meant to post this one too:

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I'm sure someone else will chime in with more info for you, but I'll give you my 2 cents.

My first impression is that they are too wet. The plant with the leaves dropping and dying off in picture 2 looks like it might be getting hit with root rot.

The gray mold on the soil looks like botrytis, which shows up when its too humid with little air circulation. Again, seems too wet.

You should remove the spent flowers on your Concord Std; dying plant matter laying around invites mold and decay.

The crown on your Yachiyo looks like it is buried too deep. You want the crown and all the leaves above the soil, not below.

If I had to guess why it is too wet for you, I would say 1) not enough air circulation where your stand is, and 2) and I think this one is most important, some of your pots are simply too big for the plants you have.

You want your pot to be about 1/3 the size of the plant, otherwise they will get waterlogged and start to rot your roots.

I would pot them down to smaller size pots, clean up the spent blooms and any brown/damaged leaves, and see if that helps.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, I'll definetly get a little fan in there and repot them to smaller pots asap. There's not a lot of air movement as it's in the bedroom. Actually the 2nd one which has the droopy leaves is in the same pot it came in, I just pulled off 3 suckers on it, but some of the others I had limited pot sizes, so I'll take a look for more sizes and repot.

Sonority gave you good advice. I have some plants wicked on white permanest trays/grids and other plants on individual reservoirs. Individual reservoirs get algae too! If it's your trays that are smelling, I'd recommend cleaning them to remove all of the algae that is showing in your photos, rinsing off the wicks too, and restarting with fresh solution. If pots are smelling bad, rot may have set in and if so, the plants will need to be repotted. One great thing about African Violets is that you can decapitate the top from a totally rotten stem and restart the plant. You probably saw the "how to" lessons at the Violet Barn, but in case you didn't, below is a link to how to decapitate and restart a plant. If the stem is black, you'll need to cut high enough to remove all rot, removing leaves as necessary to get a clean cut.

Good luck - you have some nice varieties.

Here is a link that might be useful: Restarting African Violets

My 2 cents.

No matter what you do - you get algae. You just wash your reservoirs with Clorax whne it gets way too green. If you put mats - than the mats get green. If you put black mats - you do not see green on black - and it saves your nerves. Physan slows algae. I think it is not water, it your soil that stinks. Is it peat perlite vermiculite - or there is something else in it? Do not use fish emulsion in your water - it will stink ungodly.

I agree with the previous 2 cents contributors - your soil is too wet. Use a skinnier wick - thick wicks suck too much water - is it acrilic? if it is wool - it will rot and stink. Your soil should be loose so it doesn't get soggy - when you repot - to not press on the soil. You can add a layer of perlite on the bottom for extra aeration. You can add some more perlite in a soil - coarse or medium.

The mold on the top of your soil -is not harmul - it is an indicator that the soil is wet. It is not going to attack your plants.

1000 footcandles is too much and that's why leaves are hugging the pots. 600-800 is plenty with 12 hours light. I do not see any rot - but if the soil is too wet and the soil doesn't have enough air pockets - it can happen.

Good Luck

Irina

Thanks all, I've made some changes per you all's reccomendations.

I definetly pressed down when I repotted, and I know that was part of the problem. I repotted the one that was really droopy (unnamed local store purchase), I'll do a better job repotting this weekend. I turned off 2 of the 4 bulbs, and that dropped it down to about 600 lumens. When I make my permanant light stand I'll make it more adjustable, this is just getting started. I tried to move up Yachiyo blue, but I will have to repot this weekend. I went around with a bamboo skewer and loosened the soil on all of them. I also put a make shift fan on so they'll get more air movement.

I'll let you know how they fare. Thanks again, Bill

Good Job!

Irina

So I got a new lighting set up, a 4 way T8 fixture which I've got suspended from the ceiling to be about a foot above the violets. I made sure I have no more than 900 foot candles at any one point on them. Also picture is the fan I have blowing on them.

The one that was smelly has new growth, but the older leaves are still droopy and not getting any better. Do they ever "perk up" after they've fallen? Or is it once they've lost that osmotic pressure they don't regain it?

I mean we have plants outdoors that will droop under low water stress, but once you get them watered they'll pick themselves right back up. I just wasn't sure if violets do the same?

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Bill -

if a plant of mine would sag like this - I would shuck it out of the big pot, check the roots, remove the droopy leaves and pot it in 3.5 inch pot at most.

Try to keep them in smaller pots - less chances of them getting too soggy. In my opinion all your plants are in too big of a pot. Not awfully too big, but still.

Good Luck

irina

I agree with Irina. I'd immediately pull it out and inspect the roots. If you do not see nice plump white roots ends poking out of the soil or if the soil falls away from the roots and they are brown, then you need to take action. Gently tug on some of them - do they come out easily?

From past experience with store bought plants, I'd just about bet it's a root issue.

If the roots are fine, remove the droopy leaves as Irina suggested and repot in a smaller pot.

If the roots are not fine, then you have more work to do. Remove all the leaves except the ones close to the crown - maybe leave 6-8. Then remove all the roots. If there is an rotting or mushy areas, remove that until what's left is firm and green/ivory colored. If the area where the roots are is sort of like bark, then gently scrape it with your fingernail - don't go deep - I seem to recall that the cells that from roots are on the top surface, not throughout the whole meristem, but I'm not sure. Better safe than sorry.

Dust with a bit of hormone if you like, then repot in a 2.5 inch pot, 3" max. I like to use just damp sphagnum moss and put the pot in a plastic bag for these situations. Let the sphagnum sit in some water for at least 5 to 10 minutes to get wet throughout. Before using it, wring it out in your hand - you want it to be damp like a wrung out sponge - water shouldn't drip from it when you squeeze. Put the crown/meristem in the moss, bag it, and set on your light stand. Check the moisture level every so often - once a week is plenty. If you need to add some, add a teeny amount - I actually use an eye dropper.

Look for roots in a couple of weeks. I move mine to soilless mix when I see roots, but still leave it bagged or in a covered container for at least another month. If I tug gently and the soil moves, I leave it. When the soil barely moves or doesn't move, I slowly acclimate it to the room temp/humidity and then add it to my collection.

The good part - even is there is a beginning of a root root - is still is not advanced. If you reduce the top of the plant to 3 middle size leaves and the center - and a healthy part of the stem - and stuck it is a solo cup and cover it with a baggie - it will be rooted in 2 weeks. I do it sometimes to healthy but old and tired plants for rejuventaion purposes -and they come up energetic and blooming again.

I.

What great info in all the above posts. I have learned so much just reading the posts. I want to add to the pot issue. In the beginning, I had all my violets in pots that were too large. I changed them into smaller pots, but found it hard to find small ones. Someone on another forum suggested using Keurig coffee pots. I have the coffer maker and now save all the little pots. I empty them and remove the filter, use soldering iron to make bigger holes in bottom and now my little violets are happy violets. When they are larger I will transplant them into the 3 oz. solo cups.