Question
Dear Mary,
Please help! I bought my African Violet about a month and a half ago and it was full of flowers. One by one they withered and fell and no new flowers have grown back, even the flower buds died. I have tried moving it to a sunnier location (although I do not have it in direct sunlight). I water it when the pot feels very light - about twice a week - and only from the bottom. I give it a little drop of African Violet plant food in the water each time. The leaves are still quite healthy and new leaves are coming in, so I`m assuming it doesn`t have a disease. I live in California so it gets decent light. I usually keep the a/c on in my apartment at night - about 75-80, and off during the day, so it gets up to about 80-85. I`m fairly sure these are acceptable temperatures? I`m running out of ideas, so I hope you have an answer! I miss its pretty purple flowers! Thank you, Nicole.

Answer
Nicole:  Sorry it took me so long to get with you.  Was out of pocket all day today.  Regarding your non-blooming violet:  How often are you fertilizing?  I use the "constant feed method". By that I mean I use a weak fertilizer solution to water my violets every time.  I use 1/4 tsp of fertilizer to a gallon of water every time I water. That way you don't have to try to remember the last time you fed your plant. The plant gets a steady but low dose of fertiilzer. Try this on all your houseplants--they will love it. I would recommend you get the new Peters African Violet Special fertilizer with the numbers are 12-36-14.  You can get a small tub of it at Wal-Mart...inexpensive and will last you a long time at the 1/4 tsp usage. DO NOT use more than the 1/4 tsp. Sounds like your violet is getting good light. You can water from the top as well as the bottom...in fact you might want to switch off one time top and one time bottom. When you water from the top don't soak the leaves. You can give a violet a bath but that would be another topic!  Try the Peters fertilizer--using constant feed method. It should help.  If you haven't visited the African Violet Society of America web site, you owe it to yourself to do so.
http://www.avsa.org    Let me know if I can answer any more questions for you. Best wishes and happy growing.

Mary Hill, Tulsa, OK
http://www.deshanekennels.com