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Hi! I keep hearing about dead-heading but can't figure out how from the various descriptions. Here is a pic of a spent bloom on my African Violet. Am I supposed to snap/cut off just below the bloom (top of stem) or up to where the next tiny little "leaf" is protruding further down the stem?
For things like violets where the leaves are easily broken, I use a pair of sewing scissors. Go as far down the stem of the spent bloom as you dare and snip it off there.
That's exactly how this little pot got started!! :-) Thanks for the help!
I've got another one for you -- why does it look like a whole new crown is growing from the neck of the sinningia? (see photo) What do I do with this one?
Some folks prick 'em off as soon as they spot them... you could use a knife. They can ruin your plant. However, other folks let them grow a bit bigger to prick them off and then repot them. They'll root and give you another plant.
If your african violet is a trailer, then sports are good and you'll want to leave them on. On any other type of african violet, they just wreck your plant. In the african violet forum, I believe they have a sticky that will discuss sporting.
It's a thread that "sticks" to the top of the thread list in a forum even if it hasn't had any recent activity (rather than falling down the screen if nobody's posting on it anymore like most threads do). It's usually done for threads that have lots of great references relevant to that forum so it's helpful for newcomers to the forum to be able to find that info right away rather than having to search through the forum to find them.
What do you mean "trailer" -- like an ivy or pothos is a trailer? Cool, didn't even know AVs grew like that! I thought they only ever had that "head of boston lettuce"-type shape!
Here's a full pic of the plant I've been inquiring about throughout this thread -- it's the sinningia on the right with the lavender blooms.
By the way, sinningias are a different kind of plant, but they and african violets (perhaps you have the word confused with the african's violet's latin name "saintpaulias?") are all in the same family. ; ) Here are some sinningias photos to drool over:
[HYPERLINK@www.gesneriads.ca]
oh, maybe I did get mixed up. When I first got this, the tuberous root really through me for a loop as the other AV had a fibrous root, something I didn't notice until I had to repot them!!
By the way, these didn't look like much until I found a nice south-facing window for them to bask in! :-)
