It's been nearly a year to the day since my last blog post...wow! And like last spring, we had snow today! It's really tough to get excited about the new violet season when I see snow outside, but this will pass, just like every year! I just finished updating my variety availability list for this year. It will likely change as the season progresses and varieties get sold out or new ones are added. I had another tough winter in the basement growing room, but the addition of a small heater this year helped the plants get through it. Next year, I'm thinking of adding insulation panels around the walls...does anyone have insight or recommendations for this?

Last year, the main society I belong to, Illinois AVS, was late having a spring show, so it ended up being in the fall instead. But this year, we are back on the regular schedule, but it's just too soon for me and my plants. So this year I'll be spectator, vendor and (my new job,) the society's recording secretary. Here is our show notice (Please note that the show is being held in BLOOMINGDALE, IL. Sorry for the typo!

Happy Fall, ya’ll! Sorry about the lack of new blogs, but here ya go - a little plant room update for you. It’s been a busy summer, and I think I’ve been doing a decent job of keeping up with the plants. Usually I hold off and repot everything during the winter, but this year I’ve just been repotting as needed, keeping things moving along.

I acquired another used flora cart this summer - yippee for me (I mean, yippee for the plants!) I was beginning to burst at the seams, so I was thrilled with the opportunity to pick up another one. It’s a little different than the older ones I have, so I decided to use it for propagating leaves and for plants that have been stripped down and restarted. Why? Well, this new stand has 4 shelves, and while they aren’t fixed shelves, there isn’t a lot of flexibility to adjust them further apart. The lights are a little closer than my plants have historically enjoyed. So, I didn’t want to put mature plants on there that are accustomed to their current lighting. Even the few restarts that I’ve put on the new stand are having a bit of a time adjusting. Time will tell if I’ll need to remove one of the shelves to give myself more space to work with.

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Also, I’ve gotten my significant other to finally begin the chore of adding/supplementing the electricity in my growing space. I needed additional outlets that are more conveniently located for my needs. I’m not sure how long it will take, but it should be a great improvement! I still haven’t been able to modify the space for winter insulation yet. It’s a task on the to-do list.

As far as the plants go, this has been a rough summer, because the main stem of several plants have suddenly began to rot at the soil line. The problem unfortunately has several causes that I’m trying to work on. My watering practices and water temperature are the most likely culprits, mainly because I tend to bottom-water in the evening hours (that’s when I have most time,) but when the lights go out and the temperature dips, I think the plants are staying too damp and cool. I’ve adjusted some of the timers to stay on longer into the evening, which may give the plants a little longer to use their water before lights go out.

Add to that the possibility that my soil may need more perlite now that my environment has changed. I’ve noticed humidity is typically higher in the basement. I do hate to change things when they’ve worked well for so many years. However, we must be diligent and flexible when it is called for, also. I plan to add a little more perlite to some of my soil mix to see if it may help the problem. Also, I’m switching to individual wicking reservoirs for several plants now, and I’m confident that constant watering will eliminate some of the rot problems I’ve been seeing. It’s a work in progress!

Here I’ll share with you a few pictures of the plant room. It, too, is a work in progress, and it will likely get rearranged slightly when the electricity is added. Lately I’ve been limited in how I can arrange the stands because of where my outlets are located. That will change, so I should be able to play with placement a bit more in the near future. In my dreams, I have one whole wall in the back that is a solid counter surface with a nice deep double sink so that I can have a convenient place to refill my water containers and wash trays, pots, etc. Right now, I am just working with what I have, and I’m always keeping my eyes open for someone’s discards to modify/customize my space. That’s it for now, friends! Good growing!

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While our last Chicago winter was mild, our spring is slow to commit this year. We’ve been plagued by chilly rains and surprise late frosts. And even though the violets fortunately don’t have to deal with the outdoor elements, they still manage to react accordingly. Somehow our plants know spring is finally here – lots of mine have suddenly produced an abundance of flower buds.
           
I admit that I have trouble in the winter keeping the violets perfectly happy; I can’t seem to get the combination of care and environmental details just right, and it’s been especially difficult for me considering it’s my first time growing in a basement. We know that in lower temperatures, violets slow down their growth, requiring less fertilizer and water. Also, it’s been my experience that variegated plants tend to lose green pigment in the cooler temperatures, sometimes going all white or cream. Without chlorophyll in the leaves, the plant slowly starves and deteriorates.
           
​Such is my problem this winter/spring. I let the problem go unaddressed too far into the winter, so now this spring I am noticing several strongly variegated plants have very little green in them. What to do?! 

​I gathered up some of the worst ones to keep together, making the treatment a little easier on me. I put them in two trays on my warmest shelf. 

​My plan is to hit them with Epsom salt and very dilute foliage fertilizer (I like Dyna Gro Foliage Pro.) The plants can’t utilize the fertilizer without enough chlorophyll, so you can do more harm than good if you aren’t very careful. In addition to those measures, I also took my little seedling heat mat and put it under the 2 small trays of subject plants. Unfortunately in my situation, the mat has to be tied in to the power strip for lights, which means that it’s only warm when the stand lights are on. Until I can modify the situation, that’s the best I can do. Time will tell if these measures cure my problem of white plants! Do you have any additional tips that you have found successful for greening up white variegates? Do share!

Due to life's circumstances, I've not been able to attend or participate in the IAVS show since 2013, and I had been too busy to even consider prepping show plants this year. Our beloved member and show chairman (Micheline England) passed away very suddenly in February, knocking everyone for a loop and leaving the committees to scramble to put together this year's show. We knew it would be a small show, so everyone was encouraged to bring anything with blooms! 

I typically keep the majority of my plants somewhat disbudded, especially in spring and summer months so that they can focus energy on producing foliage, but I scrounged the plant stands looking for plants that could pass muster. I chose three. One I knew would be good enough (certainly not the best I could have done if I had put the plant on a show schedule,) but the other two were very iffy. Not enough foliage and barely enough bloom, but I took them anyway. From L to R they are: Precious Red, Optimara Little Ruby and Jolly Disco.

I entered the AVSA collection class, hoping they'd at least get blues. They did, and I ended up with best mini collection. It did help that mine was the ONLY mini collection, but let's not get caught up in the details. LOL Precious Red also won Best Miniature!
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S. rupicola, grown and shown by Adrienne Rieck. BEST IN SHOW, BEST SPECIES

Jersey Snowflakes, grown and shown by Adrienne Rieck. RUNNER UP TO BEST IN SHOW; BEST STANDARD

All in all, a great show, even though it was a smaller one. I met some new friends, acquired some new varieties (thanks again, Annie) and enjoyed talking "violets." 

Here is a not-so-funny story. The club purchased some plants from the Violet Barn to sell at our show. While I rarely purchase/acquire plants (99% of the time I only add leaves to my collection for safety's sake,) that wasn't an option this time around, so I had to knuckle down and fork over the cash for plants that I would pare down. For me, a lot of work goes into acquiring plants, since I break them down, repot, treat with Marathon, AVID, and whatever else I can find, but there were several little Rob's varieties on the sales table that I just couldn't resist, some of which I had lost in the latest move! I splurged and bought a half dozen baby plants and then accidentally  LEFT THEM AT THE SHOW VENUE, tucked in a bag, on a shelf, behind a counter in a vacant storefront. No one would ever find them, and they would certainly die a slow and dry death. The mall where we held the show is an hour and half drive from my house!! What's a girl to do?!? I got on the horn to all the folks I thought might help, but it just wasn't going to work out. What was a girl to do?! After much deliberating and boo-hoo'ing over the state of events, I finally just grabbed the hubby and told him we were going out on a Sunday afternoon road trip to rescue the poor little souls. The storm was coming in, but we thought we could miss it if we got a quick start. Traffic on the Chicago tollway is horrendous, even on a Sunday, but we had to try! When we arrived, we made our way to the manager's office only to discover it was closed!! Just when we thought all hope was lost, a security officer walked by and took charge of our problem. He led us through he dark bowels of the mall until we found ourselves out in the light again a few steps from the vacant storefront. I slipped inside and with great relief I scooped up my bag of little plants. It cost me a lot of money to purchase and retrieve those little guys, but now they're all safely tucked in their new homes and will hopefully repay the favor someday. :-) It's all for the love of violets!