For our 5th anniversary, Larry bought and installed a garden window in place of our regular kitchen window. As it is a north-facing window, I knew it was ideal for growing African Violets--something I have been doing since my grandma started one for me in the early 1980s. All she did was cut off a few healthy leaves from one of her many plants, put them in a small glass of water, and keep them in her north-facing kitchen window for several weeks, until they developed roots growing off the stems.
Ever since, I have kept Grandma's violets growing by rooting new ones when the old ones become old and unhappy. I have this cute little vintage jar I picked up at a garage sale, which works perfectly for the job. I will let these roots double in length before I plant the starts in potting soil.
I like to use potting soil made especially for African Violets as they require a certain amount of porous material for their roots to spread. In a couple of months, tiny little leaves will appear around the planted stems. A few months later, the violet will be happy and healthy and reward you with lovely blooms.
Violets do not like to be watered from the top (for some obscure reason), so about every 2 weeks, I set the pots directly into a bowl of water, add one drop of liquid violet fertilizer and let the plant soak up the water on it's own time.
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