HOBBY: GROWING AFRICAN VIOLETS

In the 50s, suffering abject poverty, I discovered a free hobby.  I took dirt from the yard, cuttings from my friends' plants, and containers from the attic (my father-in-law never threw ANYTHING away).  I found no use for the little paper rolls of salt and pepper left over from his American Airlines meals, nor for his cigar bands, but his topless sugar bowls, creamers, gravy boats and teapots were great for growing the plants that those cuttings grew into.  I had very simple horticultural rules which worked for me for many years.  (keep the leaves clean so the plant can breathe, keep it watered with occasional added nutrients like calcium from egg shells or a bit of tea or coffee, and appropriate natural lighting).  All this worked for me for many years.  Joining an African Violet club convinced me I was an inadequate parent for African Violets. 

There are no animals in my house because having raised several children I wanted nothing that would take too much of my time.  I learned that I mustn't use yard soil but must have a proper balance of organic soil, perlite, charcoal, sphagnum moss, fertilizer, and a lot of other things I had never known existed.  I had managed without pests and viruses, other than spider mites (which I discovered should make one avoid bringing in Impatiens from the yard at the end of the growing season), I now have found that I must learn to treat my plants with the equivalent of a PhD degree in plant medical care if I expect to have them live through a season.  Fungus gnats, thrips, mites, are but the tip of the iceberg of microscopic monsters I must learn to avoid. 

My house has been turned into a plant hospital, complete with intensive care and isolation units.  No longer is ignorance bliss.  Straying from The African Violet Commandments kills plants.  It is frightening, but the aesthetic results and gratification of success cannot be equaled by other hobbies, and I have tried many.