Announcements: Upcoming Meetings:Mark your calendars! Meetings are usually the third Monday of the month, from 4-6 pm, and unless otherwise noted, will be held at the Redeemer Lutheran Church, which is located on Moss and Hawthorne Avenue in Chico. The meeting room is the Fireside Room, which is in the back of the main enterance. Reminders of these meetings will be sent out via fantasyvioleteers list groups 1 week and 2 days before the meeting date. These dates will also be listed on the Fantasy Violeteers website under Meetings.
Minutes of Fantasy Violeteers General Meeting On March 18, 2002 The meeting was called to order at 4:10 P.M. by President Briony at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Chico, California.
A quorum was present consisting of Briony Gniechwitz, Jan Bernard, Marilyn Larrance, Marie Rilea and Betty Garcia.
The reading of the Minutes of the February meeting was waived and they were approved as published.
CORRESPONDENCE
A letter from Bev Promersberger, the AVSA Affiliate Chairman, was read regarding members attending the Affiliate Meeting at the AVSA Convention in Washington, DC on Wednesday, May 23, 2002. The topic of the meeting is about planning programs for the local club meetings to make them more interesting.
A letter from the Capital City African Violet Society stated that they will be holding their annual judged show and sale on Saturday and Sunday, April 6 and 7 in Sacramento.
TREASURER'S REPORT
The balance in the treasury is $50.25.
A motion was made by Marilyn L. to pay the dues to the African Violet Society of America in the amount of $22.00. The motion was seconded by Briony and approved by the members.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Briony stated that she felt the show at the fairgrounds went very well. It was suggested that next time we have a signup sheet available for anyone interested in the club.
NEW BUSINESS
A discussion was held regarding future sales and shows. No dates were set.
It was suggested that we have a picnic, possibly in Durham Park, in the near future. Marie will get some information regarding this.
There has been a box of back issues of the AVSA magazine donated to the Club, and it was decided to sell them at meetings and shows for $1.00 an issue.
A motion to adjourn was made by Briony and seconded by Marie. The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 P.M.
Respectfully submitted by Betty L. Garcia, Secretary
Members: Recipes/ Hints Decapitation Isn't Murder Yes, that's right. If you cut off the head of an African violet, you aren't killing the plant. Honest. Actually, you may be saving its life!
Decapitating, or rather, cutting off the crown of an African violet can be done at various times for different reasons. For example, maybe you have an older plant, who used to bloom its head off constantly. Then, slowly, over the years, it hasn't shown its usual youthful vigor. Try cutting off the crown, leaving the center 3-4 leaves and maybe an extra row of leaves, alone, and removing all other leaves, removing the root system and re-rooting this crown in your usual mix. You can put a plastic baggie over the crown and pot to increase humidity if your conditions generally support this action (you probably wouldn't want to do this if your home is naturally very humid, for example). Some people love to increase humidity for re-rooting crowns and for rooting leaves - others don't. Experiment and see what you - and your plants - like in your conditions.
Another reason you may want to cut off the crown of a plant is that the plant may have a long neck. I demonstrated this at the December Meeting - and as scary as it may seem, you probably won't harm the plant at all by doing this. And if the plant has a long neck, you don't really have any other choice. A long neck is when the bottom leaves are no longer even with the pot's lip - if the leaves have to droop down - or a neck is visible an inch or more above the soil line, you probably have long neck surgery in your near future.
I re-root crowns off all plants that come into my home. I prefer leaves, but if I get a plant home, the soil mix or medium gets thrown out immediately, as does the plant's roots. I'm serious. And they don't go on my compost pile, either. I don't know if the previous owner has used systemics in the soil or any other kind of biocide and I'm not letting poisons into my compost pile. Nor will I take the risk of soil mealies etc getting into my collection. Now, I don't think my friends and fellow club members are bad growers. Quite the contrary - but soil mealies and other pests can get into anyone's collection, and they are frequently passed on unknowingly. Even vendors have troubles with them. Removing the roots and soil medium from the plant removes a few more ways a pest can get into my collection. Plus - new arrivals are left under a dome in another room for 6 months (yes six months). Leaves are dunked in a bleach solution and then they get to go into the plant room, under a dome.
Do you have a plant you love - or at least like, but don't have room for it right now? Maybe you need to go on a really long vacation -- or move. Then you can either remove all but the center 3-4 leaves and put a bag over it, or cut off the crown leaving only 3-4 leaves, put the crown in your normal potting mix, put a plastic baggie over it and put it in a partially lit location. I know this sounds drastic. I did it once to a plant I really wasn't overly ecstatic about and was given to me. I cut off the crown, ruthlessly removed all but the center 3 leaves, popped a plastic bag over it, looped a rubber band around the pot, holding the plastic bag in place, and left it in the guest room in a place that never got direct sunlight, and was always in a kind of partially lit shade. Then I forgot all about it. For months. I "found" it again - and it was fine. It hadn't grown much - no new leaves, and the center leaves were only slightly larger-but it was alive and very vibrant in color. When I removed the bag, I found it was well rooting and with the bag gone, and put in light and given water it exploded in growth and threw up blooms immediately.
Now, my potting mix is always moist - so I don't add any water when I re-root a crown. If your potting mix is dry (and if you use perlite or vermiculite, it shouldn't be - the dust from those two mediums are bad to inhale and can be kept down if they are kept moist) you may need to add water. Be careful though - a re-rooting crown has no roots (yeah, I know that's obvious) so it can't drink up that water in the soil. If there is too much moisture the crown you hope is rooting will rot. Now - if you do add a small amount of water, you can add a few drops of SuperThrive ™ to the water - some people will swear that this will vastly aid the plant in re-rooting and thriving in general.
Please note that whenever I cut off the crown of a plant, I always put down a leaf or two for insurance. If you are lucky enough to own a chimera (which cannot be propagated true from a leaf, put down a sucker or two, or a bloomstalk before whacking off the crown. Then you don't need to worry if for some reason your plant doesn't re-root).
In next month's newsletter - What's wrong with my plant? Some ways to identify your possible problems.
Visitors since April 1, 2002
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