As a self-professed flower fanatic, African violets (Saintpaulia spp.) are one of my favourite houseplants. They have a reputation for being a bit fussy, but given the right conditions, they are easy to grow in the home environment. Waking up to the beautiful sight of your African violet in full bloom can bring joy to any plant lover’s heart. The good news is that just because your African violet shows signs of distress doesn’t mean it’s beyond saving.
This article will guide you through the process of reviving your African violet, covering everything from identifying problems to implementing effective solutions.
Identifying Problems in African Violets
If your African Violets are drooping and wilting, you probably have an issue that you can correct. They can recover from many issues, especially if they are caught early and corrected. Some issues will be easy to identify, while others may be a bit less obvious.
A thriving African Violet will grow as a fairly compact rosette of leaves. Flowers bloom freely and appear fresh, firm, and brightly colored. Leaves and stems are furry, thick, fleshy, and firm. The plant grows vigorously and should generally appear quite healthy.
Here are some common signs of distress in African violets:
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- Crown and stem rot: If your plant looks sickly in its middle or along its stems, it’s likely suffering because of decay and fungus, which causes your plant to rot.
- Burnt, dry, or crumbly leaf tips: These are a sure sign your African violet lacks moisture.
- Drooping leaves: This typically indicates your plant is thirsty or suffering from low temperatures. Unlike wilting, drooping usually occurs on the whole leaf, not just portions of it.
- Brown spots on leaves: Brown spots on African violets are often referred to as leaf scorch, a form of sunburn.
- Flower loss and dry leaf tips: These signs indicate your plant isn’t getting the moisture it needs.
Watering African Violets
The most likely reason your African Violets are wilting is overwatering. It’s one of the most common African violet maintenance mistakes. These popular houseplants are very sensitive to overwatering. They do not like being constantly wet and cannot tolerate soggy soil. The first sign of an overwatered plant is soggy soil. If the soil in your pot is soggy and wet and isn’t able to dry quickly, chances are your plant has been overwatered. Plants allowed to sit in soggy soil, will cause leaf wilt. If the roots stay too wet for too long, they will begin to rot.
If your African Violet is wilting because the soil is too wet, you will need to take prompt action. If your plant has just started to droop and the soil appears to be too wet, you can repot in fresh soil and the plant may be able to fully recover. If the plant has been drooping for several days or longer, you will need to determine if any of the roots have started to rot and remove the rotten parts by carefully cutting them away, then repot in fresh soil. However, if the entire root system is rotten, chances are it’s already too late to save the plant.
If your African Violet is too dry, it may also start to wilt. The most obvious clues that your plant has been underwatered are powdery dry soil and an extremely light-feeling pot. If your plant stays too dry for an extended period of time, the plant itself will dry out and may become brown and brittle. If you notice your plant has started to droop and the soil is very dry, just give it a normal drink of water. It’s best to water African Violets from the bottom, using room-temperature or slightly tepid water.
There are three basic ways to water African violets: from above, from below, or with a wicking system. To water an African violet you can:
- Water the soil/growing medium from above using a watering can with a very narrow spout, carefully reaching under the leaves. Rotate the pot to ensure all the soil is watered.
- Sit your potted African violet in a saucer of warm water. Empty the saucer after 30 minutes.
- Set up a wicking system to provide constant, even moisture to the soil.
Light Requirements
Is your plant in a dark location? An African Violet that is trying to grow with too little light will become weak. The stems may grow extra long and leggy and the plant may also stop blooming. If you think your plant is lacking in light, you can simply move it to a brighter location. Ideally, these plants need at least 8 hours of light each day, but anywhere between 10 and 16 hours of light is preferred. Violets do best with bright, indirect sunlight. They can be placed in a bright window (but avoid extended periods of direct sunlight) or under a grow light.
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Choosing the Right Potting Mix
The ideal soil composition is light and loose, and they should be in pots with good drainage holes on the bottom. The soil should be kept moist but not wet.
Common ingredients include sphagnum peat moss, vermiculite, and perlite. Newer product types may have coir instead of peat.
Commercial potting mixes are too heavy (even the ones labeled for violets). I recommend a homemade mix made of one part sphagnum peat moss (brown is much better than black), one part vermiculite, and one part perlite. Or, choose a good quality commercial mix and combine it half and half with coarse perlite.
African violets like to be slightly snug in their pots. Use modest-sized pots with drainage holes to avoid water build up around roots. For example, if the plant is 6 inches in diameter, the roots will be approximately 2-inches across.
Temperature and Humidity
African violets need a moderate room temperature (not cold or hot). Although African Violets originated in tropical forests of tropical eastern Africa, they do not like to be kept too hot. They also can’t tolerate temperatures that are too cold. A healthy African Violet will grow up to 16 inches across depending on the variety.
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You will need to find a location where they can grow closer to their ideal temperature range of 65-80 degrees F. They can tolerate temperatures slightly outside of this range for short periods of time, but if left for too long in poor conditions, they may suffer permanent damage. In a very cold room during winter, you can use a heating mat to gently warm your plants.
Your African violets need the area around them to be humid so you don’t have to worry about why your African violet is dying and how to revive it. When humidity is off, you’ll notice signs like powdery mildew and fungal growth. To keep humidity levels consistent, use a humidifier or place your African violet pot on a tray filled with pebbles and water.
Despite popular advice, a drip tray with water storage won’t change the humidity in the room in any impactful way but they are handy for catching spills when watering. This explains why plants struggle with dry, low-humidity air indoors.
Fertilizing African Violets
African Violets benefit from regular fertilization. This keeps them vibrant and blooming. But if they receive too much fertilizer, they may show symptoms such as drooping leaves, leaf burn, brittle leaves, and even crystals (caused by too many salts and other minerals) growing on the plant and soil surfaces. Overfertilization for an extended time can cause your plant to eventually die.
If you notice any of these symptoms and think you may have given your plant too much fertilizer, your plant can probably recover. Try flushing the pot and soil with fresh, room-temperature, water to try to remove excess fertilizer from the soil. Allow the pot to drain thoroughly and give your plant a break before fertilizing again.
One popular choice is a 20-14-13 fertilizer intended for orchids or a liquid fish emulsion fertilizer product if you want something from a mostly (but not entirely) organic source. A small (diluted) dose of suitable fertilizer with each watering is beneficial. Low amounts cause nutrient deficiencies.
Dealing with Pests and Diseases
If your African violet has pests or diseases, it’s better to start over than risk exposing other plants in your home to these problems. Unless a problem is really simple to solve and does not require buying anything, I’m much more likely to toss the plant than treat it.
If you notice your plant drooping, look carefully on both the top and undersides of the leaves for insects. You may see a cluster of tiny soft-bodied insects feeding on the juices from the leaves and stem. African violets sometimes get infestations of aphids, mites, and mealybugs. These insects weaken the plants and can cause the leaves to wilt or appear misshapen.
If you see any insects on your plants, you will need to treat them to remove the bugs. First, isolate diseased plants so the pests can’t spread to nearby healthy plants. Very small numbers of insects can be individually treated or removed with a spray of warm water, or with a cotton swab dipped in insecticide. Heavier infestations will need to be sprayed with insecticide that targets the particular pest. Treatments may include insecticidal soaps, pyrethrin sprays, powders, or soil granules.
Diagnosing a Common African violet Plant Disease
Reblooming and Encouraging Flowers
Genetics help determine bloomability (volume, size, color, frequency), but, if you have a healthy plant, it’s very likely yours can be encouraged to flower too. And, as always, this is gardening, not magic: plants are living things, which means changes take time. You can work through everything on this list and still not see any or many flowers on your African violet.
When African violets have good genes and the right growing conditions, you can expect flowers every 2-6 months (unless you have a genetic dud). Each set of blooms can last a few weeks. Removing finishing blooms (“disbudding”) can help encourage new bud growth. After disbudding, new blooms can form in 6 to 8 weeks.
Here are some factors that contribute to blooming:
- The plant is mature enough and genetically predisposed to blooming.
- The plant has adequate light, water, fertilizer.
- The plant has the right soil and pH level.
- The growing medium is lightweight and not heavy or compacted.
- The pot size is adequate (but not too big) and provides drainage.
- The soil temperature hovers around 65-75°F (18-24°C).
Repotting and Reviving with the "Decapitation" Method
Necks on African violets are a natural part of growth. As leaf age and are removed, the stalk becomes exposed. It’s ugly and vulnerable to breaking if the plant tumbles. It isn’t advisable to bury the neck deeper in a bigger pot, since it is vulnerable to rotting which may spread up into the crown. The “decapitation” method described below has been used thousands of times by many growers.
Here's how to revive your violet using the "decapitation" method:
- Step 1 - Remove all older leaves that are smaller than the leaves above or are faded in color or nicked and damaged. I rarely leave more than about 10 leaves total.
- Step 2 - Use the dull side of a knife to scrape about two inches of the stem (gently!) that is just below the bottom row of leaves.
- Step 3 - Next amputate the top half of the plant by making a straight cut about one-and-a-half to two inches below the bottom row of leaves. Discard the bottom section of the plant, although the pot may be saved and washed for reuse.
- Step 4 - While you can see the inside of the stem, look to see if there is any sign of rot. A brown pithy center or dried powdery center is a definite sign. You may also see darkened mushy plant tissue or leaves that seem to rot off at the main stem. If any symptom is present, clean your knife and cut higher on the stem until you are above the rot.
- Step 5 - Prepare a fresh pot, the same size as before, with a light porous potting mix. Commercial potting mixes are too heavy (even the ones labeled for violets). I recommend a homemade mix made of one part sphagnum peat moss (brown is much better than black), one part vermiculite, and one part perlite. Or, choose a good quality commercial mix and combine it half and half with coarse perlite.
- Step 6 - Set the stem of the violet onto the top of the pot so that stem is in good contact with the potting medium. If that part of the stem is bent, set the stem straight down into the soil. The leaves will soon straighten out and go level.
- Step 7 - Place the plant into a clear plastic bag or container and seal it tightly closed. Set it in a bright location but out of direct sunlight. In about a month, new roots will have formed and the plant will be showing new growth.
- Step 8 - Open the bag or container gradually over a period of two days to equalize the humidity slowly and prevent shock.
Quick Tips Table
Here's a quick reference table to help you remember key aspects of African violet care:
| Aspect | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Watering | Water from below, avoid wetting leaves, use room-temperature water |
| Light | Bright, indirect sunlight, 8-16 hours per day |
| Soil | Light, porous mix (peat moss, vermiculite, perlite), good drainage |
| Temperature | 65-80°F (18-27°C) |
| Humidity | 40-50%, use humidifier or pebble tray |
| Fertilizer | Diluted orchid fertilizer or fish emulsion, avoid over-fertilizing |
