I don't have any direct experience with your problem but I believe you may be right in that your water is the problem. Usually hard water is quite alkaline and could cause your PH to be out of whack. If this happens, the plant more or less locks up and can't use any nutrients.

You may wish to use bottled water and see if that makes a difference. Pet stores sell a water PH checker that will give you an estimate of your PH. I would suggest spring water rather than distilled which is too sterile in my opinion. Adding fertilizer will drop the PH. Somewhere around 6.7,. 6.8 or so is ideal. I don't mind 7.0 or slightly higher as my mix is peat based and somewhat acidic anyway.

You may consider repotting also to more or less start anew. A final thought on fertilizer. There are many Jacks formulas so just make certain it is one that is balanced among the three numbers. Its ok if the first number, nitrogen, is higher. I think Jacks is also urea based? Some will claim thats a problem but thats another discussion. I would also suggest cutting back to 1/8 tsp per gallon for awhile.

Good luck!

Terri

Can you post some photos? by ’hard’ do you mean brittle and easily snapped off? by ’stunted’ do you mean tight crowns?

Read this and see what you think:

https://www.babyviolets.com/tight-crowns-on-african-violet-plants/

Continued below...

Leaves are very hard and non-pliable. If you try they brake. Stems grow short and tight. It's not a pest infestation or any of the possible issues mentioned in that link. I've dealt with this for years, all eventually turn like that, so it's something in the culture. The only thing I'm left with is the hard water.

Your plants look similar to the plants in the above link and your problems could be two fold: improper water and too much fertilizer of the wrong kind. I don't know the formula for your particular Jack's but the ones I looked at on line all had the second number way higher than the others. I would suggest you consider taking a leaf from your affected plants & perhaps chuck the rest. Often it is easier to grow a new plant than try to fix the original. Then I would try bottled water and a different fertilizer like Dyna Gro Foliage Pro at 9-3-6 or any other with a balanced ratio.

@terrilou

Yes, for the fertilizers I have been using the second number is way higher than the others. (12-36-14) but it says African Violet on it. You'd think the manufacturer doesn't want to purposely mess up your violets. You may be right though. I remember I didn't quite have this problem when I was using Dyna Grow.

I'll switch to bottled water and change the fert. I will at very diluted doses at first - and we'll see what happens.

By the way, wouldn't it be better to get the 7-9-5 Dyna Grow for better blooming instead of the 9-3-6 for foliage? With those higher in N, I'm always afraid I end up growing salad.

Thank you so much!

With your changes you should be on the right track. As for concerns for too much nitrogen, plants have been deemed to grow best with fertilizers in a 3, 1, 2 ratio. Perhaps start out with the foliage pro & then switch to Grow if you feel flowers are lacking. I agree with low doses. I use 1/8 tsp per gallon. Mostly I’ve used Optimara’s fertilizer which is 14-12-14. Also Better Gro Orchid at 20-14-13. The latter can be found at garden centers.

Good luck!

Terri

I still wonder if hard water can contribute in any way to such symptoms.

I've grown African violets in hard water for 20 years so probably not. I'd assume it is the fertilizer as the others have said.

I am currently using bottled water as we are having some corrosion with old pipes in the house and the AVs don't care for it.

Agree with TerriLou’s advice regarding Dyna-Grow liquid fertilizers and reduced concentration. I used to mix solid fertilizer like Peter’s in the water and had disappointing results at times. Some solid formulas even contain sodium which won’t cause many issues in water with fewer dissolved solids, but may with more minerals.

I also grow violets in hard water, but have used spring water on occasion. If using tap, you may want to let it age a day or two to allow chlorine to bubble out. Since I wick water certain trays, I will leach my plants with tap water and that seems to help remove excess fertilizer and mineral buildup. Hope this helps.

ask your water company for their latest water quality reports .... which they MUST publish smewhere. That may give some clue. Many folks have issues with straight tap water. I use rainwater, and add half strength nutes to that.