Hello:

Is this brown color healthy or is it beginning to rot?

I've never really looked at the color of bloomstalks.

Nancy

Steve -

I just looked at the plants - and the most distinct brown bloomstalks are on the Russian variety - Ruby Wedding

I am putting the link to AVSA Russian varieties site.

It has very dark blood red flowers. Mine are even darker.

Irina

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:357937}}

Well I took another look at the plant and I noted that all the leaf stems are brown also so this plant is decidedly different. Also the leafs are different , definately a darker green and are of a smaller size so this might be a mini or mini semi.

Optimara Little Rose Quartz has light green leaves and pink flowers, but the leaf and bloom stalks are dark; one of the things I love about it.

Steve, it sounds like it's your variety.

Korina

Tick: Man. Today is so loopy.

Korina thanks.

Could be but the leaves on this mini are dark green trimmed by a lighter green around its edges. Dont have any blooms yet so dont know about that part. Strange looking plant.

That is a gorgeous bloom in the picture.

Nancy

Lighter green or yellow around the edges of a leaf is called 'haloing'. It's a symptom of nitrogen deficiency; the plant is pulling nitrogen from the older leaves to feed the newer ones.

Chances are either you're not feeding it enough or it needs repotting (old soil breaking down, raising acidity, which blocks nutrient uptake).

Korina, with a few halos of my own

Tick: Oh, science... boring... interest... fading...

Korina-- you may be on the right track, but you are wrong on the counts of old soil and feeding. I repotted all these plants [soiless mix] about 3wks ago and they are wick watered with Peters -12-36-14 at 1/4 tsp per gal. The two minis I have are the same that they have the light green around the edges, but the rest of the plants dont seem to have that. Im thinking its natural for the two plants to look this way if not, do I need to change my plant food?

Steve- hi,

I do not like Peters - there is a difference between commercial size AV packages and itty bitty ones sold as AV fertilizer for the regular consumer - and the difference is urea in small packages. I moved from Peters to DynaGro- and I see it works better.

I agree with you - some plants are most likely to have this haloing whatever you do. On the other side - old leaves do not change easily if at all. It is the new leaves that come up after you repotted the plant - hopefully would look better.

I.

Irina-- the plant food Im using is called "Peters Specialties" 8oz size it states that it has no urea, in fact it goes on to say how bad urea is for avs. This package of plant food will outlive me and has no expiration date. There may be better plant food out there , but untill I do some research and find out more I wont be changing soon. Why do you think Dyna gro is a better plant food?

Irina, How about starting a new thread so we can reference it easily? I think there'll be a lot of discussion on this.

Barbara

Below is a link to a page of photos -- #1 is a good example of haloing. 'Cause, ya know? I was re-reading Steve's post and it may be variegation on the edges of his leaves. Just color me embarassed if it's true.

Barbara, which part? The urea thing has been discussed extensively before; try a forum search and you'll come up with lots of pages. Fertilizers in general have also been discussed; basically look for approximately balanced, no urea, and rotate through several brands (if you can find them).

Korina

Tick: Oh, what a goofy work is man.

Here is a link that might be useful: African violet leaf problems

I would have to say that #1 is what the leaves look like on my two minis, but the rest of my plants dont have this. All my plants are watered from the same bottled water jug.

I have propagated several AFs from leaves and after almost year they are blooming. I noticed that the stalks on all are thin a little smaller then a no. 2 pencil. Should I stop them from blooming, and if so how long?

They are probably still young, you will get stronger bloomstalks later when the plants mature. It also depends on the variety - miniature and semi-miniature violets as well as trailers have much skinnier bloomstalks than standards and even standards vary. Some have skinnier, some have thicker bloomstalks.

Depending on your culture - f they have enough light, you feed them regularly and the soil is good - you can leave them alone and enjoy the blooom. If you grow them on the windowsills - - they won't be as strong - you can leave one bloomstalk on each plant - and pinch the rest - so the energy goes to the growth. But in a long run - they will catch up.

If you want - you can post the photo - so we all can see what you are talking about.

Irina_co