Transplanting African Violets

To transplant your African violet is very important. You should transplant your African violet every six months to a year. I find that once a year is just fine. To begin; you'll need a clean sterile pot with the appropriate amount of soil medium in it. You will need a knife with a sharp blade, but clean to prevent transmission of usually fungal disease problems. Take off all spent leaves, all old leaves, leaves that don't look healthy that might be a little brown or spotted; take off your buds and your flowers. This will allow the plant to concentrate on a new root system. Again, take out your African violet with care. Avoid touching the foliage. Previous to this, I had already cut out the root ball. Again, a good rule of thumb is if you take a third of the foliage off, take a third of the root ball off. If you take off half of the existing foliage, take off half of the root ball. Again, I carefully cut this root ball and I'm ready now for the new pot. Again, slip in the African violet into its new home. The crown or the top of the plant should be at the level of the pot. Carefully tap your pot so that there are no air pockets left in the soil medium and take your water and water it fairly well. Don't get this new plant too soggy; just moist. Then take your new African violet cutting and put it into a sack; a plastic sack and this encourages root formation. We don't care about flowers. We really don't care so much about the root. We don't really care that much about the leaf formation or flower formation. What we care is about the root formation. Take your plastic bag, seal it and put it into a northern or eastern exposed window. In about three months; maybe four, you'll have a wonder new African violet for your home.