HELP with A. violet problem!

19 years ago

My daughter taught me how to keep A.V. so she knows how to keep them. BUT something is going on with her violets she has had now for several years. They have been doing awesome and she bought some of those A.V. pots at Walmart and repotted them in the fall and there are two of them that has 2 different kinds of soil in them and they both are doing the same so it can't be the soil. She asked me to go on some of the forums to see what is wrong with her V.

By the way, she knows not to let them sit in water..... if you know the pots I'm talking about that are A.V. pots, there is one pot that sits inside another one and the top one with the soil has like a porious sides and the water goes in the bottom pot and the plant sucks up the water through the other pot. I think thats how they work anyway! This is her email to me on what they are doing.......

They are in the ceramic African violet pots that hold water underneath the pot that holds the soil. I have two different plants in two different locations in two different kinds of soil and both of them are slowing losing their lower leaves. The leaves will wilt and wilt until they just dry up and itÂs about to kill one of the plants. I donÂt understand whatÂs wrong with themÂ She (my daughter)had them at the other office where she worked a few years ago and they were going crazy. They've been here at this office for over a year now.... These are just about dead and I canÂt figure out that IÂm doing wrong. IÂve tried taking them out of the water and letting the soil dry out before watering them again, tried letting them sit in the water (like the instructions on pot says), IÂve tried everything and theyÂre dying anyway. HELP! The one that was the prettiest has exactly three leaves left.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (11)

glock
19 years ago
I have 40 plus avs and i have many SLEFWATERING POTS from walmart.
I have had the same problem your soil needs to be more airy ad perlite that helps plus some avs just don't like them pots.
to fix them just get some 4in. reg. pots and repot take all bad leafs off and repot so neck is not sticking up.
Out of my 40 plus i've had that problem with about 6 .
One was in a self watering pot bloomed 2 times and stared to act like your daughters avs i repotted in reg. 4in pot and is back up and running.
Remeber never give up on your avs if theres a leaf theres life. PEACE!
Hope this helps.
P.S put the under a flo light they love lights!
korina
19 years ago
Gardnpondr, what GLOCK said. When you're using self-watering pots, the soil needs to be *very* light. AVs like constant moisture, but they also need air in their roots. The standard soil formula is 1 part peat or commercial AV soil, 1 part perlite, and 1 part vermiculite. In the type of pot you have, I'd add an extra part of perlite.

Just to be sure, have your daughter take the plants out of the pots and inspect the roots. Are they whitish and firm, or are they brown and mushy? Does the soil smell sour and rotty? (blech!) If so, she has root rot; check the FAQ on the main forum page for what to do next.

Good luck!

Korina
Related Discussions
first african violet leaf problem
Q
Comments (4)
First- Take a deep breath and RELAX!!! Growing AV's is supposed to be fun! The first thing you should do is re-pot. Since you dropped your violet, (and we've all done that), the pot is too big. Use a pot that is 1/3 the size of your plant which will probably be tiny. Most of us use solo bathroom cups for our babies. I have also used medicine cups. Use a light soil; most AV's come in a soil that is too heavy because they ship better in a heavy soil. Good for shipping, not good for violets. After you have re-potted, put your violet in a spot with good light and practice patience. The flowers died off because that's what they do. Flowers bloom, hang around for a while hoping for a pollinator and then die off. The plant goes into resting mode and then will bloom again if grown properly. And- the water on the leaves issue---I wish that would die a quick death because it is not true. Those who show plants or are avid, experienced growers routinely wash their violets. The trick is not to use cold water. Plants have pores (stomata) on their leaves with which they perform a gas exchange. If the leaves are dirty, the plant can't breathe. I washed my violets a few nights ago. If you need more help, come back here and I can go into more detail when it's not so late in the day! Happy growing, Linda P.S. Did you put the broken leaves down to root? Here is a link that might be useful: Washing African Violets
...See More
Need help on A/C problem
Q
Comments (5)
Thanks for the quick replies. I don't have TXV installed. In regards to the installation, I don't know the details, I simply trust them as I found the company from Trane web site, they are Trane authorized dealer in my area. I can confirm my coil is 5 ton, as I questioned them if the 5-ton coil can match my 3-ton unit, they told me the 5-ton coil can improve the efficiency of my 3-ton unit, it should work well. I am not supposed to replace my 3-ton unit as it's only 5-year old and works as expected with my old system. Can I still trust the company ? or find a tech from another company?
...See More
Problems with contractors? Our tv show can help(if you're in L.A.
Q
Comments (2)
Be careful how much contact info you give and get credibility from the o.p. before getting too involved.
...See More
wild violet problem -any advice
Q
Comments (5)
Use a spray weed killer and I prefer the concentrate that you mix. All you need is a 1 or 2 gallon pump up sprayer and it's much cheaper and more effective. The Weed-B-Gon CCO works well. The recommended mix rate is 1 ounce per gallon of water but for wild violets I've found that 2 ounces per gallon works much better. Also add either baby shampoo or liquid dish detergent in with it to help it stick. You'll want to treat them every 10 to 14 days until they're completely brown. If you don't have too awful many of them painting them with straight RoundUp works even better. I use a small hobby type paint brush and a plastic cup and paint each leaf with the RoundUp. This will kill them in a week or so. Either way you go, keep a close eye out for new ones to pop up and hit them as soon as possible. Be prepared because it's probably going to take 3 to 4 years to completely get them gone.
...See More
canttype
19 years ago
I'm thinking that... If you've had them at the office for over a year.... that you should take them home and repot them. AV's need to be repotted (not into bigger pots but new soil mix) every 6 to 8 months... depending on the variety.

Here is a link that shows you how to repot an AV that has lost alot of it's lower leaves.( Long Neck).

It worked very well for my lifeless AV!! She's now in bloom after 4 years of nothing but loosing lower leaves:-)
( and when shes done with her show, I'm gonna do it again as it's been about 9 months)
Good luck with them
Diane

Here is a link that might be useful: Rachels Reflections
tomkaren
19 years ago
I also have my AV's in those pots. Couldn't grow anything until I started using them. However I let them go dry until the AV starts to wilt, then I refill the pot. Also my Potting soil has been amended with perlite. Right now just about the mature Av's are in bloom.
gardnpondr
Original Author
19 years ago
Thank you ALL!!!!! We will try this and hope they make it!!!!
gardnpondr
Original Author
19 years ago
Man she brought them home from the office this evening and one of them looks plain out horrible! She's always done sooooooo well with them and this one, IF it makes it, I will be floored! She's going to repot them in plain pots and get them out of the A.V. pots. The soil she is using is for A.V.'s. anyway thank you all again!!!!
VickiBrc
19 years ago
When I bought my selfwatering pots they came with instuctions on how to mix the soil, plus perlite, the second time I potted them I got the plant too high in the pot and the middle of the plant dried up, the leaves were beautiful but now more flowers ever.
dpinker1
19 years ago
I water my violets when they are almost dry. I can't say I baby them too much. I'm not sure what I do right but they grow well and are always in a sunny window. I'd post a picture but I'm still trying to figure out how.
nansgarden
19 years ago
I live in a cold climate z-4 and I was having a problem with AVs. using self watering pots.Which are the neatest thing !!!
I have learned a lesson from the forums on Self watering pots the soil does need to be airy, plus I also discovered that because it is cold where I live the water was getting cold in the self watering pots and causing the enire plant to get cold which AVS do not like.
Hope this will help ...........
county_girl
19 years ago
I have a problem with one of my violets and have had the same problom in the paST, THE CENTER OF Tthe violet seems to be tight and looks yellow, what is the problem, thanks
cardws
19 years ago
I also live where it is cold. My furnace is set to drop to about 64 in the evening. I have noticed that my AV's are not flowering or growing much. I never thought about the temperature in the reservoirs. I wick water so the plants are probably suffering from the cold water not the air temp. Could someone post what the symptoms would be if any for violets affected by cold water in the reservoirs.
Thanks,
Sharon

HELP with A. violet problem!

Comments (11)

glock

korina

Related Discussions

canttype

tomkaren

gardnpondr
Original Author

gardnpondr
Original Author

VickiBrc

dpinker1

nansgarden

county_girl

cardws

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

HELP with A. violet problem!

Comments (11)

Related Discussions

gardnpondrOriginal Author

gardnpondrOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

gardnpondr
Original Author

gardnpondr
Original Author