What Happens When African Violets Are Not Getting Enough Natural Light?

Why Is My African Violet Plant Leggy?

Why Are The Leaves On My African Violet Plant Growing Upwards?

Is My African Violet Plant Not Blooming Because Of Low Light?

African Violet, perlite and other potting mixes shown below:

How To Control Natural Light When Growing African Violets?

How To Control Fluorescent Light When Growing African Violets?

Will My African Violet Plant Die From Low Light Exposure?

How many lumens of light do African Violets need?

Below are examples of light meters, useful to keep in your growing area, especially when monitoring low or bright light intensity.

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9 Responses

  1. Thank you !
    I have learned much from your articles
    I would like to know how to properly remove the sports that show up under the leaves. If you have covered this issue I missed it.
    I use cinnamon on any cut I make to avoid rot. Do you have an opinion about that. We used it on orchids when I worked at a nursery.
    And finally I wonder if you have started leaves in spagnum moss? I have been playing around with it and the leaves seem to respond much quicker than in mix.
    Sorry for the lengthy note.
    L.Terrill

    1. Hello Linda, thank you for your question. The sports which show up under leaves, sounds like suckers. There is a blog post on how to remove suckers from African Violet plants here : https://www.babyviolets.com/african-violet-suckers-what-are-they-and-removal/. It has general information about African Violet suckers and info on how to remove african violet suckers. I have not used cinnamon before, thanks for that tip, I will look into it for African Violets. I have not started leaves in spagnum moss, but have heard of some African Violet growers having quite the success in producing little baby plantlets. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
      BV

  2. I have been growing baby African violets from leaf cutting for over a year now. The problem is they are not growing in a rosette shape but rather a long neck shape. I suspect they haven’t received enough light. Is there a way to control their grow now or is it too late? They are about 3 inches tall now.
    Thanks for any help you can give me.

    1. Hello Laura,
      thank you for your question. Yes, you can control the shape of the plant, you can rotate the plant every few days. This will help the leaves be exposed to sunlight evenly. If your plant is tilted in one direction, rotate it in the other direction, leave it for a week, see if the plant becomes flat / rosette shape. Then keep rotating the plant every few days, once its back to its rosette shape. If it has a really long neck, wait till the violet is back to its flat shape, after rotating it, this should happen. You will then have to scrape the neck, to clean the dead tissue/brown scabby tissue and re-pot the plant, covering the neck with soil. This article will be useful, http://www.babyviolets.com/how-to-bury-and-re-pot-african-violet-bare-stems-or-necks/. Hope this helps, regards, BV

  3. I bought a grow light, to help my African violet. Will my plant recover from low-light upward reach leaves? Will the leaves eventually relax back down to normal? And will it bloom again? Thanks.
    I hope the grow light is enough.

    1. Hello James,
      thank you for your question. Yes, the light should help the leaves from reaching upward. In 2-3 weeks the leaves will start to relax back down. Light alone may not change bloom production. If no blooms appear in 2-3 weeks after using a grow light, then you will have to wait till the temperatures get warmer. If you havent had blooms in a while, I would recommend fertilizing the plants, this optimara fertilizer (https://amzn.to/3oXUvCB) has worked wonders for me, I wished I had started using it earlier! In terms of blooms at least, the plant seems to be growing at the same pace. Hope this helps, regards, BV

  4. Hi! My house has terrible light and my AV has started to show signs of this. Is there a grow light that you would recommend? Thank you!

    1. Hi Jen,

      thank you for your question. I personally use LED shoplights from Home Depot, as I have large stands of plants. For a smaller shelf or table, I would recommend these grow lights, they have a timer and emit natural sunlight like light, https://amzn.to/2TkDuVg and also https://amzn.to/3e2Y6ca, I personally do not have experience with these lights, saw a recommendation for these kind of lights on a violet forum a while back. Hope this helps, regards, BV

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