Saturday, April 30, 2011

The Spring 2011 Freakout Continues...

You know what I realized? I freaked out last spring when I was showing my very first plant. And then I freaked out again in the fall when I had 4 or 5 plants for another coupla shows. But this is definitely the worst freakout, and probably the only truly justified one.

I'm reporting to you from my 80 degree hot and HUMID 4th floor apartment. Seriously, I am DYING in here. But I can't go outside to enjoy a nice sunny 60 degree spring day, oh no! How would I hover over my plant stand from out there?

So the drama continues up here. I hung that shop light the other day, thank gawd the bulbs are really old because I could only get it 5" from the plant tops haha!
I suppose I'll prolly have to come up with a better solution when all this freakout ends.

I've still got the pot of water boiling almost continually, and now once in a while I take some of the water out of it and I'm misting the plants with it. Andrea Worrell convinced me that this will prevent them from getting scorched from keeping the lights on for extended hours, which I'm also doing. It's kinda funny, I live in a pretty crappy neighborhood, so I'm sure all the neighbors assume I'm growing weed in here at this point.

Speaking of buds, I've got buds alright. Buds, buds, buds... just mostly still little yet. Now if they'll just grow, dammit!

Some outer leaves will be removed on this one before/if it goes to show

Yes, that is a bud peeking out from there! (And yes, that is my awesome SPAM® wall thermometer in the background)

Looks a little further along than when I posted it the other day, right? RIGHT?? PLEASE JUST SAY YES! haha

And I also showed this one the other day, and I think it's come along some..

Here's one I WASN'T trying to for show. And so of course it's gonna bloom profusely, and right on schedule. The foliage isn't that great, so I'm hoping the million and a half blooms will cover some of the flaws.. (Hey, worked for my Mac's Misty Meadow that one time.) 

This is the only one I have that has really great foliage (although I will remove some from the outer rows), and so of course the buds are being the s..l..o..w..est of all. That one peeking out only came out today (and only because I helped it)

Please please please please please....

Meanwhile on another shelf, my first strep (Crystal Dawn) went into bloom. Problem? I can't show it because I haven't owned it for 3 months yet! AVSA rules are you have to own the plant 3 months before you can exhibit it, which is more than fair, of course. Along those same lines, I also have a ton of other plants I haven't owned for long that are really heavy with buds that will probably bloom on time. Figures, right?

5 comments:

  1. Wow they all look like they are coming along pretty well since your last post. I mean really, really well! Those buds (umm, African violet buds...hehe) are growing pretty fast after 5 days! That's amazing! :D I know for sure that those violets (or at least some of them) would be ready in time for the show, just have faith and Jesus and pals would guide you through your troubles. LOL
    By the way, your plants symmetry are definitely on point. They look aabsolutely fantastic! :)
    So I wish the best of luck on getting your plants ready for show by May. And sorry that your first strep (which looks amazing by the way) can not go for show, on the count of you didn't have the plant for three months. That sucks :(, but rules are rules.
    Also that peanut butter trick for removing labels actually works!:D I thought it was crazy and gross but I gave it a try. Now my mini greenhouse looks very neat and without that organic label on it (I love organic food by the way, so please don't judge). Good luck and thanks.:)

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  2. Thanks Dakjak! Yeah I guess the 4 of us (Jesus, his 2 pals, and I) aren't giving up yet! LOL

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  3. you'll hate me for this but, yes i did by my AV's at homedpot, and NONE of them are labeled... it sucks not knowing what the heck im growing. where would you recommend to get nice LABELED plants... i would like to try hybridyzing sooonLAWLZ

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  4. Anonymous--I certainly don't hate you, I got into this hobby with a "noid" I bought at Lowe's. But now you're ready to graduate to registered varieties which is very exciting.
    lyndonlyon.com , violetbarn.com , and violetgallery.com are my 3 faves.
    You should also check out my Fuzzy Foliage/AVSA promotion!

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  5. thanks a ton! do you know anything about basic hybridization?

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