My Violet Life

If you’ve just brought home your first African violet — or if you’ve killed a couple and you’re trying to figure out what went wrong — this guide is for you.

I’m Nicolette, and I want to be upfront with you: I was not a plant person. Not even a little bit. The orchid in my kitchen survived despite me, not because of me. My whole African violet obsession started on Mother’s Day 2021 when I spotted a display at Lowe’s on the way to buy a Mother’s Day plant for my mom. I remembered that my own grandmother grew African violets. On a whim, I grabbed two plants for myself, brought them home and named them Rosa and Lee after my grandmother. After the blooms that had attracted me at the store faded and withered away, I waited anxiously in hopes that the plants would bloom again. And…nothing…for months…because I had no idea what I was doing.

A few years, after many, many more plants, even more rescued leaves, and a dedicated plant room later, I’ve learned a lot — mostly through trial and and a lot of error. This guide is everything I wish someone had handed me on day one.

📌 Free download: Grab my African Violet Care Cheat Sheet — a three-page quick reference that covers everything in this guide.

African violets (Saintpaulia) are small flowering houseplants native to Tanzania and Kenya. They’re one of the most popular houseplants in the world — and for good reason. When they’re happy, they bloom almost continuously..

What most beginners don’t realize (I definitely didn’t) is that “African violet” isn’t just one type of plant. The kind that you’re likely to be familiar with when you see them at your local garden center or big box store. Little plant with fuzzy dark green leaves and purple, pink or white flowers. 

Here’s the truth that blew my mind in those early days. There are thousands of named cultivars — hybridized varieties with names like Jersey Snowflakes, Rob’s Vanilla Trail, and Buckeye Nostalgia. They come in minis and micro minis that fit in the palm of your hand, standard sizes, and large trailers that spill out of hanging baskets. Leaves that are dark green to light green or variegated in shades of green, yellow, pink and white. Leaves that have frilled edges, serrated edges, or smooth edged. Leaves that are fuzzy…or not.  Flowers range from tiny single petals to frilly doubles, in colors from deep violet to pure white to candy-stripe bicolors. Flowers that come with beautiful markings like light pinpoint dots and puffy spots, marbled streaks of color or pinwheel stripes. Once you know that world exists, it’s very hard to own just one.

Before you go down that particular rabbit hole, let’s make sure your plant actually survives. Here’s what they need.

The 5 Essentials for a Thriving African Violet

1. Light: Bright, But Never Direct Sun

African violets need plenty of light to bloom. They should never be in direct sunlight because direct sun will burn or sun bleach those beautiful leaves. The sweet spot is bright, indirect light or light filtered through something like a sheer curtain.

In practice, this usually means:

• A north- or east-facing windowsill is ideal
  
• South or west windows can work if the plant is a few feet back from the glass or shielded by a sheer curtain
  
• If your plant is growing but not blooming, it’s almost certainly not getting enough light
  
• Grow lights are a game changer if your space is dark — a simple LED grow light on a timer (8 – 12 hours on, 14 – 12 hours off) will keep them blooming year-round
  
• Note: Make sure the leaves of your plant aren’t touching the glass of your window. A sudden heat wave or cold snap will damage the leaf touching the glass

Quick test: If you can comfortably read a book at that spot without turning on a lamp, it’s probably enough light for your violet. If it feels dim, your plant thinks so too.

2. Watering: Less Is More (and Method Matters)

Overwatering is the #1 reason African violets die. I know this because it’s how I lost my first couple plants, Bob and Walter (yes, I named them). The soil should never stay soggy — roots sitting in wet soil will rot, and by the time you notice something is wrong, it’s often pretty advanced.

Why is so easy to overwater your violet? Because an overwatered violet looks very similar to an underwatered violet, limp and droopy. But it’s easier for a violet to recover from a lack of water rather than the other way around. So how can you tell if your violet needs water? A simple rule of thumb: water when the top half-inch of soil feels dry to the touch. Not bone dry, not damp — just losing moisture.

How you water matters just as much as when:

• For beginners, bottom watering is best: set the pot in a shallow dish of room-temperature water for about 20–30 minutes, let it soak up from the drainage holes, then remove and let it drain. This keeps water off the leaves and encourages deep root growth.
  
• Top watering works too, but be careful to keep water off the foliage. Water on fuzzy leaves in bright light or cold temperatures can cause spotting.
  
• Always use room-temperature water. Cold water shocks the roots and can cause white spots or rings on the leaves.
  
• If your tap water is heavily treated with chlorine or if your municipal water supply is in question, consider using filtered, distilled, or room-temperature tap water that’s been left to sit overnight. (I eventually got a water distiller — more on water choices in this post.)

3. Soil: Light, Airy, and Well-Draining

Standard potting mix is too heavy for African violets. Their roots aren’t as sturdy as most houseplants and they need a light, airy medium that drains well but holds just enough moisture. If your soil stays wet for more than a day or two after watering, it’s too dense.

You have two good options:

• Buy an African violet-specific potting mix. Look for brands like Espoma or Black Gold (one of my favorites) — these are formulated to drain properly. Serious hobbyists and professional may use Pro Mix MX. Some growers I’ve heard from has had mixed results with Miracle-Gro AV formula as fertilizer is already mixed in the soil. This makes it harder to calculate how much fertilizer your plant is already getting and it’s easy to overfertilize if you are also adding additional fertilizer.
  
• Mix your own: a common DIY mix is 1 to 1 and a half part perlite to 2 parts peat-based potting mix, which improves drainage and aeration.

If you stick your finger into the soil and it feels wet and compacted for days after watering, it’s time to repot into a better mix. Good soil is one of the easiest wins you can give your plant.

4. Pot Size: Smaller Than You Think

One of the most common beginner mistakes is putting an African violet in a pot that’s too large. African violets like to be slightly snug in their pot — a good general rule is that the pot diameter should be about 1/3 the diameter of the plant’s leaf spread.

Too much soil around the roots holds excess moisture (hello, root rot) and the plant often focuses on root growth instead of putting energy into flowers.

When it comes to pot type:

• Plastic pots retain moisture longer than clay — fine if you tend to underwater
  
• Terracotta/clay pots dry out faster — better if you tend to overwater
  
• Self-watering wicking pots like the Dandy pot are popular with African violet growers and can make watering more consistent once you get the hang of them. Just make sure that your soil mix is even lighter than usual to avoid waterlogging your roots, at least 55% perlite to 45% peat moss.

5. Fertilizer: Feed Regularly, But Lightly

African violets are regular bloomers, and that takes energy. A balanced fertilizer designed for African violets (look for a formula like 14-12-14 or similar) applied at ¼ the recommended strength with every watering will keep them fed without burning the roots.

Two things to avoid:

• Over-fertilizing: too much fertilizer builds up salts in the soil and can damage roots. Flush the soil with plain water occasionally to clear buildup
  
• Fertilizing a stressed plant: if your plant is droopy, dry, or recovering from something, wait until it’s stable before adding fertilizer. A stressed plant can’t use it and it can make things worse.

Also, after a fresh repot you can lay off the fertilizer for a couple of weeks while your violets absorb the nutrients from newly fresh soil.

Quick Reference: African Violet Care at a Glance

Common Problems (and What They’re Telling You)

If something looks off with your plant, here’s a quick diagnosis guide:

Bottom line: What violets really prefer is consistency. Consistent light, water, fertilizer and growing environment. Nail down these items and you’re well on your way to a very rewarding and wildly addicting hobby.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How often should I water my African violet?

There’s no fixed schedule — it depends on your pot size, soil, and environment. More humid environments usually require less watering than dry ones. Check the top half-inch of soil: water when it feels dry, wait when it doesn’t. Most plants end up needing water roughly once a week, but checking is always better than guessing.

2. Why is my African violet not blooming?

The most common reason is not enough light. Move it closer to a bright window (but not in direct sun or touching the glass) or add a grow light. Inconsistent fertilizing and being seriously root-bound are other common causes. For a full breakdown, see: Why Your African Violet Isn’t Blooming. [ADD LINK WHEN PUBLISHED]

3. Can I use tap water for African violets?

It depends on your tap water quality. Many growers use it without issue. If your municipal water is heavily chlorinated or has a strong chemical smell, you might notice it affecting your plants over time. Options include letting tap water sit overnight to let chlorine dissipate, using a filter, or switching to distilled or RO water. I went deep on this in my water guide.

4. Do African violets need special soil?

Yes — standard potting mix is usually too dense and holds too much moisture. AV-specific mixes or a blend of peat and perlite will serve your plants much better.

5. How do I know when to repot?

3 signs it’s time to repot: 

1. roots coming out of the drainage holes
2. the plant is clearly larger than its pot
3. the soil has compacted so much that water runs straight through without being absorbed 

Most standard size African violets benefit from a fresh pot and fresh soil every 9 to 12 months. Smaller sized violets like semi-miniature and miniatures would need more frequent potting depending on the pot size, anywhere from every 4 to 6 months. I do a step by step guide on how to repot your African violet on my YouTube channel.

Ready to Keep Going?

African violets are genuinely one of the most rewarding plants to grow once you understand what they need. They’re not fussy — they’re just specific. Get the light and watering right, use good soil, and you’ll have a blooming plant that’ll make you embarrassingly proud.

There have been plenty of packages dropped on my doorstep in the past couple of months. But today’s package did not contain live plants (or leaves) for a change.

About a month ago, I made the decision to purchase a water distiller. When I was learning about how to care for African violets, I found that it’s best to avoid using water that contained chlorine, chlorimides, or ammonia…which many municipal water treatment facilities tend to add. As DH and I have never been fans of our own city’s water supply, we tended to use bottled water instead of tap water. I had already been using distilled water for other things in the house, so in time I also started using it for my AVs.

As my AV collection began to grow by leaps and bounds, I found that I was purchasing a gallon jug or two of water a week just to keep up! So distilling my own water seemed to make some sense to me…with the added bonus of fewer plastic jugs to recycle!

The way distilling works is that water inside the machine is heated up until it turns into steam. Then the steam rises to the top of the unit and is cooled down, which turns the steam back into a liquid, which is filtered through a charcoal packet.

All of the impurities, minerals, bacteria and most of the chemicals present in the water either evaporate or are left behind at the bottom of the distiller. The process of distilling a gallon of water took about 4 hours.

This isn’t to say that distilled water is always the best type of water to use for African violets. I found it useful for water propagation (all the leaves I started with our city tap water died within a week or so), and for making the fertilized water I use for my plants. Plus I’ve found myself needing to clean my plant room humidifier less when using distilled water instead of tap water.

But that’s not to say that you have to use distilled water. If you ever want to start a whole- ass debate among AV enthusiasts, ask a group of them about the best type of water to use for African violets. I unknowingly started a pretty lively debate when I put the question to my AV Facebook group.

When it comes to watering their beloved AVs, it seems like everyone has an answer that works for them and most of the responses I got fell into one of these groups:

• Tap water– A good many folks said that they use plain old tap water. In these cases, the water that came out of the tap was already pretty good quality or it came from a source of good quality water, such as a private well. In some of these cases, chemicals like chlorine or chlorimides were added to the water, so they did suggest using chlorine remover (the same kind used for aquariums) to dissolve traces of chlorine in the water. If like me, you find that your tap water is questionable, this might not be a great option for you.

• Distilled water– A few people said that they also used distilled water, which is a type of purified water. As described above, this is water that’s heated until it becomes steam and then cooled back down into a liquid. This method removes most impurities and bacteria that might be harmful to your AVs. In addition to watering your AVs, distilled water is also great for use in machines like humidifiers or other mechanical devices. On the other hand, the process of distilling water also removes minerals like calcium and magnesium, which are beneficial for plants. Lacking these minerals for too long could hinder growth. To compensate for this you can add a calcium and magnesium supplement to the water before using on your AVs. Our local violet guru, in the Tidewater African Violet Society, Pat, recommended using a supplement like CalMag to your water or adding bone meal to the soil mix to ensure that violets watered with purified water gets these important minerals.

• Reverse osmosis (RO) water– One gentleman suggested that I use a RODI (Reverse Osmosis DeIonized) unit instead of a water distiller. Reverse osmosis is another type of purified water where water molecules are forced through a series of semi-permeable membranes that filter out impurities and bacteria. The advantage of RO water is that you can install a unit for your home water system instead of spending a couple of hours a day distilling water. Alternately, you can also buy large bottles of RO water instead. Installing a RODI unit can cost anywhere from a couple hundred to a couple of thousand dollars depending on how you’re planning on using it. It’s also recommended that you add a calcium and magnesium supplement to RO water or add bone meal to your soil mix.

• Rainwater– Another gentleman swore by using rainwater and it’s pretty easy to understand why. It’s free. You can collect rainwater by setting out containers or by using a rain barrel. You don’t have to worry about removing the chemicals your municipal water supply may have added and it also has the beneficial minerals that plants love. Plants are, after all, built to use rainwater. But, as with everything, there are a couple of disadvantages too. Rainwater can pick up contaminants in the air or through runoff on buildings. So if you live near a factory or if your air quality is a bit iffy, or even if it’s spring and there’s loads of pollen in the air, those issues can also show up in your rainwater. Plus, if you live in an area that doesn’t get rain on a regular basis, or if your area hits a dry spell, you may need to stockpile rainwater to get you through the dry periods

One thing that most people agreed on was if you’re not sure about the quality of your water, the best thing you can do is test it. The ideal pH range for African violets is about 6.5 to 7.5. Distilled and RO water is at neutral 7. The pH and quality of your tap water and rainwater may vary, so doing periodic tests using some simple kits you can find in an aquarium supply shop or on Amazon will help alert you to potential problems.

Lastly, they also reminded me that I need to watch the temperature of the water I’m using. Violets hate cold water….lukewarm or room temperature is best. And when top watering, be sure to gently wipe away any drops that land on the leaves.

I’m pretty sure that using a water distiller is not going to be my final solution, especially after seeing what kind of impurities it’s removing. Our violet guru Pat said that she had installed a RODI unit for her flowers and I’m thinking that I’ll probably transition over to that eventually. It would be nice to simply turn on the tap and get nice purified water!

What is your preferred source for watering your AVs? Leave a comment and share!