African Violets

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Repotting African Violets

Many people have a fear of repotting African Violets because they think of these house plants as fragile or dainty. While the flowers themselves are tiny, the plants that produce them are anything but frail.

Shown here are three African Violets in dire need of repotting.

Find out more about African Violets and their

Biological Classification.

Don't Be Afraid of Repotting African Violets~

Here I'll explain the procedure for repotting a single African Violet Pot.

Sometimes African Violets Propagate spontaneously and produce a second plant in the same pot.

See African Violet Propagation for instructions on dividing and repotting in this situation. You'll get two plants so will need two pots!

African Violet Pot With a Single Crowded Plant

This African Violet pot is much too crowded and the plant has too many whorls which need to be removed.

It also has unsightly spent flowers that reduce the production of new ones.

Dead and dried up flowers should be removed anytime they are present; not only when repotting African Violets.

All three of these plants have roots that are crowded in old soil. The soil's nutrients are depleted, which makes it all the harder for the mass of roots to find what the plant needs.

Step #1~

Start by identifying each row of leaves, starting in the center.

There should be three or four whorls only.

When you know which leaves are to be left, start at the bottom row of leaves and clip them off. It is also very easy to 'snap' them off and makes a neater stem, but some growers prefer to clip.

African Violet Growers Choose One of These Methods

The plant on the left has it's unwanted leaves clipped. On the right, the leaves have been snapped off. Notice the neater stem. Leaving the clipped stems won't hurt the plant though, so African Violet growers choose either method and both work just fine.

Pictured here is the plant after the unwanted rows of leaves have been clipped.

Don't try to be too precise about the number of whorls left. It's not rocket science!~

Step #2~

Once the lower leaves have been removed, there is room to insert a knife along the edge of the pot.

Run the knife around the entire edge, to loosen the root ball. The soil and roots should come out very easily.

Step #3~

With the plant completely free from it's pot, take a serrated knife and cut 1" off of the bottom.

Don't be afraid! You won't hurt it~

Step #4~

This method of repotting African Violets allows the plant to utilize the same sized pot that it was in previously. This works well if you don't want the plant to take up more space with each repotting.

Put about half cup of new soil in the bottom of the pot. Then place the plant on top of this 'bed'.

Find out my soil recommendations here:

African Violet Care

The top of the plant should be just above the pot rim, so press the root ball down into the pot if necessary.

Continue putting new soil around the bare stem and press it down gently with your fingers as you fill.

Again, don't be afraid to press that soil down firmly around the stem. You want to make sure the roots and stem are surrounded securely by soil. The more soil you can fit in, the longer your newly potted plant will thrive.

After you finish filling around the roots and stem with new soil, place the pot in a small saucer that holds water.

Look at all of that old foliage that was removed from this plant! I know the resulting 'baby' plant looks tiny, but it will take off and fill in nicely with it's roots in new soil!

Step #5~

Once you have the plant in it's new soil with a
saucer under the pot, you can water the plant.

See important detailed watering instructions here:
African Violet Care

Newly Repotted African Violet Plants

Here are our newly repotted African Violet plants!

Very soon, the violets will fill in with many new leaves and it will be time to repot them again!

Three of the African Violets take their place in the kitchen windowsill, along with my collection of Willow Tree Angels that family & friends have helped me accumulate.

See instructions for repotting African Violets which have self propagated here:
African Violet Propagation
or

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