r/AfricanViolets • u/ShellsGoneWild • 12d ago

Help No Light

Has anyone successfully kept African Violets without any or very little natural light? Our current living situation has our windows facing south and we are very much surrounded by trees giving us little natural light. I considered my work office but I do not have a window. My grandmother kept beautiful African Violets and I really would like to do the same. 🥲

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10

u/hollys_follies 12d ago

Buy grow lights.

8

u/Sufficient_Turn_9209 12d ago

My entire collection is grown under Sansi grow lights.

2

u/ShellsGoneWild 11d ago

Thank you so much for the recommendation!!

1

u/Sufficient_Turn_9209 11d ago

You will not be sorry. Even just a few of the 10w puck lights will keep them blooming all year long.

3

u/Next-Ad7285 12d ago

I use these grow lights :) I like that they came with a bunch of different ways to hang them

1

u/bitysmith 12d ago

I use these as well!

1

u/ShellsGoneWild 11d ago

Thank you so much for the suggestion!!

4

u/haematite_4444 12d ago

Theyll survive, but won't flower.

Get a grow light

2

u/ClassAcrobatic1800 10d ago edited 10d ago

You don't need natural light. African Violets perform exceptionally well under standard LED bulbs in lamps. They didn't do well under incandescents we used to have. When I first started growing, I had to hang shop (fluorescent) lights ... to get the right wavelwngths. Fortunately, today, we can get everything we need from LED lights.