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African Violets

Cyclamen mites (I think)

16 years ago

Need help from you lovely violet people. :)

I have grown violets for quite some time now, and have earned a reputation as a "violet doctor." But I don't really know that much about sick plants--Mine do well for the most part, so I don't know much about treating problems.

So, a friend of mine gave me a violet that she said "looked sick," and asked me to do what I could for it. The plant in question had yellow leaves all around the edges and a very tight center with tiny leaves. I diagnosed low light and cyclamen mites. So I treated with a miticide--just a general one from the garden center--but to no avail. I removed the yellow leaves, leaving a small rosette in the center. But the crown is not opening up. I have had it for about 6 months, and it is down to about seven or eight leaves, still very tight and closed up in the center. So I am assuming that either the product I used didn't kill the mites, or that I diagnosed it wrong to begin with.

Can anyone shed any light on this for me? Is it too late to save? (Yes, it is isolated from my other violets.) Hugs to all!! :-)

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Comments (5)

robitaillenancy1
16 years ago
Back to the diagnoses.

1. Does the plant have excessively hairy leaves?

2. Are leaf stems swollen? Are leaves somewhat unmanageable in that they twist and turn?

3. In the six months you have had the plant what is the center doing now? If this was mite, the center leaves would have turned ash silver. If this is not happening, the initial diagnoses was not correct.

To be sure, you could take the plant to an extention service or botanical garden which will diagnose the problem probably for free.

Tight centers could be from cold, too much fertilizer, or other. It would be best to find out for sure from experts at your county extention office.

Nancy
susan_kc
Original Author
16 years ago
1. Yes, the leaves are hairier than normal.
2. The stems are disproportiately larger than the leaves. But then, the leaves are tiny--dime sized at best.
3. The center leaves are still green, but extremely tiny--in the time I've had the plant it has barely grown at all. I use fish emulsion as fertilizer and keep the temps around 70 degrees. The plant is in an east facing window with blinds.

Could this be a root problem? When I obtained the plant, it was in a heavy soil, and a lot of the roots were black. After removing the dead roots, I repotted it into a smaller pot using 50% African violet soil and 50% perlite. I have not checked the roots since, not wanting to disturb the plant.

I will see about the botanical garden option. Thanks for the suggestions, Nancy.
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I suspect that I have mites on some local garden store violets that I got. I only had a 10x jeweler's loupe, so I coludn't identify exactly, but the center leaves are small, white, deformed and hairy. I can post pictures, but my ebay 40x loupe won't be here for a few days, and I've tossed the offending 3 plants. My question is, I have about now 20 violets from Robs, all are doing fine, in another tray which are tray wicked together. I had the sick violets in another tray, but how likely is it that my other plants will get mites? i.e. how easily do they travel? They're not touching each other, but they have been a few inches away at some points, I can't remember if they might have brushed one or two. I bought a 1/2 oz of Forbid 4F, should I spray all of my plants? How do you spray, like I have a gallon sprayer for fungicides for plants outside, and then I have a 4 gallon mega sprayer for my roses. I only have like 20 violets, I can't imagine using that much, can I just use like a hair spray water bottle (that I never use again)? Should I get the undersides of leaves and soil? I have a full active charcoal respirator etc... and I can spray in a closed garage (too cold to open the door). Do mites travel via common wick? I don't see any signs on the other violets that I got from Rob, they're all doing great except for one with powdery mildew which I'm going to repot and treat with phyton 27. I'm still getting the hang of things!
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Several things can cause tight centers. Too much light, too much fertilizer, too cool temperatures. Try moving plants to edge of shelves if grown under lights or reduce time if many are involved. If you are using 1/4 tsp fertilizer to gallon of water, reduce to 1/8 tsp. Use clear water a couple of times. For fertilizer burn(the leaf centers can be fuzzy looking) flush soil with large amounts of water to remove fertilizer salts. If you don't fertilize each time you water, this wouldn't be your problem. A lot of times just correcting the ph may help. If your plants haven't been repotted for some time, the fresh potting mix would help with ph. As for cool temps, next summmer may help!!! Seriously, if growing under lights, keep off in daytime and turn on at night, particularly if you turn down your heat at night. It bothers me Winnie mentioned tiny centers and off color leaves. If some of the other leaf edges are turning under, this could indicate broad mites. You don't want to jump to the conclusion that you do have mites, but keep this in mind. With cyclamen mites the leaf centers are hairy, fuzzy and flower buds may not open or can be deformed. A good miticide has to be used in order to control the infestation of both kinds of mites. Others may have more suggestions. Elaine
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Thanks, jean001. It seems someone else posted about the exact same thing within minutes of my post. Also from NJ. Guess the little ones are particularly active here now. What do clover mites do? All the info I've found since reading about them here says they are a nuisance. But not much about them. I do the helpline at the cooperative extension and I'll bet I'll get a question about this.
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You may have more than one problem. The holes were caused by an insect(hopper, caterpillar, beetle etc.) and the yellowing, lighter spots and deformities are caused by something else(mites, deficiency etc.) Spray your plants with high pressure water. If you don't have the water pressure to be effective, take them to a car wash. Don't pull the trigger, it will strip your plants leaves completely. Take something to cover the soil area so you can hold the plant upside down and get the undersides of the leaves. Get a soil tester or have your soil tested.
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robitaillenancy1
16 years ago
Two weeks after repotting, the plant should have taken off in growth. If this has not ocurred, something is definitely wrong.

Your best bet would still be to take it to the botanical garden or extention service for diagnosis.

Nancy
robitaillenancy1
16 years ago
If the center has not turned silver by this time, I am wondering if you have mite.

Also you mentioned using a miticide. Often products say they are for mite, but later as you read, you discover they mention spider mite. I wonder if this was a true miticide, one that would get cyclamen or broad mite.

Let us know how the plant develops.

nancy
susan_kc
Original Author
16 years ago
Perhaps I should clarify about the center. I took another look at the plant last night, and it is beginning to open up a little. The leaves are not so tight, but they are still very tiny. The new leaves are not increasing in size like they should. The center has not turned silvery.

Someone here mentioned a "home remedy" insecticide that they use--dish soap, citrus peel, and garlic. Do you think this is worth a try?

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