African violet pruning: remove spent leaves and flowers

African violet pruning: remove spent leaves and flowers

1. 01

   Choose what to remove

   Remove dead or fading leaves and spent flower stems from Saintpaulia ionantha. Keep the healthy African-violet rosette intact.

   Use this as-needed cleanup to keep the display tidy. Removing spent flowers also supports continued flowering. Do not reshape healthy growth.

2. 02

   Prune at the right time

   Remove fading leaves and flower stems as they appear instead of waiting for a pruning season or calendar date.

3. 03

   Make one clean cut

   Pinch off individual spent flowers, then snip a fully faded stem at its base with small pointed pruning scissors. Remove fading leaves at the base. Use these steps for fading material, not healthy leaves.

4. 04

   When pruning will not help

   Do not perform a routine hard cutback. Keep leaf-cutting propagation separate from pruning. Named cultivars are pruned the same way.