Hello, human caretaker. It is I, your African Violet (*Saintpaulia ionantha*), speaking from my place on the windowsill. I sense your frustration. You provide for me, yet I withhold the colorful blooms you so desire. Please, do not take it personally. My reluctance to flower is not a sign of ingratitude, but a response to my environment. If you listen, I will explain the world from my perspective and what I need to thrive.
I adore bright light, but I am a delicate soul. The fierce, direct rays of the afternoon sun scorch my leaves, leaving brown spots and forcing me to focus all my energy on survival, not reproduction. Conversely, the deep shadow of a distant corner tells my internal clock that it is not a prosperous time for the energetically costly process of blooming. I need long hours of bright, but indirect, light. A north or east-facing window is often perfect. If you provide only low light, I will grow leggy, stretching my leaves toward any faint glimmer, and never even think about flowering.
My roots are incredibly sensitive. They abhor being constantly wet, which quickly leads to a deadly condition called root rot. When my crown and roots rot, survival is my only concern. Conversely, if you allow me to become completely desiccated and wilted, I go into shock. This cycle of drought and flood is terribly stressful. I need consistent, gentle moisture. Water me from below, allowing my porous pot to sip what it needs, and then please empty the saucer after about 30 minutes. Let the top of the soil become slightly dry to the touch between waterings.
I did not evolve for extreme temperatures. I flourish in the same comfort you do: warm days (around 70°F / 21°C) and slightly cooler nights. A sudden draft from a door or a blast of dry heat from a vent is a shock to my system. This stress signals that conditions are unstable and not ideal for raising a new generation (flowers). Furthermore, your home's air can be very dry. Low humidity causes my buds to harden and fail to open, or to drop off entirely before you ever see them. A pebble tray with water beneath me creates a lovely, humid microclimate I truly appreciate.
While a balanced fertilizer is good for my green growth, to produce magnificent flowers I require a specific diet. A formula high in phosphorus (the middle number on the bottle) is like a signal to my physiology that resources are abundant and it is an excellent time to bloom. Feeding me with a high-nitrogen fertilizer will only encourage more leaves at the expense of flowers. Please, feed me regularly but weakly, about every 4-6 weeks with a fertilizer designed for blooming houseplants.
I am a bit of a contradiction. I bloom best when my roots are slightly crowded, but there is a limit. If I have been in the same pot for years, the soil will be exhausted of nutrients and compacted, and my roots will have nowhere to go. I become rootbound and stagnant. Furthermore, as I grow, I produce sucker shoots—new plantlets—at my base. If left unattended, they compete with me for energy and space, diverting resources that would have gone to my flowers. Gently removing these offsets and repotting me every year or two into fresh, airy, violet-specific soil makes me feel rejuvenated and ready to perform.
