African Violet Wicking Pots vs Regular Pots: 7-Month Side-by-Side Comparison

I've been growing African violets for over five years and using self-watering wick pots for the past two.  To see whether wick pots genuinely improve growth, I grew genetically identical African violet plants using two different watering methods for around 7 months and compared their growth, leaf size, flowering, and overall performance. 

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I’ve been testing growing African violets in regular pots, against these small self-watering pots, and the growth difference has been surprising.   

Self-watering wick pot experiment showing increased leaf size and more vigorous growth

Do Wicking Pots Improve African Violet Growth?

Yes.

In my comparison using genetically identical African violet plants grown under the same conditions, the plants in self-watering wick pots produced:

• larger leaves
• thicker petioles
• earlier flowering
• more blooms
• less watering maintenance

The regular-pot plants still grew healthy, but they were smaller, produced fewer flowers, and grew more slowly.

Comparison of African Violets Grown in Wicking Pots vs Regular Pots

The wick pots cost more than standard nursery pots.  However, after using both methods for years, I find the reduced maintenance and improved growth easily justify the extra cost.  I lose fewer plants to drying out, spend less time watering, and achieve more reliable flowering.

This table summarises the key differences observed in the experiment, comparing growth rate, flowering, watering needs, and overall plant performance under identical growing conditions.

Feature	Wicking / Self-Watering Pots	Regular Pots
Watering frequency	Low - reservoir keeps soil consistently moist	High - needs regular manual watering
Growth rate	Faster, more vigorous growth	Slower, steady growth
Leaf size	Larger leaves with thicker petioles	Smaller, more compact leaves
Flowering	Earlier and often more abundant blooms	Later flowering, fewer blooms initially
Maintenance	Low maintenance, ideal for busy or away from home periods	Higher maintenance, risk of drying out in hot weather
Risk of over/under watering	Lower risk when using airy mix (e.g. perlite blend)	Higher risk, especially if inconsistent watering
Overall performance (this experiment)	Best performance: stronger, faster-growing plants	Good performance: healthy but slower growth

Are There Any Downsides to Wick Pots?

While wick pots performed better in my comparison, they are not perfect.

The main disadvantage is the higher upfront cost compared to standard plastic nursery pots. They also work best with a very free-draining potting mix.  I use roughly 50% perlite and 50% potting mix, which helps prevent the soil from staying too wet.

Wick pots can also encourage faster growth, which means plants may need repotting sooner than those grown in regular pots.

For me, the reduced watering and improved flowering easily outweigh these minor drawbacks, but regular pots are still a perfectly viable option for growing healthy African violets.

Recommended Self-Watering Wick Pots for African Violets

Based on this experiment, self-watering wick pots were the clear winner for faster growth, larger leaves, and more consistent flowering.

If you want to try the same setup, I recommend using small wick pots (around 7–10cm wide) with a built-in water reservoir.  These are ideal for African violets and help maintain steady moisture without constant watering.

• Consistent moisture for healthier root development
• Reduce watering frequency
• Less risk of drying out in hot weather
• Encourage faster growth
• Better flowering performance in this trial

See the exact wick pots I use

Watering frequency

Low - reservoir keeps soil consistently moist

High - needs regular manual watering

Growth rate

Faster, more vigorous growth

Slower, steady growth

Leaf size

Larger leaves with thicker petioles

Smaller, more compact leaves

Flowering

Earlier and often more abundant blooms

Later flowering, fewer blooms initially

Maintenance

Low maintenance, ideal for busy or away from home periods

Higher maintenance, risk of drying out in hot weather

Risk of over/under watering

Lower risk when using airy mix (e.g. perlite blend)

Higher risk, especially if inconsistent watering

Overall performance (this experiment)

Best performance: stronger, faster-growing plants

Good performance: healthy but slower growth

More African violets for comparison

I got my first African violet around May 2021, which is over 5 years ago now.  I have grown many African violets from leaf cuttings.  Some I grew in wicking pots like these ones, others I grew using regular watering.  I have a few plants in each type of pot, the photos you see below are all plants I grew.  I still have some of these plants, others I have since sold.

The wicking pots come in different colours, I have some white and some grey and I like them both.  The regular pots I use are about 10cm across, I tend to buy them in bulk like this as I find them perfect for many different plants that I grow.

Regular pot (left) showing slower growth vs self-watering wick pot (right) with larger leaves

The same plants as above - from a different angle

The potting mix I use for African violets

I tend to do things cheap, and I only want to do things that work long term.  You certainly could use specialised African violet potting mix, but it often seems expensive.  Instead I make my own blend of potting mix and perlite, it is inexpensive and clearly effective, as shown by the length of time my African violets have been thriving.  

I buy a cheap potting mix and mix it with perlite.  I mix them together in a 50:50 mix, but sometimes include more perlite than soil.  

It's very easy to make my own mix like this.  I get a pot full of perlite and tip it into an ice cream container, another pot full of potting soil, mix them by hand, and I have two pots worth of African violet mix ready to use.  This works over the long term, I have many African violets growing in this mix and have never had issues with rot or damping off.

My Simple African Violet Soil Mix (Budget-Friendly)

I don’t use expensive specialty African violet mixes.  Instead, I’ve had long-term success using a simple blend of standard potting mix and perlite.

•   50% standard potting mix
•   50% perlite (sometimes slightly more perlite) 

This creates a light, well-draining mix that works especially well with wick pots.

Supplies I use:

• standard potting mix 
• perlite 

My African violet wick growing vs regular pot experiment

I took a leaf cutting of an established African violet.  Once it had some leaf babies, I let them grow until large enough to handle easily, then I divided them.  

Interestingly, I find I can replant the mother leaf several times and get extra baby plants.  This is particularly useful when dealing with rarer varieties or varieties with sentimental value.

African violet leaf babies before division, all grown from the same parent leaf for a controlled comparison

By using leaf babies from the same mother leaf I was using genetically identical plants.  When I divided them they were the same age, and were much the same size.  This helps any differences I noticed to be based on growing conditions rather than genetics or age.

I used exactly the same potting mix, that I mixed on the same day, and transplanted them all the same day.  Some were planted into regular pots, some were planted into wicking self-watering pots, that was the only difference.  I don't have any photos of transplanting these because my hands get all wet and grubby while dividing African violets.

I grew the plants side by side in the same tray (I grow them in a tray so I can move them easily) for around 7 months.  All plants in this experiment were grown side by side under identical light conditions, mostly they were in the tray near a window, some days I moved the tray outside into bright shade.  The difference in vigour and size was noticeable from early on.  

African violets grown in regular pots

The African violets grown in regular pots grew well.  They are all healthy, and grew large.  I have grown plenty of African violets like this, it works well for me.

I tend to buy these pots in bulk as they look good and are perfect for growing many plants including herbs and succulents and ferns.

Growing like this means I have to water often.  If I go away, I tend to put them in a tray with a tiny bit of water, and hope they don't rot and don't dry out while I am away.

Overall this is not a bad way to grow them, and I have some plants that have been in regular pots for years and are still doing well.  

Over the years I have lost a few small plants in regular pots due to drying out.  This mostly happens if I have been unwell and the weather has been hot.  

African violet in regular pot showing healthy growth but smaller overall plant size compared to wick pot plants

Struggling with Drying Out or Inconsistent Watering?

One of the main issues I found with regular pots was inconsistent moisture levels, especially during hot weather or when I was away. 

Switching to self-watering wick pots helped remove that variability and made plant care much more predictable. 

Another African violet - looking good

African violets grown in wicking self-watering pots

The African violets grown in the wick watering pots also grew well.  I have grown many African violets this way, and am always happy with the results. 

Watering these is simple, when the little well is low I top it up.  This provides continuous moisture, even if I go away for a while or am too unwell to water plants.  

As the wick draws up moisture, but not too much moisture, there are no problems with rotting if I use 50% perlite in the soil mix.  Sometimes roots grow out of the drainage hole in the pot and reach down into the water.  This is fine, it doesn't seem to bother the plant.

African violet in self-watering wicking pot

Another African Violet grown in a wicking pot

Comparison between African violets grown in wicking self-watering pots or regular pots

As you can see above, African violets can and do grow well in wicking pots or regular pots.  Wicking pots are certainly simpler, but I was curious to see if there was any difference in growth rate.

The African violets grown in wicking pots grew better for me.  The leaf blade is larger, the petiole (leaf stalk) is longer and thicker, and there appear to be more leaves on the plants grown in wicking pots.  All of this indicates stronger and healthier plants.

Importantly, the African violets grown in wicking pots flowered earlier, and produced more flowers, than the ones in regular pots.  You can't really see this in any of the photos, but all the plants in wicking pots have flower buds, while all the plants in regular pots don't.  I am guessing I won't see flowers on the regular pot grown African violets until spring.  

I now use self-watering wick pots for most of my African violets because they reduced drying issues and improved growth in my comparison.

Side-by-side African violet comparison: self-watering wick pot (left) vs regular pot (right)

Additional comparison plants showing consistent differences in vigour between watering methods

Conclusion: Do Wicking Pots Improve African Violet Growth?

Based on my comparison, African violets grown in self-watering wick pots:

• grew larger leaves
• developed thicker petioles
• flowered earlier
• produced more blooms
• Were easier to care for

The plants grown in regular pots still performed well, but required more frequent watering and were more vulnerable during hot or dry periods.  I suspect the improved growth comes from the plants receiving a more consistent supply of moisture, rather than going between wetter and drier conditions as happens with conventional watering.  

Overall, I prefer wick pots for most of my African violets due to their consistency and reduced maintenance.

African violet leaf comparison, regular on left, wick pot on right

Underside of African violet leaves - slightly more colour in wicking pot

African violet grown in wicking pots produced larger leaves for me

Wicking pots long term African violet growth

So now you have seen how African violets performed better in wicking pots under my growing conditions, the sensible thing to consider is will this continue to work long term.  I don't care how fast and large they grow if they rot and die, I want long term successful growth, and I want many many vibrant flowers.  

I am happy to say that I have been growing African violets in these wicking pots for about 2 years.  The plants are healthy and strong, and they keep pumping out the blooms.  While the photos below are of a different variety than the one used in the comparison, these two have been flowering well in wicking pots for quite a long time.

Long-term African violet growth in self-watering wick pot showing sustained flowering and healthy leaves

Quick Summary

• Same African violet variety (grown from leaf cuttings from my existing plant)
• Same soil mix (50/50 cheap potting mix + perlite)
• Same light, temperature, water
• Only difference: pot type
• Wick pots = faster growth + more robust plants + more flowers
• Regular pots = still healthy but slower and higher maintenance

African violet in self-watering wick pot produce abundant blooms, sometimes with more flowers than visible leaves

Where to buy Wicking Pots for African Violets

I keep several wicking pots on hand because I find them useful for many different plant species, not just African violets.  I am even growing out some staghorn fern pups in them where they are performing beautifully.  

I can find wicking pots locally, but they tend to be over priced and rarely the size I am looking for.  For this reason I tend to buy them online such as through Amazon.  For African violets I generally go for something about 7cm across. 

Start Growing African Violets the Easy Way

If you’re setting up from scratch, the combination that worked best in this experiment was:

• Small self-watering wick pots
• Light potting mix with added perlite
• Bright indirect light near a window

This setup reduces maintenance and helps maintain consistent growth conditions year-round.

Recommended starter supplies:

• African violet wick pot
• standard potting mix 
• perlite 

Wicking pots produced larger African violet leaves

Frequently Asked Questions

Do African violets like self-watering pots?

Yes.  In my experience they grow larger leaves, flower earlier, and require less maintenance.

Can African violets stay wet all the time?

Not exactly.  The key is using a very airy mix with plenty of perlite.

What size wick pot is best for African violets?

I prefer pots around 7–10 cm wide for mature plants.

Do wick pots cause root rot?

Not in my experience when using a 50% perlite mix. 

How often do you refill a wick pot?

I water whenever the reservoir starts to get low, usually every few weeks.

Who should consider wick pots?

• People who forget to water plants
• People who water plants too much or too often
• Anyone growing multiple African violets
• People who travel frequently or go on holiday
• Growers wanting maximum flowering

You probably don't need them if you only have one violet and enjoy regular watering. 

African Violet Leaves and Plants for Sale

African violets performing well in wicking pots (please ignore the mess birds left on the railing)

I sometimes have African violet leaf cuttings available from my own plants, including the exact plants used in this experiment.  These can be used to grow new plants at home, and are taken from my healthy, well-established African violets.

If you would like to try growing your own African violets, I list available leaves and plants through my for sale catalogue page.  I am happy to provide detailed notes on how I grow them.  

Keep an eye on that page as availability is highly seasonal and varies significantly depending on what I am currently propagating. 

Creating Patterns on African Violet Flowers with Cold Water Damage

Last winter I noticed some African violet flower damage caused by condensation on a cold kitchen window.  The flowers that were close to the glass developed pale markings and damaged patches on their petals.  After seeing this, I wondered whether carefully applying cold water could create decorative patterns on African violet flowers without seriously harming the plant.  Perhaps I could carefully apply cold water and make interesting decorative patterns (or even write something simple) on the petals in a similar way that I can tattoo an apple using sunlight. 

I keep African violets on my kitchen windowsill in self-watering pots, they flower a lot during the year.  I love the look of African violets, they are such an underrated house plant.

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I borrowed a fine tipped paint brush from my kids, got some cold water, and carefully painted stripes and patterns on a few flowers.  My kids already had little art brushes, otherwise I would have bought some nice ones like these.  I had no idea if this would work, but hoped the cold water would damage the flowers just enough, but not too much.  I tried to keep everything reasonably symmetrical.

As it turns out, this kind of flower art worked well and looked good.  The photos below are from my winter flowers that I painted with cold water. 

African violet flower damage from cold

Pattern created on African violet flower using a fine paintbrush and cold water

I wasn't as neat as I could have been, and had a few accidents and spilled drips here and there.  Some flowers were also too close to the window and got additional damage from condensation. 

I think the flowers I did paint with water looked nice.  I tried to keep everything roughly symmetrical.  It was hard to see where I had painted, and I didn't know how much water to use.  Nor did I know if this could even work the way I hoped it would.  

How to Create Patterns on African Violet Flowers

1. Choose a plant with many blooms.
2. Use a fine paintbrush.
3. Dip the brush in cold water.
4. Paint a pattern onto the petals.
5. Wait several days for the markings to appear.
6. Observe the results.

African violet flower painted with cold water

Frequently Asked Questions

Can cold water damage African violet flowers?

Yes. In my experiment, even small amounts of cold water caused visible markings and discoloration on the flower petals.

Does cold water hurt African violet plants?

I only applied water to the petals rather than the leaves or crown. 

The flowers aged more quickly, but I did not notice obvious damage to the plant itself.

Can you create patterns on African violet flowers?

It appears possible to create simple patterns by carefully applying cold water to the petals with a fine brush.

It is almost winter here, and I have a few African violets that should flower over the cooler weather.  If I remember, and if any are blooming at the right time, I plan to try this again.  

I grow most of my African violets in self wicking pots.  These ones look nice, are about 8cm across and are perfect for African violets.  

Given how many flowers this variety of African violet pumps out, I thought I could risk a few blooms.  I probably wouldn't try this on a less vigorous variety.  In case you are considering giving this a try yourself, you need to know that the flowers that have been damaged don't last as long as the untouched ones.  

This variety produces lots of flowers

Given I am only damaging the flower petals, I assume it probably isn't overly bad for the plant's health.  Just in case I am wrong, I only plan to do this to a few flowers on each stalk at most.

I also learned a bit about how much water to use.  It turns out, as long as the water is cold, and the day is cold, you need very little water to do lasting damage to the petals.  

This was a surprisingly successful experiment. While the cold water probably shortened the life of the affected blooms, it also created interesting patterns and allowed me to make intentional flower art.  I plan to continue experimenting this winter to see how much detail can be added to African violet petals.  I now wonder how detailed I can make my flower art.  Perhaps this winter I will try to draw some love hearts, or write my kids' names.  

If you are interested in giving this a go, it is best to use a variety that produces a lot of blooms.  You may find a good one at a garden center, or I sell leaf cuttings through my for sale page.

African Violet 'New Hampshire' – An Easy Variety for Beginners

I like African violets (Streptocarpus ionanthus previously called Saintpaulia ionantha).  They used to be very common houseplants, but like many old things they are becoming rarer.  Some of the older varieties are not particularly great, and many of the newer varieties are vastly superior in a number of ways. 

African violets are perennial plants that can live virtually forever.  I hear of a lot of African violets that are 20 to 30 years old and being grown by someone's mother or grandmother.  I got my first African violet in May 2021, I had never grown one before I got it and didn't really know what I was doing, yet it is still growing strong. 

African violet 'New Hampshire' is one of the easiest and most floriferous varieties I grow.  It stays compact, flowers heavily for much of the year, and propagates readily from leaf cuttings, making it an excellent choice for beginners.  I got this variety as a leaf in July/August 2023.  I had never grown an African violet from a leaf cutting at that stage, and I was hesitant to try, but it all went well. 

New Hampshire is a relatively newly bred variety.  I believe it may be one of the 'optimara' African violets.  These were developed to be compact plants that are simple to grow and produce abundant flowers. 

This is a great variety that is well suited to beginner growers as it grows so easily and performs so well. 

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New Hampshire African Violet

New Hampshire is a small and rather compact plant, making it great for small spaces.  

While massive African violet plants do look incredible, I don't have enough space to grow them.  Even if I had space, I would much prefer several smaller plants rather than one larger one.  I have never even seen a trailing African violet, I assume they would be a bit of a hassle to manage and think I prefer these smaller compact plants.  

Plants stay small

African violet New Hampshire produces a lot of flowers

This variety of African violet produces a huge number of flowers.  It can produce a lot of flowers on each stalk, and it produces a good number of stalks.  Sometimes there are more flowers than leaves!  It produces flowers for many months of the year.  

My house gets very cold in winter, and hot in summer, plus I don't fertilise these often.  I don't know the best way to do this, but I give them a little liquid from my worm farm every now and again as fertiliser, and this seems to encourage a new flush of flowers.  I am sure you could buy African violet fertiliser, and that would probably work better, but worm farm leachate is free and does a good job for me.

If I fertilised properly, or my house was not so cold in winter and hot in summer, I think this could flower continuously all year. 

The colour of the flowers is beautiful, and the flowers are mostly single.  I say 'mostly' as it does throw the occasional semi-double flower from time to time.  Flowers produced by young plants are usually smaller and produced in good numbers, while older plants produce larger flowers and more of them.  The flower colour is always rather intense, my photos do not do it justice. 

Flowers are held in clumps above the foliage

This variety stays small

The flowers are on long stalks, and held high above the foliage.  If you wanted you could cut them and place them in a small vase. 

The flowers are a lovely colour, and are relatively large.  Flowers start out small, and get larger as they get older.  On average the flowers reach about 4-5cm across. 

The plant itself grows pretty fast, and is forgiving of less than ideal conditions.  I don't know the best way to grow African violets, and can only comment on what works for me.  

I grow mine in potting soil mixed with perlite, and I grow most in self watering wicking pots.  I have a few others in just pots (of potting mix and perlite) that I water by hand.  They both do well, but the wicking pots are far less work.  

Even small plants are quite floriforous

Another thing I like about this variety is how vigorous it is.  This plant has a desire to survive.  

I was always told how finicky African violets are, and how tricky they are to grow, but I have never found this to be the case with any variety I have tried.  While all of the African violets I have grown have been simple to grow, this variety is one of the easiest.  This variety propagates easily, grows fast, and flowers like mad.  

Sometimes this variety produces suckers.  I know this is not a desirable trait if you are showing them, but for the home grower it is great.  Once the baby suckers reach a good size, I cut them off, and plant them in soil.  The mother plant continues flowering, and the divided suckers produce new plants. 

Some flowers semi-double, most are single

Many African violets propagate easily by leaf cuttings, while some varieties are far more reluctant than others.  I am happy to say this variety is one of my simplest to grow from leaf cuttings.  

I only propagate African violet leaves in a small pot of soil.  For me these generally grow 3 or 4 leaf babies per leaf, and they go from leaf to flowering size plant reasonably quickly if I divide them.  

Other people propagate African violet leaves in water and have great success, but for unknown reasons this has never worked for me.  

I love the colour if its flowers

This variety is one of the few that will produce viable seed for me.  I hand pollinate flowers, and they take a few months to develop seed pods.  The seeds are tiny, and need light if they are to germinate.

I have a few other varieties that will not produce seeds no matter what I have tried.  If they have traits I want to breed with I could use those varieties as the pollen parent, and New Hampshire as the seed parent.  

Flowers start small, and get larger as they age

African violet seeds are tiny, and are produced in their hundreds.  Every seed grown African violet, even self-pollinated ones, are genetically unique.  Growing them from seed is a bit fiddly, and the results are unpredictable, so I understand why few people attempt this. 

Growing an African violet from seed to a mature flowering plant takes about the same amount of time as growing from leaf cutting to flowering.  When growing from a leaf cutting I am pretty much guaranteed to get genetic clones (unless I have a chimera, which is a lengthy topic for another time), when growing from seed there is a lot of diversity among the plants.  

Under good conditions, this variety of African violet usually takes 2 or 3 months from planting the leaf until I see tiny leaf babies.  From there is is another 2 to 3 months before they are flowering.  If I over crowd them, or it is winter and super cold, then it can take a lot longer.  

New Hampshire is a great variety of African violet that is well suited as a gift as it would grow well for beginners.  It is easy to succeed with this variety as it is so vigorous, and produces so many flowers for months on end, and the flower colour is impressive.  It is also small so it is easier to find a small spot on a window sill to grow this. 

If you grow house plants, African violets are worth considering.  I sometimes sell extra African violet plants, but at this stage they are only for local pick up at the moment.  I may post plants at some stage in the future.  I do sell leaf cuttings of  African violets through my for sale page as leaves easily survive being posted.  I may also be interested in doing a leaf swap with someone if they had another nice variety.  

Small plant producing blooms

African violet - small and cute plants

African Violet 'Light Blue' - A Reliable Large Flowered Variety

The first African violet I ever grew was an unnamed variety sold simply as "Light Blue".  Several years later it remains one of my favourite varieties due to its large double flowers, good resilience, and attractive blue-purple colouring.

The plant was small and appeared to be light starved when I got it, and at the time I had never grown one.  It was in a self watering pot with a wick, which made it easy for a beginner to grow.  

African violet light blue

The flowers are double and large, on average they are roughly 5 to 6 cm across.  They are somewhat ruffled (I don't know the correct term for this). 

The flowers are sold as light blue.  In reality they sit somewhere between blue and violet, which is common as truly blue flowers are relatively uncommon.  Occasionally the blooms develop small splashes of pink, which adds extra interest. 

You will see the colour varies a bit in my photos, this is mostly due to the camera picking up the colour slightly differently.  In real life the colour is pretty consistent.  I like the colour of this variety, I think it is pretty.

This variety of African violet is a larger grower, reaching about 7 inches across.  While I don't go to African violet shows and am not really across the terminology, I think it would be considered to be 'standard'.  

The leaves can be large, the leaf stems (petioles) can be relatively long even under good light.  

Photos of two of my plants are below next to a tape measure.  While they can be a little more compact than this under higher light, this gives you an idea of their size.  Those plants are not yet flowering, but they have buds and should bloom not too long from here.

I am not a huge fan of the larger African violet varieties.  Larger African violet plants certainly look incredible, the thing I don't love is how much space they need, and how little space I have.  

I don't have a lot of room to grow these.  The space I need to grow two standard sized African violets I could grow three or four smaller varieties.  

That being said, a large African violet in full bloom is an incredible sight.  For this reason I will probably always have a few larger varieties.  

African violet comparison - large vs small

Same plants, different light, the photos don't exactly capture the colour

For me this plant is a little slow growing.  It isn't painfully slow like some other varieties, but it is not one of the faster growing varieties.  I am told by people who know a lot more than I do about African violet growing that larger flowers and double flowers use a lot of energy, and can result in slower growing plants.  

As well as being slower growing, I also find this plant slower to propagate.  Some other varieties send up half a dozen leaf babies each time I plant a leaf cutting, this variety seems to put up 3 leaf babies for me on average, sometimes I only get one plant.  The up side of this is the leaf babies from this variety are always very strong. 

Once a cutting does strike, they are incredibly simple to grow, they just take a little extra time to reach a flowering size plant.  Other people may have better luck as I don't give them ideal conditions.  

For me this variety has never produced seed.  I have attempted to self pollinate, and I have tried to cross pollinate, but each time the flower grows old and aborts.  I had one seed pod produced once, I was planning on letting it ripen but I absent mindedly cut it off before the seeds were fully formed.  I regret that, but I may get another seed pod some day, and hopefully I remember to protect that.

I have been able to use this as the pollen parent and cross pollinate other varieties.  I think this variety is lovely, and has some interesting traits, so should be able to use it to create something special in the future.

I don't have a huge number of house plants as I don't have a lot of space.  I sometimes grow some African violets outside under cover, but have to bring them indoors over winter as it gets too frosty here.  This light blue variety seems pretty hardy, it has survived some pretty harsh conditions when I forgot to bring it inside on frosty nights and during heatwaves.  While it will survive harsh conditions, they perform far better if looked after properly.  

Overall, this unnamed light blue variety has proven to be a reliable and attractive African violet.  It is slower growing than some varieties and takes a little longer to propagate, but the large double flowers make it worth the extra patience.  While I generally prefer smaller African violet varieties, this is one larger grower that I intend to keep.

Sometimes I sell African violet plants locally, at this stage I don't post them but this may change in the future.  I do sell African violet leaf cuttings through my for sale page, I am happy to post these.  At this stage I don't have many varieties available, but hope to increase my range as I get a few more nice varieties.  I would also consider a leaf swap if someone has a another nice variety.