Please help with my AV problem...

20 years ago

Hello,

I have two AVs that I bought at Wal-Mart back in November or December of 2005. Not knowing any better, I put 1/2 of fertilizer stake in the soil as close to the pot as possible. In just a couple of days, the AVs turned dark, DARK green. After doing some reading on Rachel's Reflections, I realized that I had probably over-fertilized them. I immediately removed the remainder of the stakes and leached the soil... but not too much. In just a few days, they seemed to begin doing better.

When I water the AVs I bottom water them and make sure not to get any water on the leaves or stems. I also make sure not to touch the leaves or stems.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a problem begining on the mature leaves. There are brown lines, circles and other shapes on them. There is also a place on one of the leaves that almost looks like a cancer would look on a human. A place on the bottom of one of the leaves almost looks like a where a person has had a ring-worm!

I feel relatively sure that plants don't get ring-worm or cancer, but I don't know enough about AVs to figure out what is going on. I have used a very strong magnifying glass to look at the leaves and can find no bugs or anything moving on the leaves or the affected areas.

I know that a picture is worth a thousand words, and I wanted to post some here. But, the place where I store my online pics (photobucket) is down right now. So, I did the next best thing. I created a web site at freewebs.com and have posted six pictures there.

If someone wouldn't mind taking a look and letting me know what you think, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance for your time and help.

Robert

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics of my AV's problem

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Comments (7)

wendyz
20 years ago
Hello All,

I have read everything in past posts that came up in my searches, but could find no answer as to why the edges of our *ONE* baby AV's leaves are curling upwards.

Can anyone please tell me what I am doing wrong, or what needs to be done to help this little gal?

Thank you in advance for any input!!

Wendy
erlyberd
20 years ago
I would guess those round spots are water spots not sure about the other marks though. I'm by no means an expert here, just another rookie like you!

Optimara's website has a ton of diagnostic stuff but the info is all over my head. Good luck.

www.optimara.com
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irina_co
20 years ago
Robert - I think what you see is a result of your fertilizer overload, may be cold water some time and change of the environment- from the greenhouse to Walmart- to you.

Otherwise your violet looks very healthy and it will grow out of these damaged leaves. You can break them off if they irritate you. Usually if it is wet rot - you better remove them ASAP. Dry rot - I think it is a result of the break in culture - and new leaves are coming nicely.

It is not dangerous to get leaves wet - they actualy like to have a shower from time to time - just let them dry in a warm palce without direct light and remove the water from the center with a touch of cleenex. It is important to have your watering and washing done by a tepid water. Not too hot and not too cold. Since you didn't repot it - the soil is too heavy - that's how they grow them for sale. It is tolerable - just do not water it too much. This soil can get waterlogged in a hurry and drown the roots.

Do not put any spikes any more - get some violet food - Miracle Grow, Shults, Peters - and fertilze it very sparingly - better about 1/2 of the recommended strengh.

Good luck - and your plant really looks good.

Irina
korina
20 years ago
Robert, check the FAQ on the forum's main page. Also check out Rachel's site; she has all the cultural info you could want, with pics!

Korina

Here is a link that might be useful: Rachel's Reflections
beebiz43
Original Author
20 years ago
Hey all,

Korina, thanks but I had already tried Rachel's site and found no definitive answers. I also tried the FAQ section and found no answers. I tried a search for "brown spots" and got 0 results. That's why I posted my question.

Erlyberd (love that spelling), I have made darn sure that absolutely no water has gotten on any of the plant... especially the leaves. However, I must thank you for the link to Optimara's site. Thanks to their interactive diagnosing section, I quickly found the answer to my question. And, I found the solution to the problem.

According to their diagnosing section, Irina hit the proverbial nail right on the head. My AVs are suffering from a fertilizer overload. More likely (according to Optimara's site) from a Manganese overload.

Irina and erlyberd, thank you so much for your help. As soon as I disconnect from here, the AV's will get a new pot with new soil just like the Optimara site recommended.

Thanks again,
Robert
beebiz43
Original Author
20 years ago
I just read the thread at http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rosesant/msg011911036667.html

Because of the fact that as of 1/24 iVillage will own all copyrights to picrures and content that is posted here at GW as well as things on our personal web sites which we have posted links to here on GW, I am deleting the site that I created for the above AV problme pictures. I'm sure glad that photobucket was down when I made the original post! I don't know if iVillage could use my pics to make money or not, but I don't intend to let them try!

This is the last straw with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dchall_san_antonio
20 years ago
I think I'm going to use http://www.Yahoo.com as my personal URL and see if they try to capture the content of that beast. Oh, oh, OH! Is there a URL for the American Bar Association?