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Growing African Violets and Gesneriads Indoors in Australia

An African violet in full flower on a bright windowsill, in the filtered light and small squat pot this guide describes for Australian homes.

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African violets have a reputation for dying quietly on windowsills, and nearly every loss traces back to the same misunderstanding: they are treated like any other pot plant. In the wild they grow in the shade of cloud forest in Tanzania, in moss over rock, where the roots are never dry and never drowned and the air never freezes. The one idea that matters most is to copy that: bright light with no direct sun, an open mix that holds air as well as water, and warmth without extremes.

This guide gathers what the African Violet Association of Australia, the violet societies of Queensland, the Hunter Valley and Western Australia, the Australian grower Ruth Coulson, the African Violet Society of America, The Gesneriad Society, the RHS and two university extension services publish on growing these plants indoors, and adds the southern-hemisphere detail the overseas sources leave out. It summarises their advice rather than replacing it, the sources are linked at the end, and an afternoon at a society meeting will teach you more than any web page.

Quick facts

Light Bright enough to cast a sharp shadow, never direct sun: an east or south window from spring to autumn, north in winter, 10 to 12 hours a day
Water Lukewarm, when the surface of the mix is dry, or by a synthetic wick from a reservoir; never leave the pot standing in water
Warmth 18 to 26 degrees Celsius; off cold glass at night and out of the airstream of heaters and air conditioners
Mix and pot Half potting mix, half perlite, never pressed down; a squat pot about a third of the leaf span, 100 millimetres at most
Feeding A flowering-plant fertiliser at a quarter strength with every watering, and a plain-water flush about monthly
New plants Quarantine for six to twelve weeks; check centre leaves for mites and flowers for spilt pollen, the sign of thrips

One plant, two names, and why the wild matters

The African Violet Society of America's research pages record that Baron Walter von Saint Paul collected the first plants in Tanzania in 1892 and that Hermann Wendland named them Saintpaulia ionantha in 1893. A molecular study published in 2015 by Nishii and colleagues confirmed that every Saintpaulia sits deep inside the genus Streptocarpus, so botanists moved them: the African violet is now Streptocarpus ionanthus, in Streptocarpus section Saintpaulia, in the same genus as the Cape primrose. The RHS, The Gesneriad Society and the AVSA accept the change, the AVSA still registers cultivars as African violets, and the common name is unchanged.

The wild plants explain the care. The AVSA describes nine or ten species, several endangered by clearing, growing in shaded, humid, frost-free forest in Tanzania and Kenya, rooted shallowly in moss over rock. Every rule below follows from that habitat. The Gesneriad Society puts the family at more than 3,200 species and sorts it by what grows underground: fibrous-rooted kinds (violets, Streptocarpus, Episcia, Aeschynanthus, Columnea, Primulina) never go dormant, while tuberous Sinningia and rhizomatous Kohleria rest after flowering and are easily mistaken for dead.

Light: which windows work south of the equator

The RHS puts violets on a north- or east-facing sill from spring to autumn and a south- or west-facing one in winter, which is northern-hemisphere advice. In Australia the sun tracks through the north, so swap the compass: east or south from spring to autumn, north in winter when the sun is low and weak, and never a west window in summer unless a sheer curtain takes the heat out of it.

The AVAA puts the plant within 40 to 50 centimetres of the glass in filtered light, and its "three secrets" article gives the test: light bright enough to cast a sharp shadow, ten to twelve hours a day, with at least eight hours of darkness (RHS). Read the plant: the AVSA says leaves reaching upward on long stalks mean too little light and tight, pale centres mean too much. Where windows fail, the AVAA hangs fluorescent or LED lamps 250 to 300 millimetres above the foliage for ten to twelve hours on a timer, and the WA society replaces tubes every twelve months because they dim before they fail. The same window logic, for a much larger plant, is in our fiddle leaf fig guide.

Water, wicking and what comes out of the tap

The WA society calls watering "the most important single factor", and Ruth Coulson adds that the better aerated the mix, the harder the plant is to overwater, because the trouble is never the amount of water but roots left sitting in it. Water when the surface feels dry, with lukewarm water, from the top or the saucer, until it drains, and tip the saucer out within the hour. Cold water is the point the sources argue over: Clemson University says it leaves white rings on the foliage, the RHS says never wet the plant, and Ruth Coulson says water on the leaves is harmless if it is not icy and the plant does not sit wet overnight in the cold. In an Australian winter, take the cautious side.

Wick watering is the AVAA's second secret: a cord of acrylic or nylon (natural fibres rot) runs from about 20 millimetres inside the pot, out through the drainage hole and into a reservoir below, and a reservoir of about a cup lasts a standard plant more than a week even in summer. The AVSA's conditions are a mix at least half coarse perlite and a plastic pot, because terracotta loses the water through its walls. Flush from the top every third watering or so, because a wick carries fertiliser up and salts have nowhere else to go (WA society, Gesneriad Society).

Town water grows good violets. The WA society asks for drinking-quality water stood overnight to shed chlorine, but chloramine, which many Australian supplies now use, does not gas off, so the flush matters more than the standing. Softened water carries salts and is out (AVSA); clean tank rainwater is the growers' favourite, and the AVAA wants the mix neutral or slightly acid.

Warmth, humidity, air conditioners and the seasons

The sources land in one band: the AVAA gives 15 to 26 degrees Celsius, the WA society 18 to 25 with nights three to six degrees cooler, the RHS 18 to 24 by day and 16 at night. Below about 18 degrees growth nearly stops and sustained heat in the high twenties turns foliage glassy (AVSA). On humidity the AVSA says 30 to 60 per cent encourages flowering and above 80 invites fungus, the WA society asks for 40 to 50, the AVAA for 60 or better, "not usually a problem in Sydney except in heated rooms in winter", and Better Homes and Gardens Australia puts the average Australian home at 30 to 50. The methods agree: group plants, stand pots on wet pebbles above the water line, and never mist, which spots leaves and spreads mildew. Keep plants out of the airstream of any air conditioner or heater vent (Gesneriad Society); evaporative coolers add humidity violets like but blow the same draught.

Climate changes the emphasis. In the tropics and subtropics humidity comes free and heat and mildew are the problems: a south or east window, a fan on low and wick watering. On the warm temperate coast violets are as easy as they get, and only heated rooms in winter need the pebble tray. In the cool south winter glass is the enemy: draw the curtain behind the plants at night or move them off the sill, and do not start leaf cuttings in the coldest months, because Ruth Coulson warns that variegated plantlets started in winter can come up entirely white. Inland and in Perth and Adelaide, days above 40 degrees call for a shaded window, terracotta to cool the roots by evaporation (AVSA) and wick reservoirs.

Potting mix, pots and feeding

Ruth Coulson's rule is that the major component of a violet mix should be air, with at least half the grains around 3 millimetres across, never pressed down. The AVSA mixes equal parts potting mix and coarse perlite, and the AVAA uses peat, vermiculite, perlite and charcoal. A bag of premium potting mix (Garden Basics 25 litre) lightened with an equal volume of perlite is the simplest Australian version.

Pots stay small. The AVAA and the AVSA use the one-third rule, a squat pot about a third of the leaf span, and the AVAA and Ruth Coulson cap a mature standard at 100 millimetres across and less in depth; go up one size at a time, because a big pot grows leaves instead of flowers and rots roots (AVSA). Decorative ceramic pots rarely drain, so growers drop the plastic pot inside one. A glazed indoor pot in a range of sizes makes a good cachepot provided the inner pot comes out to drain; other shapes sit in our indoor pots collection.

Feeding follows the AVSA's rhyme, "weekly, weakly": a soluble fertiliser at a quarter of label strength with every watering, a flowering formula with phosphorus and potassium ahead of nitrogen (WA society), and a plain-water flush about monthly. Ruth Coulson calls overfeeding a leading killer, and fish emulsion clogs wicks (WA society).

African violets and the other gesneriads

African violets: standards, miniatures and trailers

  • Standards. One crown, symmetrical rows of leaves, flowers above the foliage. The AVSA classes plants by leaf span; in round figures, miniatures stay under about 15 centimetres across, semi-miniatures reach about 20, standards run from 20 to 40 and large standards beyond.
  • Miniatures and semi-miniatures. The same plant scaled down, in 50 to 70 millimetre pots, closer to the lamp. Small pots dry fast, so wicking suits them.
  • Trailers. The AVSA describes trailing as an inbred trait from the species: longer internodes let the plant carry several crowns without crowding, and a show trailer must be a single plant with at least three crowns. Pinch the centre to encourage crowns, in a broad shallow pan or a pot a third of the plant's diameter.
  • Chimeras. A stripe down each petal; the AVSA warns they rarely come true from a leaf and are propagated from suckers or flower stalks.

Streptocarpus, the Cape primrose

Southern African rosettes of long strap leaves with sprays of trumpet flowers from spring to autumn. The Gesneriad Reference Web says they want coolish temperatures and an open, evenly moist medium, which makes them the gesneriad for the cool south and a summer sulker in Brisbane. The RHS uses wide shallow pots, a high-potash feed at half strength fortnightly in the growing season, and water only when the compost is dry in winter.

Sinningia: gloxinias and the miniatures

About 75 species, nearly all Brazilian, most with a tuber. The florist's gloxinia is Sinningia speciosa, and the miniatures S. pusilla, S. concinna and S. minima are among the smallest flowering plants grown indoors, happiest in a terrarium. On the New South Wales coast Ruth Coulson grows the mid-sized species in a very bright position, in squat pots no more than 30 millimetres wider than the tuber, and lets them go dormant in winter. A dormant tuber sits at or just above the surface, wants a little moisture and protection from frost and flooding, and is not dead.

Episcia, the flame violet

Central and South American creepers grown for patterned leaves in green, bronze, silver and pink, with small orange-red flowers. The Gesneriad Reference Web says they need fairly high humidity and warmth, and that the pink and white variegates may only succeed in a terrarium. They resent cold more than any plant here: easy in Brisbane and Darwin, a warm-room plant in the south. New plants root from the stolons.

Aeschynanthus and Columnea: the basket gesneriads

Both are epiphytes for baskets. Aeschynanthus, the lipstick plant, comes from southern Asia, with curved tubular red or orange flowers emerging from a calyx tube like a lipstick from its case; the Gesneriad Reference Web says it does well in a bright window without long direct sun and can dry for several days between waterings. Columnea, the goldfish plant, is the largest tropical American gesneriad genus at around 300 species and needs a warm, humid room that never comes near freezing. Both root from three-node stem cuttings (Gesneriad Society).

Kohleria

Velvety-leaved plants from Mexico to Peru with spotted tubular flowers, grown from scaly rhizomes. The Gesneriad Reference Web calls them relatively easy: a light peat and perlite mix kept evenly moist, bright light, and a rest after flowering that modern hybrids often skip. Rhizomes are lifted, stored and replanted.

Primulina, once Chirita

Rosettes of thick, often silver-patterned leaves from the limestone country of southern China and northern Vietnam, most moved out of Chirita in 2011 and still labelled Chirita in older collections. The leathery leaves are the clue: they tolerate drying out, cooler rooms and lower light better than a violet, and root readily from leaf cuttings.

Companions for the same windowsill

Rex begonias such as Begonia rex Kotobuki and the spiralled Begonia Escargot take the same filtered light and pebble-tray humidity, so one regime serves both. A flowering anthurium such as Anthurium White Winner holds its spathes for months in the same light and warmth, and being larger it can take a ceramic indoor pot or a ceramic pot on a stand beside the sill. More are in our indoor flowering plants and indoor plants collections.

What to keep away

  • Direct sun through glass, especially a west window in summer: bleached centres and scorched patches within days.
  • Cold water and cold glass. White rings on the leaves (Clemson) and a stalled crown in July are both cold injuries.
  • Wet crowns and misting, which start crown rot and botrytis: grey, hairy centre leaves under a cottony web (WA society).
  • Big pots, heavy mix and full-strength fertiliser. Roots should be white or semi-transparent (Ruth Coulson); brown and matted means rot, and the cure is to dry the root ball on paper towel, trim and repot small (AVSA).
  • Unquarantined new plants. The AVSA isolates arrivals for 60 to 90 days, the WA society for six to eight weeks.
  • Cyclamen and broad mites. The AVSA calls cyclamen mite the most feared violet pest: hard, grey, stunted centre leaves, short flower stems and twisted flowers, no webbing. Its advice is to dispose of the plant, keeping a leaf only after a thorough rinse and rooting it away from the collection.
  • Thrips. Spilt pollen on the petals is the sign (WA society). They spread impatiens necrotic spot virus, which has no cure (AVSA), and the WA society breaks the cycle by removing every flower and bud for a month or two.
  • Mealybugs. White cottony specks in the leaf axils, or white fuzz through the root ball with slow oval insects about 1.5 millimetres long (WA society).
  • Powdery mildew. White powder in still, humid rooms with big day-to-night swings. The AVSA runs a fan on low around the clock; the WA society suggests a milk spray of 100 millilitres in two litres of water.

On the household side the news is good. The ASPCA classes the African violet (Saintpaulia species) as non-toxic to cats, dogs and horses, as does North Carolina State University, which is why it appears in our guide to pet-friendly plants for the home. The other gesneriads are not all on those lists, so keep them out of reach of a chewing pet.

Getting it right

Repotting

The WA society finds that plants left more than twelve months in the same mix decline, and the AVSA repots once or twice a year in warm weather, usually into the same size pot with fresh mix. The signal is a neck, bare stem showing below the lowest leaves: pull off the lowest row, scrape the neck lightly and set the plant deeper so the neck roots into fresh mix.

Grooming, suckers and show culture

Societies judge a rosette violet as a single crown, and Ruth Coulson notes that a violet allowed to grow many crowns will not flower as well. Suckers, the small shoots in the leaf axils and around the base, come out as soon as they are seen, and at every repot everything but the central crown goes. Grooming is the rest: spent flowers and finished stalks, the lowest leaves as they fade, dust brushed off (AVAA), and the pot turned so the rosette stays symmetrical. For a show the WA society works to a twelve-week schedule, removing every flower and bud six to eight weeks before the date so the plant opens a full head on the day.

Propagation from a leaf

  1. Choose a healthy leaf from the middle rows, neither the oldest nor the youngest (Ruth Coulson); on a variegate, the greenest one, and never in the coldest months.
  2. Cut the stalk on a slant, 10 to 20 millimetres long (Ruth Coulson) or 20 to 30 (AVAA), cut face up.
  3. Push it about 10 millimetres into an open mix, or perlite and vermiculite alone, in a 60 to 70 millimetre pot.
  4. Bag it in bright indirect light at 18 degrees or better. Plantlets show from about six weeks (AVAA), four to five by the RHS.
  5. Separate when the clump is 60 to 80 millimetres high, one plantlet to a small pot. A leaf can give a dozen or more plants (AVAA).

The other gesneriads follow The Gesneriad Society's notes: Streptocarpus leaves are cut across at 5 centimetre intervals or along the midrib and set cut edge down; Episcia stolons and Primulina offsets are pinned into mix; Aeschynanthus and Columnea root from three-node cuttings; Sinningia crowns are cut from the tuber and Kohleria rhizomes divided.

When they will not flower

The WA society's nine causes: poor health, pests, no new growth (flowers come from new leaf axils), too many crowns, no repot in a year, no fertiliser, too much nitrogen, irregular watering that kills the root hairs, and the wrong light, temperature or humidity. If all of them are right the plant is usually short of light hours.

A word of caution

The figures here come from societies and institutions in three countries and do not always agree; where they differ, start with the Australian figure and let your own room decide. Some society pages still name pesticides no longer registered in Australia, so check the current label and the APVMA register before spraying anything, and test any spray on one leaf first. For a spreading problem, a state or regional violet society will identify mites, thrips and virus faster than any web page, and the societies listed below welcome beginners.

Sources

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