The author of the text is Dr. Regina Dębicz
Violet vulture Saintpaulia ionantha, commonly known as the African violet, comes from South-East Africa. Despite its name, the plant is not related to the violet, to which it is only slightly similar, but to torsion and gloxinia (the same family of osteids).
Varieties - there are about 3,000 of them - differ in the appearance of flowers and leaves.Full or single flowers come in pink, purple, various shades of blue and white. PRoses of single-color varieties are grown in two-color and multi-color and with straight, notched or jagged petals.
In addition to the varieties with green leaves, there are also varieties with reddish leaves, as well as white and yellow spiky leaves. Abundantly blooming miniatures are very popular.Vulture blooms almost all year round, and anyone who follows a few basic rules regarding place, substrate and watering can handle their cultivation.
Place of cultivation
Vulture need a lot of diffused light. So, for example, window sills of eastern or northern windows suit them.If the plants have too little natural light, they can be lit with incandescent bulbs, e.g. 40 W energy-saving bulbs, which are placed 30-40 centimeters above the pot.Plants require a relatively constant air temperature throughout the year 18-22 ° C.
Substrate
It should be light so that the thin, very fine roots of the vultures can develop properly. For this purpose, use a mixture of leaf soil, peat and coarse sand (in a ratio of 1: 1: 1) or a mixture of light soil, peat and perlite (1: 1: 1).Such a substrate does not clump and provides the roots with the right amount of air. The reaction of the substrate should be neutral or slightly alkaline.
Watering
The plants should be watered so that the soil in the pot is slightly moist all the time (never flooded). Let's use lukewarm and standing water. Do not wet the leaves, especially when they are warmed by the sun.Water creates bright unsightly stains on them.A small watering can with a long, narrow neck is very useful for watering. We can also pour water into the base and after an hour pour off the excess.
Excess moisture in the substrate causes rotting of roots, leaves and flower buds. You must also remember that African violets do not like too dry air.Since vultures cannot be sprayed under any circumstances, place small containers of water next to them.When the plants stop blooming, keep watering them, but more sparingly so that they have a short period of dormancy.
Fertilization
Outside the dormant period, the vultures are supplied every two weeks with liquid fertilizer for flowering plants according to the manufacturer's recommendations. We can do it more often, but then it must be a very weak (heavily diluted) fertilizer solution.
Other beauty treatments
Collect the dust from the leaves with a soft brush.We systematically remove faded flowers, old leaves and side rosettes, as generally the violet vultures bloom better when there is only one leaf rosette in the pot.Every spring we transplant the plants to larger pots, but only a little .
Remember - vultures like small pots (they can be typical, 10 cm high, or flat cups). We will effectively protect vultures from pests (aphids, thrips) when we place insecticidal preparations in the form of sticks or tablets in the ground.
