Irina -- good to know about the seeds. I'm chucking the plant and I'm not keeping a leaf for it. Pots and utensils will be sterilized...luckily I only used a bamboo skewer when I repotted so that'll be easily disposed of. I'm assuming I should probably also dispose of the pollen sacs if I harvested any from prior blooms? I don't remember for sure if I kept any from that last unhappy bloom I had. I'm pretty sure I didn't.

My take on your plant is rot from overwatering. If you water from the bottom frequently it can get tricky if you don't let the root ball dry out almost completely. Sorry about your violet, but it seems doomed.

A plant called Superman??? Never seen it, will google it! I will let you know what I think Irina! Rosie

Rosie - The plant never showed the sharp decline you typically see with rot. Even before I repotted it, it was looking "okay" except for the sum of the parts. Roots, crown, and leaves were all turgid and otherwise healthy feeling besides the discoloration, slow growth, and distorted leaves. Soil was just barely damp around the lower roots and wasn't compacted. Rot was my first knee-jerk too but even looking for it, the only place I found it was on that flower stalk, and even that was only the bud.

Regardless, I chose safe over sorry and pitched it. It wasn't too painful! Better one than all of them.

I like Superman!!!!!! Rosie

Rosie - you never saw one you didn't love... I guess even Botanika or NeverFloris...

No guessing on those Irina! I think they are very unique! Would love to have them!!!! Oh by the way they ARE and have been on my Wish List!!! Book #34, page # 351, about halfway down the page!!!!! lol Rosie

Unique - I agree. But otherwise.... a curiosity piece, bu not that pretty. May be Botanika... for resale... not for for fun. People get all interested and excited about unusual... but with time...we all return to the good old blooming plants - not a load of bright yellow testicles...I mean Botanika.

Oh my God, I have to go look for this now. I need this in my life.

If it gives you laughs- it is worth a square foot it will take on your plant shelf ;-)).

I love to laugh!!!!! Rosie

Bright yellow testicles! Just reading it makes me feel a little ill. I kind of thought I might get one of those but not now. In fact, I won't be able to look at those now without thinking about your analogy.

Celebration of private parts without a cover of petals.

Im sorry but there is nothing to celebrate about if you have bright yellow testicles. Maybe see a doctor.

I don't care how you make fun of it,,,,I still want one!!!!! lol Rosie

Jeff, I dunno, maybe there's still work in a novelty act at least. I mean you would have something no one else does, umm yeah.

(just teasing...maybe in a tasteless way :()

Rosie, you're going to have to go this one alone. At one time I thought I wanted one but now I think I can wait. Besides, to many other really gorgeous ones to worry about this one yellow guy.

No problem Jeff! I still want one!!!! Rosie

UPDATE:

I have a second violet I think is succumbing to the ravages of whatever this is.

Discolored, paling center -- no noticeable leaf distortion on this plant yet.

Plentiful buds (this one has two other bloomstalks that are still developing) that start brown around the edges and washed out. This bloom never fully opened before deteriorating. Petals are crispy on the edges.

Another view of the browning around the edges of the developing petals.

Thoughts?

One unhappy customer.... yeah, the flowers are not right - but even adult leaves look wrong - when the hair on the leaves are visible and sticking in all directions - shows that the plant is sick.

The symptoms are not typical - you can take it to the county extension office and ask them to check for bugs and viruses. They do not charge too much - but they won't return the plant.

You moved to a new house - can it be water? Water softener, chloramine in a water, hard water? You probably can call the water district and ask them to send you a report - what you to look for - pH, solids, sodium and the way how they desinfect it - chlorine or chloramine.

We have been in this house for just over a year now. I have five other plants that were either starts or adult plants when we moved, and none of these are showing symptoms. I expect I would be seeing symptoms on everything if it was water, wouldn't I?

All five of the others are currently blooming and appear completely normal aside from some needed repotting. I've been trying to give them time to recuperate from some pretty nasty neglect and they are admittedly almost all overpotted. In addition, I have ten new plants that I acquired in early June that are just fine except for hardware brush induced trauma.

I did have an outbreak of thrips in July, which would have been my first here in this "new environment". Let's see, what else... could this be a too much sun/heat problem? Both affected plants stayed at some point in the west facing window and the husband's PS4 is on that same table. Although the second plant hadn't been there prior to developing symptoms so I doubt it.

I will see if I can pull up a report on my water. It's municipal, but all I know is there isn't any fluoride. I do know the water quality tends to sharply decline this time of year as our water sources reach their very driest point.

I live just miles away from the state university, I think they do testing there.

That was really easy actually. Here's what I was able to pull from my water company's website.

"1) Before filtration

• We disinfect the water by adding chlorine, which kills organisms that can make people sick.

• Sometimes we add carbon to improve taste and odor.

• Raw water from the river can be cloudy due to soil particles floating in the water. We add alum to bind the soil particles into clumps. The clumps then fall to the bottom of the settling basin, and the water flows into the filters.

2) Filtration

• Following settling, the water travels through a multi-layered filtration process that removes any remaining clumps and small particles.

3) After filtration

• We add more chlorine to maintain the purity of the water throughout our distribution system.

• We adjust pH with sodium hydroxide to reduce corrosion in our distribution system and in your home or business's plumbing system."

Chlorine is good - means you just need to let water sit for 24 hours before watering. Sodium hydroxide adds sodium - but we do not know how much. River water is normally softer than an artesian water from a well.

You can try watering this particular plant with a bottled water... but right now is unlikely that it is the problem. Usually they say that the flowers blast if the humidity of the air is very low. Low humidity can explain the unruly hair on the leaves. But we are almost out of options - the trip to university seems the best choice - both with plant and water.

It is extremely dry here this time of year. Our humidity is very low and we likely won't see rain for another several weeks -- Here in the Willamette Valley it stops raining about late May and then we have straight hot sun through until October. No rain whatsoever, no exaggeration. It's also been uncharacteristically hot (we're still in the 90F range, with a few days peaking above 100F here and there) and the forest fire smoke has been so bad it's actively hazardous to breathe here.

It is comforting to know that the humidity can explain the unruly hair. Even my healthy plants have that symptom. I will have to see what the extension service says in regards to this one in particular.

Hot and dry... and they want 50% humidity. It can explain some of the problems. But - the rain is coming soon.

Just a thought here, when your humidity is too low, is it possible to put small glasses of water among the violets BUT also run a small fan for circulation? And be mindful that when it starts becoming humid remove the glasses of water but I would keep that fan running at all times. Sometimes I think most of our problems are because of non moving air. Or maybe air not moving enough. This is just my opinion. Rosie

Rosie - you are right - there is something Tiffu can do while she is waiting for the rain. But running a fan will dry them even more. I am thinking - humidity tray - if you have space to put a wet acrylic mat under your plants - not for wicking - but for evaporation only - wet fabric surface produces more humidity then just a glass of water as Rosie suggested = I just expand her idea - you can create a beneficial microclimate for your plants. Adding humidity to the air is good for us pretty girls as well - keeps the wrinkles away. The guys are not worried about wrinkles - it just adds character ;-)).

As I sit here with my 50-65% RH inside my house...I ponder if wrinkles can exist here (*lol*).

Thanks for the expansion Irina! I think a lot of problems can be solved just using a fan on a regular basis. Not anything big or powerful (unless you own a greenhouse) but just one of those little things that clamp somewhere. My idea is, you just want to gently move the air, not dry everything out. I use one summer and winter. Just gentle air movement can work wonders in my opinion. May solve a lot of problems violet people have. Rosie

Dbarron - you definitely have one wrinkle - you are sitting on it. But it is the only one.

Rosie - the laundry on the clotheslines dries faster when it is windy. What you do - you remove the water vapor away from the plant - and speed up the water loss. If Tiffu will get a humidifier - then it makes sense to circulate the humid air.

Generally the fan is very beneficial. I run the AC fan around the clock - just got one burned and replaced.

I do have a oscillating fan in the room I keep my AVs in, because otherwise it gets unbearably hot and it's our living room. A tray might be doable, depending on how large it is. I also have a five year old and an almost three year old who would try to play in it if it was easily accessible, little boogers. I'll check that out and see what I can find that's feasible. Winter time, I likely wouldn't need it because it's CONSTANTLY wet everywhere, right? Is there such thing as TOO humid for them?

I do believe there is! Humidity aside for just a moment,,,,,I think aside from watering, a fan is paramount. Always. If it is too dry, a water source and fan work and likewise too humid and you better start moving that air or it will become stagnant! Moving air is critical! (In my Book of Opinions!) lol Rosie

We do not want mold on the walls...

My plants like it best when everything is perfect! Someday, they may get it!

Perfect is a fleeting moment...

Perfect is a relative state...

Perfect are my violets, my home and neighborhood today. Life will be imperfect in a matter of hours, perhaps never the same again. We're on path to take a direct hit from monster storm Hurricane Irma.

It's a helpless feeling knowing that a train wreck disaster is on the way. If there is a bright side -- the storm has weakened overnight to only 155 mph. You are still not welcome, Go away Irma.

Yep, battening down the hatches here too. (Tallahassee). No reason to expect anything other than wind and rain! How much of each remains to be seen!

Both of you stay as safe as you can, please. :(

Thanks Tiffu.

Will be praying for you and yours ...

Update: Have not made it to the extension office yet. A third plant is (I think?) showing early symptoms of whatever this is. It is one of the ones that I thought was healthy. Here are what the blooms look like:

Blooms are otherwise healthy, vigorous, and plentiful, but much smaller than normal with disproportionately large pollen sacs. Last time it bloomed it was typical dark purple for a NOID AV. The plant itself looks okay-ish if you ignore the evidence of its troubled past on the outer leaves? This one is in a self-watering pot with appropriately lighter mix. The previous ones mentioned were not.

Yuck... You need to get there and test it for a virus. If you have AVs that are worse leaf wise... take them too. Do not bring home new plants until you make sure that you do not have INSV. It is not necessary INSV - the same damage is done by mites - but mites usually destroy leaves as well. Do you have a magnifying glass to look at the flowers - something like 20x or 30x - to see if something is crawling? Another question - do you have at least one plant that does well? May be in a different room?

Because if it is an infection - the plant in another room will do better. If it is something culture related - we did go through everything I think - then all plants will be in a sad shape. If some are good - and some are bad - what was a difference? Repotted, not repotted, change of fertilizer...

I have one plant among all of them that I'd really say is doing "well". Full head of bloom, healthy new growth. It's literally kept in the middle of the others, though. I have four more in office, if that counts? I do not (yet) see symptoms of whatever this is in those plants, but two of them were here during the beginning of whatever epidemic this is.

If I had to put a status on the majority of the AVs I have right now, I'd put it at...neutral. I've seen slow new growth but also no decline. Everything is in the same type of soil 50/50 black gold AV soil/ non-fertilizer treated perlite. I did get a new fertilizer around the time this all started, and all the plants have been watered with it..although come to think of it the two at the office that are thriving never have been, and the two that are less healthy but still asymptomatic at the office were watered here with it but then not there. It's some sort of organic something that I'm not particularly attached to, but it's what was picked up at the hardware store and here we are.

The only thing I see about this fertilizer - the dose is on a heavy side. Once a month is probably enough. Espoma is a good company, but even they could have one time accident and mix it wrong... Black Gold AV soil - does it have coir? Bad coir can be very bad.

You need to exclude virus. Test the worst one. Otherwise - we do not know if it is a non-treatable - or a culture issue. Because if it is a virus - you can dispose of them all and restock. And stop this guessing. But if the test comes positive - you promise to trash every single one of them. You can keep the ones at work - but never bring them home.

I got in touch with the Extension office -- they want to see pictures via email before moving forward just to confirm they can't diagnose at a glance. That with a lengthy description of the culture and care has been sent as of yesterday and now it's a waiting game, I guess.

If it does end up being a virus, do I need to toss my newest round of rooted leaves that are not from any of my current plants? They have not even peeked mouse ears yet.

Is the office local? This is not a brag but I'm just wondering why all the Extension offices don't do business the same: My office actually has a Walk-in Plant Clinic where they encourage people to stop in for help. There are knowledgeable volunteers and one degreed Master (horiculturalist I think?) They have resources such as microscopes, etc. on site that they use while you're there. Face-to-face communications about culture and care can be more expedient sometimes then having to document all that before they're even willing to look at the plant. Funny way of doing things in Oregon. :o)

Would they do that to a poor hard working rural farmer. (Original purpose of the Extension office.)

I think they have that too but when I emailed them about times they recommended this way first. Our extension office is...psuedo-local? It is less local than I thought. The college I live next to doesn't have it's own, the one that we have here is an extension (lol) of the extension office for the college an hour away. The clinic is walk-in, call, or email with a preference to seeing pictures first. I'm wondering if maybe they just don't have their degree-holder down here on the weekends.

Tiffu -

I was at the our AV Council fall sale today - and one of the ladies brought several boxes of plants for sale. Our most experienced growers looked at them and decided that they have mite infection - and banned the plants from sale. We looked and looked at them... and it didn't' look like a cyclamen mite infection I encountered twice - but everybody was adamant that they are mitey. May be broad mites - we didn't have the means to investigate further. But the plants had tight hairy centers and flowers had this dotty appearance from mite damage.

Who knows - but if you have this infection - this will be an easy thing to fix. Get to ebay - and check for Forbid 4F. I see there a couple sellers with a trial size 1/2 oz baggies for $25 +s/h. It is more than you need. Spray all green plants in your house. It is a systemic - but I do not think it kills eggs - so you can repeat in a week and in 2 weeks - but usually once is enough. I do not remember the dose - but you can look it up.

Anyway - modern pesticides are generally have low toxicity towards warm blooded animals - but if you have fish - get the fish tanks covered. Wear gloves, glasses, do not eat or drink until you are done - take a shower and wash the clothes. I usually put a cheap respirator - or cover nose and mouth with the scarf.

The fact that somebody looked and didn't find them... they hide and scoot away.

The damage lasts for a long time but eventually the plants will grow out of it.

Irina

Irina -- At this point I'm just ready to know what it is. If does turn out to be mites, I'll probably chuck most of the adult plants and restart the ones I care about from leaves. Luckily if I do that I won't have much left to treat. I imagine if I do that I'll still need to treat the leaves too, right? I wish I had a magnifying glass to look. I'm tempted to ignore what the person recommended with the pictures and just drop by the extension office Monday after what dviolet said. Maybe he misunderstood, or I wasn't clear, or...??? I've never dealt with an extension office so I have no idea if I approached this the right way or not.

I don't have fish but that's good to know for the future. I've never had mites so I can't really say, but it seems to me like it would be spreading a lot quicker than this. Thrips certainly do, but I guess they fly and mites don't. It definitely doesn't look like ANY pictures of mite infestations I've looked at.

Another question -- I've got a gasteria in the same room. Would you include a succulent in that treatment plan?

I would include everything. You treat all your plants - and after that you will wait a month or 2 to decide what needs to be done. Usually - the plants take long time to recover and you are better restarting severely damaged plants from a leaf. But it is a good time to reevaluate all plants and concentrate on ones that you love, not the ones that you are tired of.

That was my thinking in regards to tossing the majority of whatever ends up being affected. There really aren't a ton of the ones that I have that I just can't live without. Better to start over from a clean slate.