African violets really do love a cuppa!

I haven't grown African Violets for years -in fact I haven't had many house plants for years except orchids .
My daughter , who is in fact an incredibly gifted gardener used to "prune " them and her grandmother's !
This pruning began as soon as she had the skills to do so !

I love African Violets .There's something so sweet about those tiny flowers peaking out from hairy leaves .
We used to put a one tablespoonful of Epsom salts to four pints of water as a tonic .
They don't like cold water. They like an NPK ratio of 14 12 14 so commercial feeds address that.
But maybe tea does and it's cheaper !

I routinely water my potted Camellias with old tea .
I use old tea bags to prevent my outdoor potted plants from drying out .
All except Iris as they don't need so much moisture unless they are the Ensata type .

The camellias ,which are planted out are doing better than the potted ones .I feed the potted beauties with Sequesterene .Just looked at them and
they need repotting .
The tea tonic isn't sufficient .
My roses -all cuttings get a tea tonic as well .
Again they benefit from a specialised rose tonic .

I use a commercial tonic on my orchids .
As a rule those grown in soil need more potassium than those grown on bark .Adding old banana peel will increase the potassium levels ,but attrack fruit flies !
Bark can't retain nitrates and need a higher nitrogenous feed .

Peace lilies are supposed to be easy to grow .Like all house plants you have to replicate their habitat.
South America !
So if they are in the correct place -not direct sunlight, not over /under watered -they should flower .
But if they aren't or the flowers stay green - I'd give them a tonic - 20 20 20 NPK .

It's trial and error with all plants-if tea works for you then great !

I haven't tried coffee grounds on my hydrangeas ,but shall !

More commercial fertilisers are available these days and I gravitate towards them !

MissAdventure

I feel like buying an african violet, now.
It reminds me of my mum having one, with the pot on a lace doily.

My one reminds me also of my mum, Miss Adventure. She always kept a whole row of them all along her low living room windowsill. They always seemed to be in flower and she even propogated them from a leaf.

That is why I find it so frustrating that mine never re-flowered for me despite all my love!

I feel like buying an african violet, now.
It reminds me of my mum having one, with the pot on a lace doily.

I'm absolutely mad about house plants, so I've really enjoyed this thread, thank you, all.

Thanks everyone for the cold tea tips. I shall try that with my house plants.

I use cold tea (without milk) to water all my houseplants. My christmas cactus which normally flowers just once around November has had another 2 bursts of flowers since last year!

Despite having previously had both a husband and partner who were professional horticulturalists, I can kill almost any plant (even cacti) but peace lilies absolutely thrive for some of reason.
I do know that they actually like to be drowned and droughted.
I water heavily then don't give them a single drop until the leaves start to droop, then they get another drowning and they perk up practically before my eyes.
If you're going to move one into a bigger pot only go up one pot size per year, so about an inch or 2-2.5cm.
If you're thinking of splitting one, go gently, tease the roots apart and put each new plant into a pot that only gives the roots about 0.5inch or 1-1.5cm space to grow in it's first year as they're more comfortable if they're quite snug in their pots.
One final point, most flowering plants like an occasional treat of an essential oil from another flowing plant in their water, so maybe 3 times a year I put a few drops of maybe rose or geranium oil into my jug of water and share it around all the plants, just don't give rose oil to roses, geranium oil to geraniums etc.

I don't know about African violets but after about 12 years of no flowers I started putting used coffee grounds round my Hydrangea and last year I had many flowers for the first time.

My Peace Lily flowers frequently, it flowers when stressed. So let the compost dry out completely and it will start sending up an flower shoot. When it's completely dry stand the pot in a sink of water and leave for a few hours, (they are root drinkers). You should then start to get fllowering plants.

Cold tea sounds a very good idea for plants, it certainly works for irish brack!

Peace Lilies had the advantage of helping to keep the air in any room in which the, are fresher and purer. So good to have even without flowering.

I have three, all looking very healthy, but just one flower is there on one of them. I spray the leaves with water occasionally, and use a general feed once a month. Will try tea from now on and let you know how that goes.

I have 2 orchids on sunny windowsill water occasionally one has reflowered once in 4 years .The other has 2 flower stalks growing and has flowered every year since I got it 4 years ago .It was blue but now gives me a delicate white and pink flower

My mother lovingly tended to her African violets over the years. But... flowers? Zilch in return for all her love. One year we went on holiday and she didn't put them in the bath with a bit of water with the other plants (we usually did that when we went away so we didn't have to worry about our indoor plants dying). Needless to say... the African violets were in desperate bloom when we got back!

I water most of my indoor plants with cold tea and they seem to like it. Just remember not to water them near your carpet!

SueDonim

An ice cube instead of watering, Giulia? I’ll try that - they’ve had six months and more. I’ll tell them they’re on their last warning.

Good luck! I don't know where I read it....I think on GransNet!
Have not tried it myself but know of somebody who uses this system so it must work.

My peace lily is constantly in flower, but I can't say what I am doing right. Neglect perhaps... it sits by my front door with not a lot of light, constant drafts, and I water it when it wilts.

I haven't had African violets for years. We hardly see them now in stores, they were popular 20 years ago but i think have fallen out of favour which is too bad because they are cheerful little plants.

My orchids look awful now, but I have had some success in the past when I roughed up the root system a bit. Took them out of the pot, loosened the potting mix, gave them a soak and put them back in the same mix with a bit of plant food. I need to do that again.

An ice cube instead of watering, Giulia? I’ll try that - they’ve had six months and more. I’ll tell them they’re on their last warning.

Anno, I did wonder whether to try splitting my peace lily, as it seems to be quite crowded in it's pot. However, there is a school of thought that if a plant is pot bound, it will be persuaded to flower.
I am going to try the dilute tea drink, and see how it goes.

SueDonim

I wonder if it would work for orchids? I have two in my house that are using up windowsill space and providing me with nothing but leaves! I’ve had orchids before and they reflowered but these two are lazy little so-and-so-es.

I read somewhere that for orchids you give one ice cube every week to stimulate new flowers. I used to have several and found that they need about six months to re-flower.

I wonder if it would work for orchids? I have two in my house that are using up windowsill space and providing me with nothing but leaves! I’ve had orchids before and they reflowered but these two are lazy little so-and-so-es.

I've had my peace lily for 18 months. It looks a bit 'peaky' and hasn't flowered at all recently. I'm wondering about re-potting it and splitting it as it might be a bit cramped in its pot.

I have this problem with my peace Lily. Apparently they only flower when mature and these days commercial growers simulate that with a special artificial hormone rather than wait for it to do so naturally. The plant may therefore not flower again for sometime. Also they like a certain temperature and moisture. I still can’t get mine to re-flower probably because I need plants that thrive on neglect!

Auntieflo sounds like you are being too kind to your peace lily!

African violets like azaleas are acid lovers so a drop of tea gives them a boost. Camellias are the same but also won’t form flowers if they dry out in the summer so I always keep them watered in hot weather with tea dregs.

Any tips for peace lily would be gratefully received.