African violet leaf damage

I have always heard that people tend to water African violets from underneath.  The reason is that any water that splashes on the leaf may make spots.  

Watering African violets from underneath to prevent spots is good advice that is given to people who are new to African violets.  Strangely enough, I have never seen a photo of these spotty leaves.  If you are new to African violets you probably want to see the thing you are trying to avoid - I know I do.  The first time I saw it was when one of my plants was damaged.  I thought I would share this so other new growers know what people are talking about. 

I have some African violets growing outside.  They are under shelter and get an hour or so of direct sun at sunrise, then bright shade the rest of the day.  I find they grow very fast out there over the warmer months, partly because of the lighting, and partly because it gets rather warm.  I think the air movement in the spot I have them is good for them.  

One afternoon we had a storm.  Normally I bring the tray of African violets inside when there is a storm, but this time I didn't.  Some water splashed on the leaves.  Not long after that the damage became very noticeable.  

African violet spotty leaf

The damage is pretty noticeable

There is no way to fix the damaged leaf.  Once it is damaged, it stays damaged.  That is why people tend to water African violets from below.  When watering from below they don't accidentally splash a leaf and cause spots.  Makes sense to me.  

You could cut off the damaged leaf, or you could leave it on the plant.  If you remove the leaf you can plant it and use it to grow new plants, so all is not lost.  If you decide to leave it, it does not get better, the spots don't go away, but it doesn't take too long before the plant produces new leaves and you forget where the damaged ones are.  

The photo below is of the same pot not too long after the above photos were taken.  The spotty leaves are still there, but new leaves have grown and cover them.

The same plant, the spotty leaf is there somewhere

The same plant, the spotty leaf is lower/middle of the photo

Given these are ornamental plants, I want them to look nice.  I do not like the look of the spotty leaves.  Vegetables can be as ugly as they want as long as they are tasty.  Plants with fragrant flowers can be somewhat ugly if they smell nice.  African violets only have their looks, so I do not want them to have spotty leaves.  

So now I know what happens when cold water splashes on African violet leaves.  I now know what it looks like, I know that I don't like the look of it, and I know once the damage is done it never fixes itself.  

I grow some African violets in wicking self-watering pots.  These are simple to use and prevent any spots on the leaves.  I grow cuttings and seedlings in pots that are not wicking, so I will either have to be careful not to splash water on the leaves, or try to water from underneath.