I don't know much so don't quote me
Someone else might know more but
Could that be mechanical damage or spray cleaner or ?
I don't see any blight that causes brown spots except water on the leaves which might mean, sprays or cleaning products.
Or coffee/ soda spilled on the leaves or poured into the pot?

This post was edited by lucky123 on Tue, Apr 22, 14 at 23:20

Hi thanks for your reply!
I dont think thre was any pest control over the weekend but there was some powerdown where all air con was suspended for a few days - could the plants have suffocated? (even so could that be the cause of these scary brown patches?)

And no there defintely wasnt any coffee / soda spills, not even watter since i've been quite careful with watering

I'm just worried it's some kind of bacterial infection and if so whether my plants can be saved or not... any other ideas are very much welcome!

Thanks!

Hi Happy,
Hopefully, the experts on the forum will look at the photos and give advice. In the meantime, I looked at the photos.
It does appear that there was some type of chemical cleaning spray used in the office that may have gotten onto your plants.
Would it be possible that there was a janitorial service that came in over the holiday break and did some spray cleaning? Suggest you might want to wash off the leaves and carefully dry them. Were there any blooms on the plants?
Also, is there any possibility that the night cleaning crew is going around and watering your plants without your knowledge? That happened in my office. Once we realized what was going on, we asked the office cleaners not to water the AV personal plants.
Perhaps you can take them home to recover if you have a place to isolate them.
They don't look like goners. The spots seem isolated, like some chemical sprayed on them. But I am no expert.
Glad you posted the photos to ask the Forum.
Just one other thought, does the office use any pesticide?
I discovered that a lot can go on in an office at night, the plants will be the first tell-tale sign of chemical usage.
Joanne

Happy,

Diseases do not usually present like this. They usually affect an entire leaf or area rather than being spotty. I have to agree with everyone else-I think something was sprayed on your plant while you were out of the office.

Keep your eye on things. If it was a highly damaging product, the damage will spread. If not, the leaves will eventually die off naturally. I would take a leaf to grow another plant just in case but I think your plants will be fine.

Linda

Thanks everyone for the responses!

The photos actually made the leaves looked 'healthier' than they actually are... the bigger leaves on the outer layer are all droopy now and some had even gone brown and the stem so soggy that i had to remove them. I'm not aware of any routine pest controls but i cannot understand why the brown patches appeared underneath the leaves (rather than on top, logically thinking).

Hopefully the plants will regain their strengths very soon. One more question i have is that - to which point should I be monitoring the leaves that are droopy until i should just remove them?

Thanks again :)

Remove them. As for underneath, perhaps the floors were being washed and waxed and chemicals splattered upwards. Offices do all kinds of things on long weekends. Maybe ask around.

This post was edited by fortyseven on Wed, Apr 23, 14 at 12:47

Happy,

If your older leaves are browning and mushy and it seems to be spreading, it could be a rot. Root rot usually begins with the outer layer of leaves. As the plant is trying to survive it will sacrifice older growth in favor of newer growth and the crown.

If it is rot, your chances of saving it are not good. Rots send 'fingers' of disease into all plant cells. They are there before the disease is obvious. Take a leaf (or three) and start a new plant in case this one does not survive.

You can try and remove the violet from the pot and if the roots are brown and mushy, cut back to clean growth. This may involve cutting into the neck and re-rooting. If this is the case, check back if you need help.

Rots are caused by overly-wet conditions, heavy soil, cool temps (esp. with high humidity). Is someone watering while you are away? Do they drop the temps. in your building at night/week-ends?

Linda

This post was edited by whitelacey on Wed, Apr 23, 14 at 17:50

Hi all

I came back this morning and found the plants have gotten worse and i've had to cut a few leaves off beacuse they looked so bad - this now looks more than just some chemical burn. Is that what root rot looks like?

I'm quite sure nobody waters the plant while i'm away but i did put these plants on the top of my filing stand at the beginning (originally i thought that would let them have more sunlight since i dont sit right by the window) which might have exposed them to chilling blasts from the air con vent above. By the time i realized that (which was only yesterday) i have moved them to lower places but perhaps it's too late :'(

I've never tried to clean a root rot (have lost a few plants possibly due to root rot tho) but have tried to propogate from a single leaf so I'll go with that option and take some single leaves home tonight (if i can find one that doesnt yet have the brown patches) while keeping the adult plants in the office and hope they will survive.

one of the plant is has flower buds coming out - should i remove them to preserve more strength for the plant?

Thanks all - i'm keeping my fingers crossed

Happy,

The leaves do not look good. I wouldn't bother with any except for maybe the one on the far left.

I think at this point I would let your plant bloom because it is probably going to die. You may as well enjoy the blooms; removing them won't help the plant if it is rot. The plant will probably collapse before the plant blooms anyway.

Again, if you want to try to save it, come back and I will try to help. Truthfully, trying to save a rot plant is an exercise in futility, frustration and disappointment.

Linda

Hi Linda

This is definitely devastating news.. i still consider myself a novice at this point with african violets so i probably will not try to save adult plants as it sounded like even an expert like you considers this as something having only minor chance of success. The photo of the leaves are those that looked the worst that i snipped off this morning. The plant itself still have a few that seems firm enough with minimal brown spots. I will snip a few off and bring them home tonight.. hopefully i can save the 'babies'.

Thanks a lot again for all the help and suggestions. i'm almost certain that the rot was caused by the cold temp.. It's a hard lessen learnt.. next time i'll make sure i find a better spot to place them :)

Bonita