I just started raising violets , my grandmother and I were members of the Sanford Gardern club, I had a violet she gave me to raise, it placed first for over all uniform growth. I was pleased at 7 yrs old. Today I am 63 and am doing things that make me happy, violets make me very happy. Thank you for the beautiful violets, and instructions.

Your videos helped inspire me to get into raising different kids of african violets, thanks so much for always sharing your beautiful plants!

I just started raising violets again, and like Barbie Boo 1961, violets make me very happy! Due to several moves over the years, I lost the few violets that I had, and now I'm starting over. You have a beautiful collection of standards! Thank you so much for sharing! I saw so many that I would like to have and copied down their names with hopes and desires of buying some.

@grayturtleviolets

4 ай бұрын

Appreciate your feedback, welcome back to the hobby! 🌸

Good morning!! Thanks for more beauty!! Just come across new African violet site that cells good quality plants- Heavenly creation nursery! Good deals and great service!! Best luck!!

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

Appreciate your feedback! I checked out the HC Nursery website - based on the African Violet images used in their catalog, this vendor looks like a Harmony Violets reseller. Harmony Violets is a division of Harmony Foliage Inc, a wholesale nursery in Central Florida. More to it, some of the HC Nursery images don’t match, e.g. check out the image used in Tiger listing, with pink colored bud. So, personally, I would not buy from this vendor. Happy growing!🌸

@marinatuberman3489

5 ай бұрын

I noticed that they are selling sports as well! So far mine are blooming as a sort!! Thanks again!!

@SS11660

5 ай бұрын

@@grayturtleviolets thank you for your expertise!

You never disappoint us! Even more beauty. I have to tell you that I have followed all your advices and this is all your fault! Now I have more than 50 violets and 40 blooming non stop with giant flowers some and now I don't know anymore where to put them...🤣🤣🤣 Thanks for making me succeed really. I can say from beginner , now I have absorbed so much knowledge. Thank you so much again. So sorry for the broken pipe and hope it gets resolved at once. Good luck!

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

Aww, I am so glad! No such thing as too many violets!😎🌸😀

Such a treat to wake up to 3 new videos! Thank you. I think you are right about Amadeus. It's one of my favorites and does have a strong white edge.

Wonderful 🕊 beautiful

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

Thank you!🌸

Beautiful! 🌺🌸 😻 ❤

Love love it❤

😍🌸👍💕🌿🕊

Hi from Naples, Fl. I've been growing mini AV since 2020 and have only purchased from VB. I had over 150 minis and have lost almost everything from what I think was INSV. I reached out to Rob R. many times trying to figure out what was wrong. I wick water, I've used your recipe for soil, I've bought wicking soil from VB, I fertilize with 7.9.5 and I grow under lights. I do everything that you do and still have lost almost ALL of my violets and even the propagated violets due to some sort of disease. I can't justify spending $6 for the kit to check each AV for INSV. I'm 99.9999 % sure I've never had thrips. My plants will look good one day and often within two days they seem to go-to mush/melt and other syptoms as well. Sometimes the Flowers and leaves are somewhat deformed, and they stop growing. I dont think it is root rot because even though I wick , I do let them dry out before refilling the reservoir. I see you are buying from LL Greenhouses and not so much from VB anymore. Any hints or tips greatly appreciated. I have about 50 left in my collection but they seem to not thrive like they should. This has been a heartbreaking experience. Ps: I did buy some leaves from BloomLovers and I'm not sure I got what I ordered. Most leaves look like Standard leaves and two names of the AV leaves I cant find on internet. Its like they dont exist. 😮

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

So sorry about your experience! I am trying to downsize and don’t plan on buying, unless I decide to rotate with other varieties. I did get a few testing INSV-positive from VB and eBay in the past, having discarded them immediately after testing. Some did have symptoms, there was also one asymptomatic, looking perfectly healthy. Testing was the only way to tell. Check out my thrips video, I didn’t know about the infestation last year - no spilled pollen - until I saw the adults on the geranium leaves, in the meantime thrips larvae were decimating my African Violets. I was only able to see the larvae with 5x magnification. Other insects need up to 100x magnification to be identified. It took me several months to fully recover and eradicate the thrips. I took it as part of the learning journey. Happy growing!

@Charity-vm4bt

3 ай бұрын

That is scary about INSV. There was an outbreak a few years ago when there was an exceptional rainy season in the midwest and east coast. People swapped leaves, mailing them all over. Some were infected. I received infected leaves that resulted in my tossing about 20 plants from the same room. A few years ago, a shipment of Optimaras was ordered for a club sale to the public. I believe they came directly from Optimara. They had thrips. They spread quickly but we did not realize it until most of the plants were sold. We tossed the left-overs rather than take them home. ​@grayturtleviolets

When is the best time to repot and do you recommend trimming roots? Can you please do a video again? I lost a few due to the cold freeze. Your blooms are beautiful. Thank you!

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! I repot my all year round. I keep the roots that look healthy and remove the ones that don’t look good. Will add a new repotting video to my video production list!

@rodadelossantos6194

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! 🙏🏽

Beautyfull colors

My African violets are big and beautiful but I noticed the some of the leaves are turning yellow. The only thing that I have noticed is that they may have overgrown their pots. I bought my violets half dead and I nursed them back to health. My violets plants are huge

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

The yellowing is normal on older leaves, those can be removed during repotting. Mine usually grow well when repotted every 6 months. Happy growing!

@nohateherenoenvyneither2792

5 ай бұрын

@@grayturtleviolets Thank you.

I enjoy your videos so much! Thank you for sharing your beautiful AVs with us! I especially love the variegation on your Rose Bouquet in this video. So often its leaves can go too white, but yours is just the right balance of green & white. Please share, does it grow under your Barrinas or in natural light?

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! It grows in a south facing room under regular LED shop lights, so it has some natural light supplement throughout the day.

Where can I buy these on line? My stores have little. 😢

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

Just made a video on this topic, check it out: kzread.info/dash/bejne/mYRovNRufbvTgqw.htmlsi=poLU0kRUut8bgMVt

I have been watching your videos for a while now - I am so envious of your collection! I live in Australia and we can't get most of these varieties here. Can you tell me something though, how do you control fungus gnats in your collection? I always have a few flying around so I was thinking of getting some butterworts to help control them. Thank you in advance!

@laurenlolly

3 ай бұрын

@@Charity-vm4bt I mean... clearly Gray Turtle hasn't gotten rid of her violets so kinda want to know her solution to this LOL

@grayturtleviolets

11 күн бұрын

@@laurenlollyUsing Bonide Systemic Houseplant Insect Control granules has been working well for me. Active ingredient: Imidacloprid. It remains active for 8 weeks, then reapply every 8 weeks thereafter. Happy growing!

I have wick watering question, so the wick is wet so the plant takes water from the wick as needed, when the water is empty in the lower cup do you let the plant dry out a bit or do you always keep the reservoir with water.

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

Always keep water in wicking reservoir. If you let it dry, you interrupt the capillary action, and at some point the wick may stop working. I tried and this was my observation. Happy growing!

@nanci357

5 ай бұрын

Thanks 😊

@nanci357

5 ай бұрын

On the bigger AV, in 4” pot , do you use a thicker wick then the 4 ply since there’s more of a plant

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

@@nanci357 I use 4-ply yarn for the wick-watered plants growing in 4-inch pots.

Such gorgeous violets. Are these violets in semi hydro?

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

Thank you! Most of these are top watered, a few are wick-watered.

@joannhutchings3693

5 ай бұрын

Do you find it best to top water instead of letting the violet soak up water from the bottom? Truly appreciate your help

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

@@joannhutchings3693 I’ve seen good results with both top and bottom watering, it’s a matter of personal preference for each grower. I like top watering for my standard varieties because it allows controlling the amount of water they receive. All of my minis, semis, and trailers are doing great wick-watered.

Are alot of your violets miniature?

@grayturtleviolets

5 ай бұрын

About half of my collection.