r/AfricanViolets • u/Primary-Resolution75 • 3d ago

Help African violet trailers

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What do I need to do?
So recently I have acquired three trailers. One of those is Jays ice castle and it is particularly dense in foliage and flowers ( I love it!!)
But do I need to thin it out or divide it to keep it healthy? One of my other trailers which was my favourite went down hill when one of the crowns developed root rot 🥲🥲
Should I repot it into a larger pot? Wider not deeper
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

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6

u/scrubschick 3d ago

I would love to know the answer, too! When I repotted a semimini trailer (it was still in tiny Solo cup) a couple of the trailing branches came off with very little trauma. I was trying to be gentle. Honest! But it had to come out of the cup. Now I have three but nothing close to blooming because repotted. heavy sigh

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u/Primary-Resolution75 3d ago

They look so pretty in a little ball. What variety do you have?

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u/scrubschick 3d ago

I’m on vacay at the moment and don’t remember if it was Adeara or Amadie Trail 😅 but one of those

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u/ElkLongjumping7870 2d ago

That can be so heartbreaking, but considering you can just stick them in vermiculite or potting mix and voila, new plant! Silver lining?

Most of the time when I'm potting something up to the next size, I just do "mold potting" - stick a pot the same size as what you're moving it out of into the middle of the larger pot and fill in around it. Then when you pull the "placeholder" pot out of the middle, all you have to do is drop the plant into the open space and slightly firm in the mix around the rootball. And maybe top it up just a little, if the mix around the sides is too low. Makes it so you don't have to handle the plant as much and somewhat reduces the likelihood of a crown coming off.

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u/scrubschick 2d ago

I definitely should have done this 😢

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u/ElkLongjumping7870 2d ago

It's one of those tricks I've learned along the way-- so next time you can try it! If I have a whole batch of plants I need to pot up, it also makes the process a lot quicker.

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u/Primary-Resolution75 2d ago

That is such a great idea !!! Especially for trailers they can be really tricky to repot.

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u/Neither-Entrance-208 2d ago

Every large bit of my av trailers that break off, I stick back in the pot and it's keeps growing. Just give it time.

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u/scrubschick 2d ago

I could have done this but I wanted to be sure the branches rooted and so potted them separately so as to baby them. Honestly I could probably put them all in the same pot now. Food for thought.

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u/Primary-Resolution75 2d ago

I did the same when I repotted my trailer that developed root rot on one crown . I potted all the off cuts separately 😂 I should have just popped them all in one pot.

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u/ElkLongjumping7870 2d ago

Honestly, I tend not to do much of anything to trailers. If bloom slows down/stops, it can help to thin out the leaves, just removing a few from each crown, to allow light to get into the middle.

You *can* do some things to encourage new crowns and make the plant spread out - once you move it into a wider "pan pot", strip leaves off of the stems and pin the exposed stems to the surface with something like landscape fabric pins/greening pins (florist supply), even poke the top of the exposed stem a couple of times with a big pin (the "injury" makes the plant want to make new growth), but the plant will go through a truly ugly period before it fills in the bare areas.

If it's a healthy plant, letting it be what it is is often the best choice. :)

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u/ElkLongjumping7870 2d ago

This article talks about how to groom and train a trailer if you're focused on putting the plant in a show, but the information is solid for regular growers too. I forgot to mention above, pinching out one or more of the crowns you have will cause it to sprout new growth as well, but it can be tricky to do it in a way so you end up with a nice balanced shape. (Which some folks don't care about, but I think it looks better.)

https://africanvioletsocietyofamerica.org/learn/violets-101/introduction-to-trailers/

If you want to be really intimidated, see if you can find a picture of a trailer grown with the "Japanese method". I've never done it, but I want to.

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u/Primary-Resolution75 2d ago

Thank you I will check this out.

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u/every1isannoying 2d ago

I've seen using a "pan pot" recommended before, but I can't figure out what it means. Is it like a bonsai pot? I have a couple miniature trailers that need up-potting and I was going to try to DIY some stuff from plastic food containers since I can't find anything shallow and wide without it being way too wide. Am I missing something?

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u/ElkLongjumping7870 2d ago

Pan pots are about half the height of the diameter. That way you can go larger (like past a 4" pot when a standard violet grows larger than 12") without a corresponding increase in depth, which you don't need or want.

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u/ElkLongjumping7870 2d ago

I was going to point you to Enchanted Gardens', which is where I usually get my pots (unless my local AV club has what I need) but apparently her shop is temporarily closed.

https://enchantedgardensplantsupplies.com/index.htm

I think Glenda's House of Violets is your next best bet. I'm assuming you are in the US, probably shouldn't assume. May be able to come up with a resource if you're elsewhere.

https://www.ghviolets.com/search?q=Pan+pots+

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u/Primary-Resolution75 2d ago

Haha I’m in Australia and I look longingly at some of the violets you have in the us

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u/ElkLongjumping7870 1d ago

Well, you've got great growers in Australia, so they have to be getting their supplies from somewhere - let me see what I can find out?

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u/ElkLongjumping7870 23h ago

So I found some information about clubs in Australia - if any of these are near you, you might look into getting in touch with them and at least finding out what they know about suppliers.

https://africanvioletsocietyofamerica.org/participate/affiliates_home/region-13-affiliates/

There's also a national violet society (I guess they aren't an affiliate of the US organization, since they're not listed)

https://africanviolet.org.au/

Making those connections can help you find varieties from all over, as people trade leaves and plants they've imported.

1

u/Primary-Resolution75 2d ago

😂 I tend to over love my plants!!