Growing and care. Lighting, humidity, temperature and water conditions for violets Description of the plant and types of violets

Is it difficult to grow really beautiful violets? If you like to grow beautiful flowers yourself, then it’s not difficult. Every violet lover wants his plants to grow well and bloom beautifully. This requires at least minimal knowledge of how to properly care for violets in order to avoid gross mistakes during cultivation and the inevitable subsequent disappointments.

A beautiful violet is, first of all, a healthy violet. Violet with healthy, strong leaves rich in chlorophyll on normal, optimal length petioles. An even, symmetrical outlet that receives plenty of light. Healthy center, no stepchildren, adequate potty. Prompt flowering on normal peduncles.

You brought a new violet home, don’t rush to replant it. When a plant finds itself in a new environment, it experiences stress. A young plant, which is 5-6 months old, endures these changes not so painfully, but it also needs to be given time to get used to it. It should be transplanted into a new, larger pot no earlier than after three to four weeks.

A healthy and properly grown Saintpaulia usually sends out flower stalks sequentially as it grows in the upper three or four tiers of the rosette. The peduncle grows from the leaf axil only once; there will be no more peduncle in this place. Therefore, one should not expect violets to continuously bloom in lush bouquets. So the violet blooms only in spring, after the winter period of growth and rest from flowering. Therefore, the beauty of Saintpaulia flowering depends on the condition of the rosette. In a word, high-quality care for violets and beautiful, blooming violets are inseparable concepts. If you have grown a multi-tiered symmetrical rosette in good soil and in a container of normal size, your violet will definitely delight you with luxurious blooms.

Lighting violets.

Lighting violets is the main condition for caring for violets: plenty of light and no sun, especially beware of the scorching midday rays. Violets require bright, diffused lighting. If it is deficient, they bloom poorly. Violet grows well on any windowsill. But on the western, eastern and southern windows they must be shaded, otherwise burns will appear on the leaves and flowers. On a northern window, violets will grow well and bloom profusely only in the spring and summer. To form a symmetrical rosette, you need to rotate the plants 2-3 times a week in a circle by 90 degrees.

With optimal lighting, the plant forms a decorative rosette consisting of brightly colored leaves. The leaves of the bottom row are located almost horizontally; green, juicy, symmetrically arranged leaves are formed in the middle of the rosette.

With a lack of lighting, the leaves stretch upward, the violet does not bloom, the petioles of the formed leaves lengthen, and the leaf blade increases in size. If the violet was formed in conditions of limited lighting, then even an increase in illumination will not help the plant restore its decorative properties. Only young leaves will develop normally.

When there is too much light, the lower leaves bend down over the edges of the pot. Plant development slows down and then stops completely. Young leaves in the center of the rosette form a dense cluster, peduncles develop short, buds cannot get out from under the leaves. The flowers on such a plant are small, pale, and quickly fade.

For abundant and long-lasting flowering, the plant must receive enough light for 10-12 hours a day. Correct selection of lighting provides half the success in keeping Saintpaulias. However, different varieties of violets have different light needs. Varieties with light green leaves develop well and bloom in lower light. Violets with dark green foliage need more light. For year-round successful cultivation of violets, artificial lighting is used.

Temperature for violets.

Caring for violets, as one of its components, includes the temperature of the plants. The most optimal temperature for violets is 20-24 degrees. At this temperature, violets grow strong, bloom profusely and for a long time.

When growing violets in cool conditions, such characteristics as a wider and brighter border, more expressive fantasy are better manifested; in varieties with a green border, the greens are more saturated. If violets gain buds and bloom in the hot season or in a room with a temperature of 28-30 degrees, it often happens that they do not bloom so profusely, the flowers are noticeably smaller in size, the border disappears completely or becomes much thinner and less bright, in varieties with a green border this is especially noticeable - the border either disappears completely or the green is very pale. Fantasy varieties have much fewer specks on the flowers and they are not as bright.

Saintpaulias are afraid of drafts. Due to the flow of cold air in winter, the leaves become covered with light brown spots and streaks. But if the plant gets too cold, its root system may rot. Then the violet can only be saved by complete re-rooting.

Watering violets and humidity.

Watering violets is one of the most important points in caring for violets. For irrigation, you can use tap water, letting it sit in an open container for 1-2 days. It is even better to soften tap water (Water for watering violets). The temperature of the water for irrigation should be higher than the temperature of the air and soil in the pots. Experience shows that room temperature water is too cold for Saintpaulias; they need warmer water, especially in winter, several degrees higher than the air temperature in the room. Watering with cold water leads to rotting of the roots and plants die en masse in winter.

Violets tolerate some drying out of the soil more easily than waterlogging. Violets should be watered when the top layer of soil becomes slightly dry to the touch. You can water from above, avoiding water getting on the plant, and from below into the tray under the pot. Excess water should be removed from the pan 15-20 minutes after watering. Once every one and a half to two months, to remove dust, it is recommended to wash the plant leaves under the tap with lukewarm water, preventing it from getting into the pot.

The optimal air humidity for our plants is 50-60%, but adult specimens are often content with less (30-40%) humidity at the correct temperature and regular watering. Sprouted leaves, children, and transplanted plants especially need high humidity. They are covered with plastic bags or kept in special greenhouses.

Air humidity, of course, affects the decorativeness of Saintpaulia, but still is not a determining factor for it.

Soil for violets.

The soil for violets should be airy and retain moisture well. To make the soil moisture-absorbing and breathable, natural minerals – perlite and vermiculite – are added to it. It is useful to add a small amount of finely crushed charcoal. Violets need good drainage. You can use foam chips or expanded clay.

Also, when choosing land, the acidity of the soil is very important. For Saintpaulia, a slightly acidic, close to neutral, reaction is required - that is, a pH in the range of 5.5-6.5. Perfect for growing violets and rooting cuttings Peat substrate Klasmann (Klasman) TS1.

Violet pot size.

It is better to use plastic pots for violets. The diameter of the pot is gradually increased with each transplant as the plant grows. It is believed that the diameter of the plant should be three times the diameter of the pot. The plant should not be planted in pots that are too large, as the volume of soil mixture will not be absorbed by the roots, and this can lead to rotting of the root system.

For young plants separated from the mother liquor, pots with a diameter of no more than 5 cm (about 100 ml) are suitable. When the children grow up, you can use pots with a diameter of 7-8 cm for a long time. For adult specimens, pots with a diameter of 9-10 cm are suitable, this is the maximum size limit; the height of the pot should be approximately equal to its diameter. You should not use pots with a diameter of more than 10 cm, this will prevent the violet from blooming profusely.

When planting, under no circumstances should you compact the soil too much, since dense soil will not be well saturated with water, and once saturated, it will take a long time to dry, the roots will grow slowly and may rot. Just pour soil into the pot, place a rosette in the center, straighten the roots and fill it with soil on top. When pouring soil on top, lightly tap the pot on a flat, hard surface - this will slightly compact the soil.

Thus, good care for violets means sufficient lighting, optimal temperature, proper watering and humidity, high-quality soil and a small pot.

The issue of air humidification arose in front of me almost immediately as soon as I began to become more or less seriously interested in violets. Although the shelving is located in the kitchen, the air is very dry. I had to water every other day, or even every day, because the soil dried out instantly. To moisten, I used both plain water next to the pots and moistened expanded clay, but for one reason or another, all this seemed inconvenient to me. Until one day I looked at the usual super-absorbent napkin with which I wipe the kitchen table, from the other side: it perfectly absorbs moisture, and in colossally larger volumes than its own, and washes perfectly without any additional means.

In one of the local supermarkets I bought three packages of such napkins (luckily there was a promotion on them) and a beautiful plastic tray. The photo below shows a tray, a package of napkins, and a similar napkin, battered by life and already in active use:

Well, the best part is that I arranged my kids, of which, due to the fact that I am a beginner, I have a lot:

The same method works for me in greenhouses with newly transplanted children:

In greenhouses, thanks to napkins, I almost forgot about watering; I moisten the napkins by watering them from above between the plants. For flowers outside greenhouses, the frequency of watering has also decreased significantly. The convenience of this method is that in case of contamination, it is not necessary to remove all the pots from the tray; it is enough to remove them from the contaminated area.

Among the shortcomings, I noticed one - when drying, the napkins curl, becoming rigid, which can cause light pots to fall:

I hope this method will be useful and interesting for someone.

Daily care of violets is not particularly difficult, otherwise they would not be so popular, but you should still follow certain care rules. To keep your plants beautiful and healthy, you need to consider the following points:
- properly selected lighting;
- moderate watering;

- optimal pot size;
- soil composition;

Feeding.

1. Lighting

Correctly selected lighting is one of the factors that is the key to abundant flowering of Saintpaulias.

Violets love well-lit places, but at the same time they need to be shaded from direct sun rays.

In nature, Uzambara violets grow under the forest canopy. Tree branches transmit a large amount of diffused light, while reliably protecting the delicate leaves of violets from the burning rays of the sun.

North and north-east windows are ideal for growing violets. Eastern, western, and even more so southern windows need to be shaded in spring and summer. For shading, you can use newspaper, thin paper, tracing paper, or tulle. Excessive lighting or lack thereof depresses violets. They will tell you about their well-being: when there is too much light, the violet leaves droop down, as if hugging the pot, and the flowers become smaller. If violets do not receive enough light, their leaves rise up, and flowering may not occur at all.

To form a symmetrical rosette, you need to rotate the rosette 45 degrees every 3-4 days.

The duration of illumination is also important; for violets it is 12-13 hours a day. Therefore, in the winter months, violets stop blooming and their growth slows down. Such plants can be artificially illuminated with fluorescent lamps.

Violets can grow and bloom beautifully in any corner of your apartment if they are provided with 12 hours of artificial lighting. Saintpaulias grow and develop much faster on shelves than on windows. When arranging a rack, it is important to consider the following points: the height of the shelves is 45-50 cm, the width of the shelf is 30 cm (for 1 lamp) or 60-65 cm (for two lamps). The length of the shelves should be equal to the length of the lamp.

2. Temperature

There is no need to create any special temperature conditions for growing Saintpaulias, because they thrive at the same air temperature as we do. Optimal maintenance temperature: 18-24 degrees. At lower temperatures, violets will grow somewhat slower, but their flowering will last longer. But when the temperature rises to 30 degrees and above, violets stop blooming and their growth slows down greatly.

3. Humidity

The ideal air humidity for growing Uzambara violets is 50%. It is possible to grow violets quite successfully even at lower air humidity: the leaves of violets will be more dense and pubescent, but the flowers will be somewhat smaller than those of violets grown in more humid conditions.

4. Watering

Water the plants with boiled or warm water that has stood for three days, slightly above room temperature.

It is better to water from above, to the edge of the pot, avoiding water getting on the leaves. For watering, it is very convenient to use watering cans with a thin spout. Mature plants with a well-developed root system can be watered from below from a tray; in this case, the remaining water must be drained after 10-15 minutes, because violets do not like their “legs” standing in water. When watering from above, water, seeping through the lump, washes out some of the harmful salts, which is beneficial for plants. For this reason, I find this method of watering more correct and convenient.

Another important point is that watering is carried out in small portions. Water flowing out of the drainage holes is considered excess water. Water Saintpaulia when the top layer of soil dries to the depth of a nail. It is very convenient to water the plant by taking the pot in your hand, this way you can accurately determine the state of the earthen clod - if the pot is light, then it needs to be watered; if it is heavy, then there is still enough moisture, and it is better to postpone watering for a day or two.

With a constantly moist coma, the plant loses turgor, the leaves become soft and hang down. This happens due to rotting (death) of the root system. The roots of such a plant must be washed with a weak solution of potassium manganese and planted in a small pot with fresh loose soil, after which it is placed in a greenhouse for 2-3 weeks.

Also dangerous is severe drying out of the earthen coma, which causes the delicate suction roots of the plant to die. A sign of it is the withered soft (as with waterlogged soil) plant leaves. If most of the leaves on the rosette become limp and hang over the edges of the pot, in this case the pot is placed in warm water at 1/2 height and kept for 1-1.5 hours, after which the plant is covered with a transparent bag and placed in a shaded place for a day or two . To keep the plant healthy, watering must be regular and the soil must not become over-moistened or dry out. The frequency of watering largely depends on the temperature and humidity on your window/rack/ and the composition of the soil, so there can be no exact recommendations on this matter. I water my flowers every two or three days, and in the summer I have to water them on south-facing windows every day.

If the leaves on your plants are always elastic, it means the watering regime is correct.

5. Selection of pots

Both plastic and ceramic pots with drainage holes are suitable for violets. Currently, collectors prefer to grow violets in plastic pots, because... they are cheaper and more convenient.
It is best to use small pots with low sides, 4-5 cm in diameter for children and 8-10 cm for adult plants. For large varieties, you can take pots with a diameter of 10-12 cm. Don’t forget Golden Rule gardener: the diameter of the pot should be three times smaller than the diameter of the rosette.

Violets do not need large pots; the soil in them dries out for a long time, as a result of which it quickly turns sour. Plants develop poorly in such soil; the roots, stem and petioles of the lower leaves are prone to rotting. In pots of smaller diameter, violets have a beautiful compact rosette and bloom profusely.

Do not give your violets pots to “grow”; it is better to re-handle them once again as the rosette grows (see the article “Growing violets from a leaf”).

6. Drainage
To avoid stagnation of water, it is necessary to use drainage: fine expanded clay or pieces of polystyrene foam, which are poured into the bottom of the pot in a layer of 1-1.5 cm. Soil in pots without a drainage layer is prone to rapid souring.

7. Composition of the earth mixture

The soil mixture for violets should be light, porous, moisture-permeable and breathable. A dense and heavy substrate can cause not only poor violet growth, lack of flowering, but even the death of the plant. Therefore, a large amount of raising agents is added to peat-based nutrient soil ("KLASMANN" TS 1, "ABS GREENWORLD", "TERRA VITA", "Seliger-Agro", "Fialochka", etc.): perlite, vermiculite, sphagnum moss and coconut substrate. I use the following composition:

4 parts nutrient soil "KLASMANN TS-1" or (3 parts "KLASMANN" and 1 part other soil for violets or begonias)
- 1/2 part perlite

1/2 part vermiculite
- 1/2 - 1 part crushed moss

1/2 part coconut substrate
- 3-8% of the total composition of the earthen mixture, crushed charcoal powder (if you take 1 glass for 1 part, approximately 2-6 tablespoons with a hillock)

The use of charcoal reduces the risk of bacterial diseases of the root system of plants.

Never reuse any soil mixture or drainage components as... Harmful microorganisms have already begun to multiply there!

You can purchase all components of the soil mixture for violets in the “Related Products” section of the website.

8. Transfer

Adult rosettes are replanted every six months (when grown in artificial light) or annually (when grown on windows). No amount of fertilizing will give you the same result as replacing old soil with fresh soil. After transplantation, the rosettes begin to grow more actively, and flowering is more abundant. Transshipment of a young plant can be done even more often - after 3-4 months. Adult plants are transplanted into a pot of equal size. Young violets that have not yet reached their maximum size can be transplanted into a pot 2-3 cm larger than the previous one.

Old rosettes with bare stems need rejuvenation or replanting with deepening of the stem. You can read more about this in the article “Rejuvenation of violets.”

9. Feeding

Since violets are grown in small pots, the soil becomes depleted over time. Therefore, you have to periodically feed the plants. For this, it is best to use liquid or powder complex fertilizers. Good results are achieved by fertilizing with alternating complex fertilizers (Kemira Lux, Pokon, BONA FORTE, etc.) and humic fertilizers (Rostok, Raduga, etc.). When purchasing fertilizer, carefully study the instructions for use; if the fertilizer composition (NPK) is not indicated on the label, it is better to refrain from such a purchase. The irrigation solution is made at a weak concentration - the consumption rate is three times less than indicated in the instructions. They usually feed once every 3-4 weeks. Violets do not need frequent feeding.
Excess nutrients can do more harm than good. Hence, another golden rule - it is better to underfeed a violet than to overfeed it. Do not fertilize sick or weakened plants. After transplantation, no fertilizing is applied for 2 months, because... Fresh soil already contains all the macro- and microelements necessary for the full growth of violets.
You should also take into account the needs of your pets; at different stages of development, the composition of the fertilizer should change. Thus, for young rosettes it is necessary that the nitrogen (N) content in the fertilizer be greater than P (phosphorus) and K (potassium).
And during the period of bud formation, the plant needs more phosphorus and microelements. Therefore, at this moment it is important to feed the rosette with fertilizer with a high content of phosphorus and potassium. In this case, the flowers will be larger and brighter in color, and flowering will be more abundant.
Plants are fed only during the period of active growth from March to October.

Temperature

Uzambara violets are staunch supporters of the golden mean. They love warmth, but not heat, prefer air humidity of about 50%, grow well in bright, diffused light, but do not tolerate direct sunlight. The optimal temperature for keeping adult specimens is considered to be 20-24°C, decreasing at night to 18-20°. For children and actively growing young plants, a slightly higher temperature is preferable. When the room temperature is below 18C°, the rate of growth and development of violets slows down, and too high a temperature (from 25C°) has a detrimental effect on flowering. Temperatures above 30C° and below 13C° are considered critical.

For children, young or weakened plants, as well as for rooted cuttings, the most comfortable temperature range is from 24 to 26C°, but it is highly advisable to keep such plants in conditions of high humidity (in a greenhouse or under film).

Too high a temperature almost always goes hand in hand with excessive dry air. In such conditions, violets almost do not set buds, and the flowers turn out to be ugly, small, may be underdeveloped and will quickly fade. You can help violets suffering from the heat by increasing the air humidity around the plants and reducing the light intensity, for example, by reducing the length of daylight hours. At the height of the summer heat, it is advisable to remove flowers and buds - this way you will help the plant survive the unfavorable period. Too warm growing conditions lead to the loss of the crown type of variegation in some varieties: variegated rosettes first seem to “burn out”, then turn green. After temperature normalization, varietal color will appear only on newly growing foliage. Also, in the heat, the border on the flowers may disappear, the fancy and finger color may disappear or appear weakly - usually such phenomena are also temporary.

If the temperature is too low, violets are often affected by bacterial infections - rot. A similar nuisance usually occurs in winter, when keeping plants on the windowsill. It is necessary to insulate the frames well, making sure that there are no drafts along the windowsill. When ventilating the room, you need to make sure that the flow of cold air does not hit the plants. Also, violets should not be placed close to the glass, and it is better to keep the pots on some kind of thermally insulating stand - wooden or polypropylene. The soil in pots standing on a cold windowsill (and on frosty winter nights, almost everyone’s window sills are cold) should never be wet: this can lead to hypothermia of the root system and subsequent rotting. Water such plants moderately and occasionally, first waiting until the lump has completely dried out. It is better to water in the morning so that the soil in the pot has time to dry out a little before the evening.

Remember, for violets there is nothing more dangerous than sudden changes in living conditions, and especially temperature jumps! Although this applies not only to violets, but to any living organisms. Remember how we, their owners, usually get colds. Remember: the worst thing you can do for your Saintpaulia is to move it from the warm shelf of the rack straight to a window sill blown by winter drafts. Yes, violets can and even need to be hardened. But as with any hardening, this should be done purposefully, methodically and patiently.

Speaking of temperature, it should also be noted that even temperatures throughout the year are very desirable if you are growing violets for exhibitions. Only if this condition is met will Saintpaulia grow even rows of equally sized foliage, forming a perfectly symmetrical rosette of exhibition quality.

Air humidity

For many collectible indoor plants (such as orchids and ferns), high air humidity is a vital condition. Saintpaulias are not so capricious, their ideal is not very different from ours, but still the air in our apartments is dry for both us and for them - especially in winter, when the radiators are working. How to increase air humidity to a level comfortable for plants?

Idea number one and the most common advice found in the literature is to place trays of water between the pots. Well, how much area will go under the bowls of water, and how much will remain at the undivided disposal of the violets? However, if there are only a few violets, perhaps this is really the way out.

The next piece of advice is much more practical: place the plants in a common tray filled with moistened sphagnum moss. Unfortunately, it often happens that in the heat the moss dries out completely within just a day - and one no longer gets around to moisturizing it with such frequency.

In my opinion, air humidification measures can only be quite effective when taken together. Plants standing together and closely on a rack suffer from heat and dryness much less than plants freely spaced at a considerable distance from each other. A dense carpet of foliage slows down evaporation, and the time between waterings increases accordingly. Use moistened sphagnum moss and group violets, but just remember to ensure that such collective coexistence does not turn into a desperate struggle for a place in the sun! Violets should not interfere with each other's growth. Ideally, they should not touch the foliage at all, although it is clear that in practice few people comply with this condition - we all want more violets :)

A good method of combating dry air may be to mulch the surface of the soil in pots with a layer of sphagnum. This also prevents active evaporation of moisture and allows for less frequent watering. But as soon as the heat subsides, it is advisable to remove the moss, otherwise the risk of waterlogging is quite high, so be careful with watering such specimens. If you do not have the necessary experience, always check the moisture content of the plant with your finger before watering.

And don’t forget about greenhouses for children and weakened plants. The humid atmosphere of a greenhouse can work wonders! But also remember the need for regular ventilation.

Lighting

Well, we’ve come to the most interesting part! “A rack, a rack...” - the owner of several violets mutters gloomily, reading specialized literature, - “How much can you talk about this rack?.. Are they kidding me, or something. These collectors only think about themselves. Hundreds of violets are one thing , but what kind of rack can we talk about if I only have three and a half plants?..”

...Well, what can I say to this?.. You are partly right. It would be unwise to organize an entire home greenhouse just for the sake of a few plants that you may very well be barely familiar with. Nevertheless, you are still reading this article, and this proves that you are a person accustomed to a thoughtful approach, not to “grandmother’s” advice. And you take your Saintpaulias, even three and a half, very seriously. Therefore, I will offer a compromise: buy one lamp. My first violets were placed on a bookshelf right up to the ceiling. An ordinary fluorescent lamp was attached to the ceiling (length - 120 cm, two lighting tubes of 40 W each, a translucent shade, as they used to hang in institutions - remember?). The distance from the surface of the shelf to the lampshade was 32 centimeters. Literally after a few days spent at this resort, the pets exploded in growth at a truly dizzying speed! And today this very first shelf still remains the best, most successful place for my miniatures. Perhaps the secret of such success lies in the northern orientation of the room, so that the violets under the ceiling are neither hot nor cold, but just right. In addition, the shelf does not heat up from below, as happens on a multi-tier rack.

If violets are kept under artificial lighting, the lamps are turned on daily for 10-14 hours. But not more! It is believed that turning off the lights for 10 minutes every hour is beneficial for Saintpaulias. For me, this is a clear excess. Actually, this procedure is designed to prevent the shelves from overheating, but in my opinion, it is much more rational to turn off the lights for an hour or two during lunch.

Having become comfortable with the lamp and violets, and, as they say, “feeling the difference,” over time, you can think about the rack. After all, collecting violets is a hobby that is difficult to control, and the number of plants in our apartments tends to increase. Sometimes very quickly...

But let’s say the option with artificial lighting is unacceptable for you, and your violets still only have the window sill at their disposal. Well, in this case, warm yourself well and wait for spring to admire the flowering and enjoy active growth. If you are new to violet growing, postpone the purchase of leaf cuttings at least until February (in the conditions of central Russia). From November to February, cuttings located on the windowsill will still not germinate and develop, but most likely they will rot and die. When propagating violets in February-March, place cuttings and young plants in close proximity to the window, but not on the windowsill itself. On bright windows with a southern orientation, violets sometimes bloom in winter, but this flowering can hardly be called full-fledged. Do not feed plants overwintering on windows from November to February and water them very sparingly. Do not expect that, being in such conditions, violets will grow exactly the same as in photographs in magazines: without receiving enough light, the petioles of the leaves become elongated, and the leaf blades themselves become smaller. The rosette of such a violet will not follow the shape of a regular circle (as is the case with specimens grown on a shelf), the stem will somehow stretch out, and the growing point will fall to the side. To put it simply, Saintpaulias overwintering on a windowsill are absolutely not suitable for exhibitions.

The Uzambara violet is capable of being content with little, but in this case it will give us significantly less than it could. But beautiful, lush foliage and lush flowering even in the cold season - all this is easily achievable, you just need to provide the plants with the necessary additional lighting and not neglect simple care requirements.

Plants are much more sensitive to changes in air humidity in an apartment than humans.

I think I won’t be wrong if I assume that when you look at the recommendations for keeping a particular plant indoors, the instruction “requires high humidity (air)” most likely goes “past your ears” (or eyes), considering it not as important as watering and lighting. There is some truth in this, however, believe me, real success in growing plants, especially rare ones, can be achieved only by following all the recommendations.

Saintpaulias can hardly be called rare plants, but I had to see from my own experience how important high air humidity is for them, especially for miniature varieties. It so happened that from the beginning of my passion for miniatures I used artificial lighting for growing. At first, the rooting leaves were placed under the aquarium lamp, and then the seated children moved to a niche in the bookcase, where fluorescent lamps were built in. The Saintpaulias stood freely on the shelf and felt quite good until winter came and the heating season began. Plants are much more sensitive to changes in air humidity in an apartment than humans, so Saintpaulias reacted immediately: in previously healthy specimens, the centers of the rosettes began to noticeably thicken, and the outer leaves lost their shine and became dull, although they did not lose turgor. Alas, this often happens to beginners - I did not immediately notice these symptoms (because I did not imagine that any problems might arise), but only when the central part was already clogged with many small leaves interfering with each other. At first I decided that this was the result of the activity of pests, but there was absolutely nowhere for them to come from, and no other symptoms were observed, so the next suspicion fell on external conditions, namely insufficient air humidity. Having determined the reasons for what happened, I took decisive action.

Since the number of violets at that time was measured in one or two dozen, to increase the humidity I took a radical measure - I transferred all the plants to an empty aquarium, on the bottom of which I laid wet moss. The result was not long in coming: young healthy leaves began to appear on the usenpolia. The only loss then was the damaged shape of the rosettes, but the miniatures grow quite quickly, so this defect was also corrected. But the result of the lesson learned was that in the future I never ignored such an important factor as air humidity.

How can insufficient air humidity be dangerous for Saintpaulias? In adult rosettes, growth slows down, new buds do not form, and open flowers fade faster. Leaf cuttings in low humidity conditions lose turgor. When the cutting is separated from the outlet, the flow of moisture to its tissues stops, but other processes (in particular, respiration) do not stop. As a result of transpiration, the leaf releases moisture into the environment, and this causes stress, which slows down the formation of roots. It turns out a vicious circle! The cutting may die, and the grower will be completely disappointed (“they are very capricious, these violets!”).

In fact, it was enough to cover the rooting cutting with a transparent bag, or even better, place it in a greenhouse - a “kindergarten”, where other cuttings were already taking root. In this case, rooting will take place faster, and the leaf will produce many healthy children. After all, the air in a greenhouse always contains a sufficient amount of water vapor, and when inhaling, the leaf loses less of its own moisture, and accordingly, it does not experience such stress. As a result, all the energy goes towards the formation of callus and new roots. I will only note that everything that has been said applies not only to rooting cuttings directly in the ground, but also to rooting in water, especially in winter.

It is equally important to monitor air humidity when raising children. To do this, you can use the same greenhouses or simply cover a common tray with young plants with a light transparent film without pinching its edges. Newly planted young plants with such maintenance take root much better and begin to grow faster.

However, you should not get too carried away with hydration and strive to create a greenhouse effect around the plants.

An excessively humid atmosphere without ventilation is no less dangerous for Saintpaulias than dry air.

Thus, cuttings placed for rooting in a greenhouse and on a window (for better lighting) in the winter months will most likely die, struck by rot, for the development of which the combination of moisture and low temperature is the most favorable conditions. At the same time, a tightly closed greenhouse on the top shelf of the rack is also not very good for rooting leaves.

Under such conditions, cuttings can either rot or form “blind” callus, which does not produce normal roots and new buds.

Above I wrote about raising children in greenhouses or under film, but here, as in everything, you need to observe moderation. So, when covering plants, it is advisable to leave the edges of the film free, and as the children grow, open the film more and more. On average, young Saintpaulias can be covered up to one month of age. If you leave them in the greenhouse longer, they will grow faster, but at the same time all their tissues will become more “loose”: the petioles will become longer and thinner, and the leaf blades will become larger and weaker. Despite the large size of such rosettes, they bloom later, as if lingering in childhood.

The same can be said about adult Saintpaulias. Being in conditions of excess humidity, they are more susceptible to various fungal diseases, and even temperature fluctuations - both an increase and a decrease - can serve as an impetus for an outbreak of the disease. When the humidity is too high, young leaves and flowers are the first to suffer: they rot, their edges “swell”, becoming centers of infection for other plants.

And yet, when growing Saintpaulias, you have to take care of increasing air humidity more often, so I’ll tell you in more detail how this can be achieved without serious costs.

First of all, do not try to increase the humidity in the entire room where you keep violets. This is very difficult to do, and the result is ineffective due to air exchange with the street and other rooms. This means that we must try to create a favorable microclimate directly around the violets.

If you grow miniatures in natural light, then it is convenient to group them on the windowsill in wide flowerpots, vases, baskets or just trays. Lay a piece of durable film at the bottom of such a container, and put any moisture-retaining material on top. Previously, I used fine expanded clay, then moss, then I began to use synthetic non-woven fabric like padding polyester, but denser (geotextile, agrotextile). It is better to place the pots not on this material, but on individual saucers, and when watering, separately moisten the material in containers, and water the violets separately. This will provide increased air humidity around the Saintpaulias and more favorable conditions for their growth and development, even allowing for less frequent watering, while avoiding the danger of waterlogging.

When keeping mini Saintpaulias on a rack with artificial lighting, I recommend using wide trays with low sides, where miniature plants can be grouped in groups of 10-20. This makes working with them much easier and creates a favorable microclimate. I choose trays according to the width of the shelf, mine is 50 cm, and with a tray width of 30 cm, exactly 4 trays fit under a standard 36 W lamp (120 cm). I put a film on their bottom and a moisture-retaining fabric on top of it. Recently, synthetic mats for “bottom” watering of plants have appeared on sale; They can also perfectly perform the function of air humidification. If you are already using the method of watering using mats, then the issue of increasing air humidity will not arise, but if you water traditionally from above, then pots with plants should be placed in individual trays on top of the mats.

In conclusion, I would like to remind you once again that everything is good in moderation.

To better understand the needs of your plants, observe them more closely!