I got this plant a bit ago in florida, but completely forgot what it was. It keeps losing leaves, and it doesn't seem very happy.

Could it be an African Violet?

It is African Violet. Here is the address how to take care of it:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.c...

I am very successful growing it in a self-watering- pot, and I give it water from the opening near the bottom of the pot. An it loves flourescent light about two yards above it. A friend waters it once a week with ice cubes, not touching the leaves with the ice cubes; the water goes down to the dry soil slowly.

You can search more about African Violets online.

SMALL self watering pots are great for African Violets. Ice cubes, not so great. The shock of the cold could easily kill one. Advise your friend to quit with the ice cubes and find a self watering pot.

Galabirr's violet is variegated, making it a little touchier to keep alive and healthy. The more white areas, the less the plant is able to make enough food to support itself. Unless it starts growing more green leaves, it is doomed.

Fertilize with violet food (mixed at 1/4 strength) and keep it in a warm place.

I agree, your plant appears to be a variety of

I've never seen such white leaves with so little green on an African Violet and I'm not sure how long a plant can sustain itself with pure white leaves like that. Causes of leaves turning yellow or white can be due to environmental conditions; soil PH out of wack, possibly lighting issues, etc. You can find information regarding leaves changing to white on this page: You may have to do some detective work with your plant to figure out the problem and correct it.

Some pictures of African Violet 'Alan's Fallen Angel' show pure white leaves.

Maybe it is perfectly normal then. We only have one photo in our database of African Violet (Streptocarpus 'Alan's Fallen Angel') and it shows variegated leaves but not as white as other photos I found when googling. There's one named Shy Blue that has very white leaves and I also found a couple of others with white variegation at this page http://nsavctc.blogspot.com/20...

Without some green in the leaves or some green leaves, the plant can't survive. A plant with very little green will survive but never bloom. I have a variegated violet that blooms profusely but I have worked hard to minimize the white and encourage the green. Also, my plant has never produced a viable baby violet from a leaf cutting - they are always white and when the 'mother' leaf dies, so does the child.

I'll post a photo in a minute.



With these two photos, you can see the progression of my plant. Warm temperatures encourage green leaves and cool temperatures encourage white. The first photo show this winter's growth. The second shows last winter's growth. You will note green leaves in between - those are the warmer months when the plant could utilize the nitrogen in the fertilizer.

So to encourage green leaves, keep the plant warmer but to encourage white leaves, keep the plant cooler.

Hope this helps.

I searched again in the Internet. I found this:

https://www.bhg.com/gardening/...

I am sorry, I mixed my explanations of my plant with the explanation of watering another plant with ice cubes. That is an entirely different plant belonging to the friend of a friend. When her friend is not home, she was asked to water the plant with ice cubes, and it is still alive.

What I did with my African violet: I put it in a flared self-watering-planter. I knew that it was going to grow large, because the mother plant was big and I propagated it from its leaf. I bought the same size as the planter of the mother plant. I wet the potting soil for African violets (from Home Depot), moistened it, and planted the little plant. I surrounded the plant with a thin black plastic sheet, so the water is not going to evaporate too quickly. And I watered it only from the little opening near the bottom of the pot. I bought the pot from Walmart (my co-worker told me that too, but you can also get them on-line from different companies). Brand of the pot is Misco. My African violet seems to be very happy and blooms all the time.

I'll bet your friend's plant is an orchid called Phalaenopsis. There is one grower that advises their plants be watered with ice cubes. I disagree and often tell folks who attend my orchid potting seminars to soak their feet in a bucket of ice cubes for the length of time it takes the ice cubes added to the plant to melt.

You may be right, I have to ask my friend what plant her friend has. Orchids have more space at the top of the pot than an African violet. My friend does not keep any plants whatsoever in her condo.