African violet is a flowering houseplant that can brighten up your space in a mesmerizing way. It is one of those flowering plants which need less to the moderate effort to bloom.
Why my African violets wont bloom: In simple not just African violets most of the plants need enough sunlight to produce blooms. Lack of bright indirect sunlight results in lesser flowers or no flowering.
Apart from this too much light can burn your plant leaves, over and underwatering create hydration stress, humidity least above 60%, also lack of feed (twice a month in spring and summer) and over feed can harm your plant and hinder in blooming season.
You just need to provide this plant with a consistent regimen of care throughout its lifespan to get a handful of flowers. But, if your pretty African violets cannot satisfy your expectation of flowering in time or amount, you must check for its caring routine one more time.
Better African Violet Blooms: Avoid direct leaf scortching sunlight, 7-8hours indirect bright light, not soggy watering, well draining pot (prevents root rot), north or east facing window.
Balanced fertilizer 15days once, pruning and pinch off early buds(better stem and bushy). Avoid placing near cold windows, go for north or east facing windows.
It will be a good initiative to detect and treat the causes of the not-blooming of an African violet plant. Here are some must-know facts about African violet blooming in this regard-
Why Is My African Violet Not Blooming?
The best quality of an African violet plant is that it can produce flowers year-round once it starts blooming. This plant can bloom for 10-12 months each year and every session last for two to three weeks after blooming.
An African violet plant can produce flowers after 6-8 weeks of its plantation. So, if you can see flower buds for 2-3 months after sowing, try to check for the possible causes of not-blooming in our plant immediately. Some typical reasons for this problem are-
Reasons: Insufficient Sunlight:
One of the main causes of not-blooming is insufficient light. Check whether your plant is getting 7-8 hours of bright indirect light per day or not. A moderate amount of light becomes essential for a growing African violet plant during winter.
Related: African violets quick care
Improper Watering:
Like other houseplants, African violet plants also can get issues with overwatering or underwatering problems. Overwatering can make the growing medium waterlogged and roots unhealthy.
On the other hand, underwatering can give your plant drought stress and both of these issues can hamper the flowering cycle of your plant badly.
Wrong Fertilization:
Feeding your plant with the wrong fertilizer and not fertilizing your African violet both can throw off the blooming cycle of your plant effectively.
Here wrong fertilizer means a plant food with an improper ratio of NPK that stimulate foliage growth instead of blooming capacity.
Related: Why lavender plants are not blooming how to fix
Unsuitable Temperature:
Like sunlight needs, African violets are very much particular about their growing temperature. If you put yourself in an unsuitable warm temperature for a long, it will stop blooming immediately.
Keeping your plant at an extremely cool temperature is equally bad for an African violet plant.
Unfitting Climate:
With a moderately warm temperature, African violets also want a high humidity level to bloom properly.
If your room has a very low humidity level, a growing African violet plant can bloom in time either.
Related: Hibiscus plants are not flowering why and how to fix
Root Bound:
The roots of an African violet plant need to stay in a restricted place to work well. So, if your plant suffers from a root-bound issue due to an oversized planter, it won’t bloom adequately, no matter how hard you try.
How to Fix & Make Your Violets Bloom
Once you find that your plant is suffering from a not-blooming problem, try these hacks according to the cause you find behind this troubleshooting issue in your plant-
Bring Into Light:
- Bring the plant to a sunny spot where African violets can get 7-8 hours of bright indirect light
- Your plant may act even happier if you can provide it with 9+ hours of light a day at this stage
Related: Reasons for coleus not flowering
Stick to Consistent Watering Schedule:
- Stop watering your African violet for a while, if you find any overwatering issue
- On the contrary water your plant daily for a while, if you find them in drought stress
Feed Adequately:
- Give your plant a boost of phosphorus with a high-phosphorus fertilization
- Diminish the nitrogen content in your applied fertilizer and feed them every week during the blooming session
Adjust The Temperature:
- Place your planter where your plant can get a steady temperature throughout the day
- Keep the temperature between 65° to 85° F and never let the temperature drop below 50° F even at night
Related:
Balance Climate:
- Keep the humidity level of the room always high where you place your African violet plant
- Maintain a hardiness zone between 4-5 for your blooming African violet for an uninterrupted flowering session
Related:
Report and Prune:
- Repot your African violet plant in a new pot with a fresh potting mix and repeat this every 2-3 years,
- Prune old, unwanted, and extra leggy parts out of your African violet plant to give the blooming quality a natural boost
Apply these tips on your growing African violet attentively, once you find that your plant isn’t flowering in time as it should be.
How to Get African Violets To Bloom Faster?
If you are a bit impatient and want to get a tub full of blossoms on your African violet plants, follow these quick tips and apply them to your African violet plants immediately-
Provide Enough Light:
- Place your plant in an east-facing window
- Make sure your plant is getting 6-8 hours of direct light per day
- Try to provide a light shade from dappled afternoon sun during summer days
- Keep the light on for 12-16 hours each day, if you are using artificial light
Place At The Right Condition:
- Put your African violet planter in a spot with a lot of open areas
- Make sure it can get the natural light and wind easily
- Keep your planter away from open window drafts
- And Never keep your plant in a completely shady place for more than a week
Maintain a Perfect Temperature:
- Chose a room where your plant can get a consistently warm temperature
- Make sure the temperature can stay between 60° to 90° F
- Never let the temperature drop 50°-55° even during the night
- And don’t let the temperature get higher than 95° ever
Use Artificial Devices:
- You can apply artificial or electrical devices for growing African violets
- Use a thermostat to keep the temperature properly up
- Apply an artificial humidifier to keep the humidity level up
- Maintain a suitable humidity level attentively, especially during dry winter days
Apply Water at Room Temperature:
- Water your African violet plants with distilled water only
- Make sure the water is at room temperature
- Use potting mix combined with perlite and peat moss to make it well-draining
- And try to water your plant at the base first in the morning
Give a Phosphorous Boost:
- Feed your plant with a high-phosphorus fertilizer
- Dilute it at half of its strength before applying and hold fertilization during winter days
- Try to feed your blooming African violet plants once every other week
- Diminish the nitrogen amount in your fertilizer, when you are trying to boost the blooming capacity of your plant.
Pinch-Off Bloomed Shots:
- Wait till the flowers bloom on a stem for the first time
- Then pinch off the blooms a little with firm hands
- This will stimulate the new buds to grow and bloom on that same stem
- Trim off the old foliage during this time to give the new shots come out easily
Use Pot in Proper Size:
- Pick a pot that is 3/2 or 3/1 size bigger than your African violet plant size
- Give the roots fight in tight condition to be safe from root bound
- Make sure the top is not wider than 4-5 inches wider
- And pick a planter that is only 5-6 inches deep to give your growing and blooming African violet plant a healthy root system.