Using hydroponics to grow African Violets.
African Violets are lush colorful small houseplants and are favorites throughout the world. Most people dearly love these small potted flowers because they are beautiful, abundant flowering plants that take little room and can grow in nearly any corner or on a window sill.
Did you know you can grow beautiful African Violets using hydroponic gardening? It is soil-less, using nutrients that feed the root system. The flowers are twice as healthy and much more lush if grown with hydroponics. They need good lighting and even temperatures.
They need room to grow a root system, but it cannot be too large or the plants will not thrive. With Hydroponics gardening, the plant would not have to waste its energy developing extensive root networks because the hydroponic system with special nutrient supplies would take care of that. Thus they grow more lush, and faster.
Using normal soil and pot, they are a slow growth plant. Especially when starting them from a single leaf. You will find that African Violets are easy to grow indoors, and at very little cost. They are even grown commercially using glass housing and hydroponics.
The hydroponic system for growing African violets for commercial use as well has proved to be very successful. In fact, hydroponics gardening for African Violets has proven to be a very lucrative business. It is cheaper, effective, cleaner than outdoor gardening, and you do not have insects, and inclement weather, weeds or insect monitoring.
The hydroponic system lends itself to an easy use of adequate lighting for this flower. The use of a proper HID or high intensity charging fluorescent light (called LED grow lights) indoors will easily satisfy light requirements for the plants. African Violet flowers needs 60 to 80 degrees temperature to achieve optimal growth. This is very easy to sustain for the indoor gardener. In the winter, make sure that the room does not get to cold for the flowers.
A very small hydroponic system is ideal for the African Violet as well as other flowers and vegetables. There are super efficient flood-and-drain pump irrigation system that ensures optimal moisture control for healthy roots. The system works by pumping nutrient solution up from a reservoir to a water tray where water levels are precisely controlled. Plants are watered uniformly on a timed cycle for optimal moisture control and healthier roots. This way when the plants are watered from below the leaves and flowers do not get damaged from water touching them. They cannot have water touch the leaf or it will die.
African violets are easy to propagate. Just cut of a leaf leaving some stem to put into water. To keep the leaf from touching water while waiting for the roots to grow, is to use foil and poke a hole in it and then place the stem through the hole into the water. This will keep the leaf from touching the water while the stem grows the roots.
When it has sufficient roots you can put it in its own pot. Many African Violet lovers will trade leafs to get a variety of different plants. You can even cross-breed African Violets.
Most people do not know that African Violets have male and female parts.The male parts consist of the stamens, which are made of anthers and filaments. They have flaky yellow pollen. The female parts consists of the stigma, style, and ovary and are mature when they become sticky, making them ready to accept the pollen. Just look in the center of a bloom of one of your African violets to see the male and female parts. Thus, you can have different colors, single, double, ruffled edges, and almost any combination you can think of.
It is best to have several different African Violet plants in your house because if the plants are only male or female, they will not be very happy and will not bloom very well if at all. You will receive ample reward for your cost and effort for the beauty these lovely plants bring to your home for years.