What to choose: blooming violet or leaf stalk?
It depends on the purpose for which the purchase is made. A flowering adult plant is, of course, more expensive, but you will probably buy the variety that you wanted (although violets have variability, this plant can bloom differently in a year).
An adult plant with formed buds can bloom for two months or more, depending on the variety and conditions. If you do not have much experience in breeding senpoli, then it may turn out that after one lush flowering, the plant will lose its decorativeness, weaken and gradually freeze. More often, an adult flowering plant is bought to make a gift, or if you urgently need to decorate the interior for some kind of celebration.
When buying a baby, the plant adapts more easily to changing conditions. Further, if there is no experience in breeding, then consulting knowledgeable growers from a small plant, you can grow a beautiful flowering specimen of violet, but here you may be disappointed: flowers may not correspond to the description of this variety. This means that you came across the so-called sport, i.e. a plant in which the flowers did not retain the features of varietal coloring. So, instead of white stars with blue specks and stains, you get a plant with pure blue flowers.
True, sometimes the sports option is also very good, but I would like to have the original variety. The likelihood of sports depends on the violet variety. For example, the variety "Fobo" forms a sport in one of ten cases, but the variety "Nessa Blue Confett" in almost every second. The probability of sports formation in violets with longitudinal colored stripes on the petals (such violets are called "chimeras") is almost 100%.
In general, it must be remembered that all varieties that have strokes, spots, stripes of a different color than the petal itself give sports. When buying children, ask the seller how often this variety has sports to make sure that you do not buy a "cat in a bag."
If you already have experience growing violets from leaf cuttings, then it is better to buy a leaf, and when several children are formed from it, root all of them. If this is not a "chimera," then you will definitely get the desired variety, although not so soon.
Where and from whom to buy violets
You can buy a violet in a flower shop, but there you will acquire an adult plant either flowering or with buds. It is preferable to choose a specimen in which the buds have just begun to open and the first flowers have appeared. Such a plant will bloom longer. The stores sell violets exported from Western Europe, most often these are so-called commercial flowers, they were grown to be sold to please the buyer for a month - another beautiful bouquet bloom, and then thrown away. Not every amateur will cope with the problems that will arise after the allotted time. So, for example, Dutch violets are sold, planted in pots of the largest possible size for this variety, filled with top peat. In this case, it will be impossible to transplant the plant into fresh, nutritious land after flowering, since thin delicate roots of violet will braid the entire lump of large-fiber substrate and shake it off the roots without damaging them, it will not be possible. Nutrients in the ground are enough for an average of 2 months. Watering with fertilizers on top does not give the desired results. It remains to be hoped that it will be possible to root the top of the outlet or the side stepson, which is also not possible for everyone.
Some stores sell domestically bred violets purchased from people professionally engaged in breeding collectible varieties of senpoli. It will be cheaper to buy such a plant directly from a breeder, especially since it will be possible to make a choice: to buy an adult plant, a baby or a leaf stalk, it will also be possible to get advice on breeding. Violet collectors often have their own email address, you can get acquainted with them at violet exhibitions, some have their own outlet, send planting material by mail. A good collector has his own catalog, he constantly updates his collection with the latest varieties, buying mainly leaflets from breeders at major Russian and foreign exhibitions.
When you can and can't buy violets
Never buy violets and planting material in cold weather or extreme heat. When buying a violet in the cold, you run the risk of buying a plant that has been severely hypothermic. Roots especially suffer from hypothermia. It may happen that the violet still looks quite healthy, the leaves have not lost their turgor, there are many peduncles with undiscovered buds, but the roots are already damaged and in a day or two you notice that the plant is dying.
The plant tolerates overheating just as badly: flowers, if they have already blossomed, wilt very quickly, buds can dry out altogether. Although the plant will not die, it will not bloom. Leaf cuttings, which began to root in the heat, very often rot. Pathogenic microflora spreads very quickly in hot times, and in addition, ticks and other parasites appear very quickly in such conditions.
Transportation itself is more stressful for the plant, and diseases and pests are much more harmful to the plant under stress. Heat and cold increase this stress.
Preferred buying time: spring - early summer (if there is no heat). By autumn, the purchased plant will be able to get stronger, and then more easily survive the winter.
What to ask when buying violets and what to check
First, you need to find out what type of size this violet belongs to:
- standard - from 20 to 40 cm diameter of the outlet,
- large - up to 60 cm,
- miniature - up to 15 cm,
- half-miniature - up to 20 cm
- microminiature - 6 to 10 cm in diameter
The choice of container in which you plant your plant will depend on this. And most importantly, you will understand what exactly you are acquiring: a young child of a large violet or an adult miniature violet plant. A tiny baby can turn out to be a completely healthy miniature violet or a very weakened child of a standard senpolia.
You can ask the age of the plant (the store may not know this, and random sellers in the market - not to say), ask when it was last transplanted, and what will be the recommendations for subsequent transplantation. It is better not to buy a plant over the age of 1 year. Carefully consider the stalk at the violet. At first glance, it may seem that it is not at all, but it is not, there is a stem, but it is very short. The violet has a young and healthy stem, short, juicy green, no traces of broken leaves are visible. Therefore, the stalk is not visible that leaves grow from it in all directions.
It is bad if a stalk 1-1.5 cm high with traces of broken leaves is visible under the leaves - the tissue of the stalk surface is dried and browned. This is a plant that has begun to age. Make sure when buying that the outlet, even the young one, is symmetrical. Not a symmetrical outlet is a marriage.
There should be no plaque on the surface of the soil. The leaves are all healthy, without specks. Collectible varieties of pot violets have a label with the name of the variety. From abroad, re-sorting often comes to stores, there are no labels on it. Plants sold by violet collectors are also always labeled.
It is advisable not to buy young senpolia plants grown in a greenhouse, the acclimatization period will be very long, the older the plant, the more difficult it will be to adapt to the new conditions of the apartment. Peduncles and buds may never open after drying out. Do not buy children of senpoli with very light leaves on long elongated petioles, the size of which is longer than the leaf itself. Such a plant grew in low light conditions, it is unlikely that it will later turn out to be a neat proportional outlet.
What to do right after purchase
Consider the plant again, but now with a magnifying glass. Whether the anthers of the flowers are damaged, whether there are small white, very mobile worms - thrips larvae (one of the most dangerous and common pests of violets), adult thrips are more difficult to see. On the back of the leaves there should be an absolutely smooth surface, no crumbs or dots - traces of ticks.
Experts always recommend a 2-week quarantine for a newly purchased plant. In fact, this is not always done, try not to keep the new violet in the same room with other plants. Senpoli children can be quarantined in a transparent plastic cake box, preventing moisture droplets from appearing on the lid and walls. You can use an aquarium by covering it with glass or plastic wrap.
If something confuses you in the appearance of the plant, then treat it with the drug "Maxim" - this is a systemic fungicide that disinfects the earth and kills pathogens of many fungal and bacterial diseases. The drug is diluted with water according to the instructions and watered under the root, you can also spray the plant (the solution has a bright red color), but after 20 minutes you need to blot each leaf with a soft napkin or toilet paper - senpoli do not tolerate dampness on the leaves. If insects have been noticed or there is a suspicion that the plant is with pests, then you can water the outlet with actara solution - this is a systemic insecticide, it also works against ticks. You can also spray the solution and anthers on the flowers, but again, after 20 minutes, wet the moisture with a napkin.
This violet cup is cramped - its outlet is 3 times the diameter of the cup.
Carefully take out the contents from the jar so that nothing crumbles.
Insert the cup into a new pot, cover with earth and carefully tamper.
Take out the cup and insert the root lump of violet into the resulting mold.
It is impossible to tamper with a violet in a new "nest," we fix it with paper clips.
Now you need careful watering and a well-lit place.Do not rush to replant the newly purchased plant. If you have not received any recommendations on this matter and find it difficult to determine whether a transplant is needed, then after 1-2 weeks carefully remove the outlet from the pot and examine it with an earthen lump. If white roots are visible from all sides of the earthen coma, if the roots penetrated the drainage or drainage hole, then increase the size of the new pot not by much - take a new pot 1.5-2 cm larger in diameter.
The plant does not need a transplant (with a complete replacement of the old land), we do transshipment so as not to damage the roots. On the bottom of the new pot, put a drain 1-1.5 cm high from small pieces of foam or expanded clay. Then a layer of nutrient substrate, also about 1-1.5 cm, put the old pot of violet exactly in the middle of the new pot, fill the space between the walls of the old and new pot with a teaspoon or scoop with fresh soil, tamper with it with a finger or stick. Now remove the inner violet pot with screw movements.
You should get a mold, just the opposite. Now carefully remove the rosette from the old pot, making sure that the earth does not fall off the roots, and place it in the resulting mold in a new pot. Make sure that the ground level in the pot is not higher than the place on the stem where the leaves begin to grow. If the base of the leaf petiole turns out to be sprinkled with earth, then it can rot. It is good if the ground level at the walls of the pot is slightly lower, then when watering the water will not accumulate near the base of the outlet, which is very dangerous, especially for young plants.
If the size of the outlet of the newly purchased violet is smaller or almost the same as the diameter of the pot, do not rush to transshipment. This proportion must be observed: the size of the outlet must be 2-3 times the diameter of the pot. If the outlet is smaller in diameter, then the transplant is not needed yet.
What to do if the violet wilts
If during quarantine you noticed that the violet gets sick sharply: the lower leaves fade, take the plant out of the pot, check if the roots have rotted, they should be white! If the roots are browned or blackened, this suggests that the plant was flooded or frozen. Try to remove rotten roots by unraveling the earthen lump with a pointed stick (you can use a pencil). Rinse the roots in a faint pink solution of manganese, then sprinkle the roots with clean river sand. Make a mixture of sphagnum moss mixed with crushed charcoal. Sphagnum can be bought in the store, and if you do not find coals, buy several packs of activated charcoal at the pharmacy and push it. Take a pot of smaller diameter than the previous one, put a drain, a small layer of fresh earth, then line the bottom and walls with a mixture of moss and charcoal and carefully insert the remains of the roots of the sick plant. You can remove the lower row of leaves by sprinkling coal on the breaks. Remove any questionable and damaged leaves and be sure to remove the peduncles. Cover the top of the pot with moss.
The first watering should be carried out no earlier than 3 days later, instead of ordinary water for watering, you can use a solution of the drug zircon or maxim (according to the instructions), as well as root or heteroauxin. When new leaves appear, we can assume that the violet is saved.
The author of the article Rusinova T. A.
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