violet update

I have very carefully split my African violet apart. The main plant went back into its SIP planter- it looks quite happy again and not much stressed (beyond what it was before being overcrowded). I removed all the old, fading blooms and it has new buds- you can just see one on the left.

Here are the pieces that came off it:

The second, slightly smaller crown went into a new SIP I made out of a half-gallon milk carton (the cut off handle makes a perfect hole for a watering tube). This one doesn't look so happy.

The milk carton SIP is not attractive, but there are several points in its favor. The container is something I acquire frequently- I always buy milk and never soda. I'm hoping the semi-opaque material will keep the green algae from growing, but it still allows enough light in that I can see the water level. We'll see how it does.

There was also a little baby offshoot which I put in a smaller SIP. This one looks good.

After all the work, the plants had quite a bit of dirt got on the leaves. I cleaned them off with an old, dry toothbrush.

As a side note, the petioles from the purple Violet I gave away are still alive (barely), but show no signs of growing new plants yet. I doubt now if they ever will.