If you’re a first-time Saintpaulia owner, care begins with where you put it. Here are the Best Ways to Keep African Violets at Home!
African violets (Saintpaulia) are evergreen perennials best kept indoors. With rosettes of velvety leaves and anthocyanins that give blooms their deep purple, red, blue, and black hues, we suggest the best ways and places to keep these tropical desktop plants indoors!
Places Where African Violets Thrive in Home
Choosing the right spot becomes easy when you rule out the places where they won’t thrive. African violets flourish under bright, filtered sunshine for long hours, mimicking the dappled glare they enjoy under tree canopies in their native Tanzanian rainforest habitats.
Saintpaulias favors a temperature of 65-85 F (18-30 C) with around 70% humidity. They cannot tolerate dry air, dips below 60 F (15 C), or very cold water. You could mist with tepid water when the plant isn’t flowering, but always allow the soil to dry out before watering.
Based on their sunlight, moisture, and temperature needs, we share the best ways you can position your African violets at home to ensure they remain healthy and produce the prettiest blooms year round—let’s go!
Best Ways to Keep African Violets in Home
1. An East-Facing Balcony
There’s nothing better than an east-facing balcony to keep and grow African violets. The morning sun and filtered light the rest of the day is just what this potted houseplant needs!
2. A Bright Windowsill
Don’t worry if you don’t have a balcony; pretty windowsills covered in African violet pots also look gorgeous! If it gets too bright, however, mute the harsh rays with sheer curtains and screens.
3. On a Sheltered Patio Table
If your patio is looking a bit too dull, you can spruce it up in a heartbeat with a potted African violet. And the best part? Its bloom colors can change depending on the pH!
4. Hang it on a Windowsill
A windowsill that is not too sunny all the time is good for hanging your African violet. Use macrame hangers; they are not expensive and perfectly complement modern decor while making the blooms and foliage hues pop! Here are a few more ways to grow them vertically!
5. African Violets in a Terrarium
There’s also the option of a terrarium filled with an African violet! And if you add a grow light over it, you don’t need to worry about its sunshine needs. You can tweak it as per season, time of the day, and growth stage.
6. African Violets on the Dresser
As long as the dresser or cabinet is near a window with bright light, it’s a great spot for keeping multiple African violets indoors.
7. Kitchen Counter Display
Kitchens tend to be naturally more humid than other rooms in your home—and African violets love that! Besides, it offers a pleasant visual breather and energizes you instantly amidst intense kitchen chores. However, ensure that you won’t keep it near a spot that is prone to water spillage, say, close to your sink.
8. Display them on a Rack
African violets are compact, petite, and so easy to handle that if it’s possible to have a bunch of them, it’s always more the merrier!
Try this—start with one, and multiply your Saintpaulia via leaf cuttings. Before you know it, you’ll be surrounded by its pretty blooms!
9. African Violet Table Centerpiece
Place a Saintpaulia in a beautifully decorated pot on your dining table, and say nothing! This living centerpiece stunner has a way of energizing any place!
10. Pair it Up With More Sunloving Plants
You can also pair African violets with sun-loving and tropical plants like polka dot plants, ferns, peperomias, and calatheas to create a lush and layered look. And it provides the perfect humid and cozy microclimate these plants love.
11. A Closed Balcony of African Violet Varieties
Hardy to USDA zones 11-12, if you love quaint winter blooms but they just won’t grow in your warm, balmy terrain, try keeping them in your enclosed balcony, Where they will receive both sunshine and warmth.
12. On a Modern Plant Stand
A stand with a place for multiple African violet pots will definitely catch everyone’s gaze. Plus, they’re cheap and easy to find.
13. Mini African Violet Tabletop Garden
Well, why let a window with good light go to waste when you can keep African violets here for a pretty indoor garden?
14. Window Teacups
If the window isn’t big and you’ve got limited space, you can also try teacup planters for your African violets at home. Here’s how to DIY these.
15. Keep it on the Bathroom Sink
Like your kitchen, another humid spot for your Saintpaulias is the bathroom. Make yourself a bath, light some candles, and revel in the beauty of your African violet sitting pretty atop the sink—avoid directly wetting the foliage though!
16. Vintage African Violet Look
A great way to show off these beauties is by adorning a rustic dresser like this. You can also add matching wall shelves and art.
Provide shade from harsh sunlight and maintain stable conditions, and its various cultivars will reward you with blooms through spring, summer, fall, and winter. Do share where you’ll place your African violets using your new-found inspiration in the comments below!
