D. You say you "recently" bought violet, transplanted, and within days "outer" leaves turn purple,limp and shrivel. Maybe it is in shock. Sometimes they will do that after transplanting or watering with too cold water, or temperatures being too cold in your house or transporting from store. Some growers will wait week or so before they transplant so violet can get use to new environmental conditions. Are you growing under lights or was violet near cold windowsill? Did you use water directly from tap. It could have been too cold. Let water sit for 24 hours so chlorine can dissipate and water is at room temp. or slightly heat water. Did you fertilize right after repotting? Some growers wait a bit before using very weak fertilizer. I don't know how large or deep your terrarium is, but this is what I'd do ( and let me tell you now that I am a novice grower). I'd pot it in a solo cup 2" or less with good drainage from bottom of pot with above mentioned soil (lightly moist) then put it in a plastic baggie zip lock, that will give it humidity, and place somewhere warm. Wait several days see if it gets any better still removing wilting leaves. If you think it has already gone through too much, you could also leave in terrarium and put it in a warm place. Hope someone else can help you out. I just took a break - came back and Fred has also responded. Send for his literature -good advice. Good Luck, Mac

Hi Judy, From Lyndon Lyon's, or LLG, I get consistently large plants, often in bloom, in 2 1/2 in square pots in a good potting mix that does not have to be changed for at least six months. They come with plastic stakes that have the plant name printed on them so I can move them when I repot. The plants grow rapidly and do not sucker. The company has excellent customer service and ships promptly. For me, it is worth it to pay slightly more to get consistently larger, premium quality plants. For all the trouble of ordering live plant material across country, I want to get the best I can for my money. They have good quality control and accurately label the plants. They are my first choice. I only go elsewhere if there is something I want that they don't carry. They also keep their web catalogue updated, so if they are out of stock, they won't list the item. So, no surprises and no substitutions. They usually have enough of a particular type to choose from. For example, they will offer five different reds or five different whites or more. Their own hybrids are exceptional, vigorous and strong. I primarily raise Lyon 's own hybrids. They also have a wide selection of many other hybridizers. They are a large enough company to be able to introduce new hybridizers. They first opened up the Russian market and offer a wide range. They seem to pick the best choices of other hybridizers, so if they offer a plant , I feel it has been preselected for good performance. If something is new in the plant world, chances are they developed it. They are consistent in what they offer, it is usually possible to find the same plant year after year, plus new ones. I like to be a loyal customer and give them my business. They have been at this for sixty years, I appreciate they are still in this business. I feel they are excellent, so why not do business with them? When I place an order with them, I already know what to expect, so I can safely order a dozen. But they will accept an order of any size. When I want to try out a new grower, I place a small order. Usually, about four. Joanne This post was edited by fortyseven on Tue, Aug 12, 14 at 10:56

Some past tips have been to let the plants dry out (larvae live in the damp soil), putting a layer of sand on top of the soil to discourage the egg laying, sprinkling cinnamon...none of them worked for me when I brought home gnats in a new prayer plant and they invaded every plant in my home. What did work was buying a package of mosquite dunks, floating a piece of the dunk in a container of water overnight, then using it to water my plants. The BT in the mosquito dunk kills the gnat larvae and stops the cycle...it may take more than one treatment if the infestation is heavy. The same BT (bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis) is in Gnatrol, & Knock Out Gnats, probably others...I just found the dunks better priced locally (and passed the rest of the package on to a friend with a water feature in their garden)

How about names from music? Is that what the Opera series was about? Or the Allegro series? Optimara grabbed Rhapsodie. Otherwise, I would like to use "Rhapsody in Blue" for my medium blue AVs. Or I would go with "wind tossed" for my gangly, unkempt larger plants. Or anything with "silk" in the name. "Ruffled silk" or "blue silk" because fake plants are generically referred to as "silk." Natural silk has a sheen to it, and feel much like AVS. Joanne