
With the help of a slight increase in the acidity of the soil at the stage when the violets lay buds, it is possible to achieve brighter flowering in varieties on whose petals contrasting shades are combined, there is a fringed border and placers of colored splashes.
Selection of soil for lush flowering violets
The reason why the violet does not bloom may lie in the untimely transplanting of the plant or the wrong selection of the soil mixture. Usually, Saintpaulia rosettes are transferred to another soil after about two flowering, that is, twice in 1–1.5 years. If this is not done, the plant lacks nutrition, it weakens and refuses to bloom over time.
But what about a situation when a florist is making every effort, caring for a violet so that it blooms, but there are practically no buds? The error may lie in the wrong soil. Violets react extremely poorly to dense soil that accumulates a lot of moisture. In such a mixture, the plant hardly forms a root system, and the existing roots rot.
In order for the soil to retain its lightness and friability, but not to lose its ability to retain moisture, vermiculite and perlite are added to it, and natural antiseptics are used - sphagnum moss and powdered charcoal.
Sphagnum in the form of a crushed mass is added to the soil, and whole plant stems, along with expanded clay and foam crumbs, are used as drainage, which is mandatory for violets.
When planting violets in ready-made or self-selected soil, be sure to check its acidity. For Saintpaulias, a soil with a slightly acidic reaction is most suitable. The allowable level can vary from 5.5 to 6.5 units. Taking advantage of all the recommendations for caring for indoor violets, the florist will definitely get a luxurious bloom of his favorite Saintpaulias.