Biscuit of the Day - Mutant African Violets from Outer Space
Today's Biscuit of the Day is a cool African violet with mutations from exposure to outer space. One of my hobbies is raising plants. My room is pretty tiny and doesn't get much light (just north sun), so these little ones take off fairly well in the indirect light. Today, a woman in my office gave me an unhappy Optimara Everfloris Violet. This one, the EverLove, appears to be the species I have. They are special in that they are descendants of violets whose seeds were exposed to radiation and gamma rays in outer space and who developed unusual mutations due to this bombardment.
Fortunately for me, the alien violet was pest and illness free, so the biggest issue was pick out and prune the dead growth. Another problem I found as I pruned back further, was that whoever had potted the plant potted it WAY too deep in the soil. So, time to get out the shovel and elevate the crown (the center of the plant) higher up. The last thing to do was to set up the watering system.
The best (and easiest) system I have found so far to take care of plants is the wick watering system. Basically, this equips the plant with a "straw" that it uses to slurp up water as it needs it from a saucer it hovers over. At Lowe's, I found a nice plastic saucer and a fiberglass lantern wick (this will be the straw). I needed a way to prop the violet above the saucer (don't want it to sit in the saucer and get wet feet). After scrounging around, I found caps for furniture feet that were about an inch tall. When I got home, I threaded the wick into the root ball of the violet so it stuck out the hole in the bottom of the pot.
Finally, I put the caps in the saucer, and put the plant on top of the caps. Slowly, I put water in the pot (avoiding leaves), and watched as the water filtered down and wet the wick while flowing into the saucer, starting the wicking process. Already, the little plant is perking up and happily slurping water through its straw in the saucer, as shown by the dropping water level in the saucer. Voila! A happy violet.
Aeryth
Fortunately for me, the alien violet was pest and illness free, so the biggest issue was pick out and prune the dead growth. Another problem I found as I pruned back further, was that whoever had potted the plant potted it WAY too deep in the soil. So, time to get out the shovel and elevate the crown (the center of the plant) higher up. The last thing to do was to set up the watering system.
The best (and easiest) system I have found so far to take care of plants is the wick watering system. Basically, this equips the plant with a "straw" that it uses to slurp up water as it needs it from a saucer it hovers over. At Lowe's, I found a nice plastic saucer and a fiberglass lantern wick (this will be the straw). I needed a way to prop the violet above the saucer (don't want it to sit in the saucer and get wet feet). After scrounging around, I found caps for furniture feet that were about an inch tall. When I got home, I threaded the wick into the root ball of the violet so it stuck out the hole in the bottom of the pot.
Finally, I put the caps in the saucer, and put the plant on top of the caps. Slowly, I put water in the pot (avoiding leaves), and watched as the water filtered down and wet the wick while flowing into the saucer, starting the wicking process. Already, the little plant is perking up and happily slurping water through its straw in the saucer, as shown by the dropping water level in the saucer. Voila! A happy violet.
Aeryth
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