I EARN $20 AN HOUR...RAISING VIOLETS

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So let's go along with the crowd and figure that you'll locate your African violet mini-farm in the basement. This Immediately brings you face to face with the toughest question you'll have to answer: Will the growing area stay warm enough to make your plants develop and bloom as rapidly as they should?

Ambient (surrounding) air temperature in an African violet nursery should never drop below 60°F ... and you might as well forget attempting commercial propagation of the plants In any basement or room that regularly registers temperatures of 50°F or lower.

Since the daily temperature swings in a basement drop to their minimum readIng about 5 a.m., that's when you should make your temperature check. Furthermoresince "red liquid" thermometers are sometimes not as accurate as those filled with mercury (which is white) I recommend that you keep tabs on your flower nursery with one of the latter. Of course there's no need to take a reading of your plant bed's ambient temperature every day at 5 a.m. Just spot check the thermometer from time to time during the winter andas the days get colderyou should know well In advance of any approaching chill that could slow the development of your violets.

An even easierthough somewhat more expensiveway to keep track of the daily ambient temperature swings in your plant nursery is through the use of a " minimum-maximum" indicating thermometer. They're available from laboratory supply houses (Catalog No. T 2270, Scientific Products, 1210 Waukegan Rd., MeGaw Park, Ill. 60085) for about $15. By reading and resetting one of these instruments at the same time every day, you will quickly and conveniently know both the high and low ambient air temperatures for the preceding 24 hours.

Rememberfor optimum growth and bloomsthe night temperatures of your African violet mini-farm shouldn't drop below 60°F. But that doesn't mean you have to give up the idea of raising the flowers if your prospective plant nursery just misses this ideal by, say, five degrees or so. Open the basement furnace vents. Cover the windows with insulation. Try watering the plants with warm water. Anything that works is fair.

YOU GOTTA HAVE A BENCH OR TWO

Next to a certain amount of physical space, the most important thing you'll need for your violet "patch" ... is some sort of bench or benches to set it on. Luckily, there's no need for this bench (or these benches) to be anything fancy. Spike some 2 X 4's together to make a frame, brace its corners, and top with plywood or galvanized wire. Or lay a sheet or Two of plywood across some saw horses, cement blocks, or old wooden boxes. Sometimes you can even pick up tables very inexpensively at garage and lawn sales.

Personally, I like a table that has a top measuring 4 X 10 feet. This gives you 40 square feet of growing area ... which is enough for 360 violet plants, when each one is in a three- or four- inch-square pot. Bear in mind, though, that the weight of all those "little" plants -plus their pots and the watered soil in them - can add up faster than you might have thought. The idea is to get the violets up off the cold floor, raise 'em to a convenient height where you can work with them, and keep them there. Don't be too proud to put an extra pair of legs or a sawhorse under the middle of your table, if you have to, to support the weight of the plants plus pots plus soil.

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