Tips for Planting and Growing African Violets

African violets are lovely plants with beautiful flowers that range in shades of purple, magenta, white, pink and everything in between. The variety of African violet you choose will affect what color flowers it has. While African violets are beautiful they are also very finicky when it comes to their care. African violets are more difficult to care for than typical houseplants and have special needs when it comes to light, watering and humidity. To successfully grow African violets there are certain steps that you need to follow in planting and caring for the plants. Here are some tips for growing African violets.

The first thing you will need to do is purchase an African violet plant. You can buy African violets both at the supermarket and at a nursery. The plants at the nursery are often higher quality and come in more varieties; however the plants from the supermarket will typically be less expensive. You can get nice specimens at either place so the choice is really yours. When choosing your African violet plant look for a plant that has healthy leaves and has some buds that have not yet opened.

For planting your African violet you will need a plastic or ceramic pot, some small pebbles or flat rocks, potting soil, peat moss and perlite. You will also need a saucer that is deeper than the standard plant saucer and fits the pot that you choose. When selecting your pot look for a pot that is low and shallow rather than deep. Your pot should be a little larger than the pot that the African violet came in.

The first thing you will need to do before potting your African violet is to mix your potting soil. If you want to skip this step to you can buy premade African violet potting soil at your local nursery, however if you bought potting soil, peat moss, and perlite you can easily mix your own. All you need to do is mix equal parts of the potting soil peat moss and perlite together to get the right mix for your African violet.