;-))

I am evil, I am cruel
I am cooking thrips with gruel
For my buds I kill them all
Proud bloom will grow tall!

1. Remove ALL buds, open and not and bloomstalks too. Bloomstalks can root - but it will take forever. If you want more violets of the same variety (?!?)- put the leaf down.

2. Buy Shultz spray with neem oil (3 in one) - and spray plants 3 times week apart, warm up the spray bottle - so cold drops won't spot the leaves.

3. Do not despair - happy dethripsed violets will be back with more bloom in a couple of months.

4. Expect that if you buy violets in a store - they will always come with thrips. Disbud, spray and isolate all new arrivals.

5. Thrips have a stage when they hide in a soil - so when disbudding only - you risk to have them reemerging again - so spray soil surface, leaves, nooks, crannies and the middle of the crown. They like to chew on the most tender leaves.

TGIF

Irina, an A.V. Lover

:D Great poem! Hehe, I shall have to read it to all those little bugs as I spray them!

Thank you so much for the help! I'll have to pick up some spray soon!

Question the second: I have two plants in another room of the house, should I also spray and debud those?

Welcome alaizabelle ^_^

Good opening scene Irina!
In answer to your second question, alaizabelle:

Scene I Act II

'Death begets death. Beware! "Something wicked this way comes". Do not wash your hands of it till all are destroyed, or you will have twice the toil and double the trouble.'

Those little thrips can do a lot of damage. Disbud and treat violets in your other room - just to be safe. I recently found thrips in Nov. Glad to say all are gone. Remember to keep buds off and to treat 3 times- a week apart each treatment.
Good Luck

Mac-beth (Sorry, I couldn't resist)

Awww, bummer! I always knew Macbeth was a sad story... I'll go nip those ones, too!

Since I have debudded all of my plants now, would this be a good time to divide some of the plants that I bought with suckers on them? One looks like a giant nest of suckers, more than a plant! o.o I don't want to over-bother them, or would it be best to do all the bothering now so they can have it over with? Haha, my poor plants are going to hate me my the end of this!

Thanks so much for all of the answers ^_^ I'm pretty new to growing these in the 'right' way (There's more than just watering it and leaving it in the window? :0 )If my questions get annoying, just tell me to stop!

Here is a link that might be useful: First three pics are of the suckers of death plant!

HI Alaizabelle,
I would remove all the suckers asap so that your plant can regain its symetrical shape asap. I had a plant that I neglected and it was in worse shape and I was able to bring it back to a nice blooming plant. Also I would order neem oil from Dyna-gro.com. I would only buy the 8oz container which should last for years.
Fred in NJ

Here is a link that might be useful: Operation Ness' Orange Pekoe

Hey A,

I know it looks confusing, (I saw your post on another forum) basically you just have to get in there and go for it, perhaps start at the lowest part of plant and clean it up by taking off the two leaf suckers. Suckers usually start with two leaves facing each other \/. Once you clean up all the small suckers then it may be easier to deal with the rest of the plant. You have the crown with leaves going around it forming a rosette from the main stem \\\///. When you see something that looks like \\\///\\// cut between those last four leaves. Yours look big enough to pull apart and have a whole new plant. Take the sucker put it in moist dirt and place it in a baggie. Leave it for a month till it grows roots. Check it to see if it needs water.

Once you get in there and start taking them off from the stem things will start to take shape. Violets are very forgiving. If you take a leaf that should have stayed on - the plant will eventually grow out again.

Don't worry. You'll do just fine and I'm sure your violets will thank you.

Mac

Ah, Hello there!

Thank you for that explanation, that really helped a lot! Looking at the worst two, I think there will be at least two or three suckers I can root (if I manage to get them off in one piece!)
I will choose a date, and schedule the procedure with the patients! :)

Should I attempt this surgery in pot, or should I take it out and disassemble it completely? The other plants may need repotting after this...

I've dealt with thrips before so my sympathies to you :/

When I first heard of thrips, I had not experienced them and I couldn't understand for the life of me - what the heck the big deal was.....

then I experienced them...and learned......and oy vey!

Get rid of those blooms and watch those little tiny ones that try and peek up at you. I promise that if you'll keep them off, the thrips will go away but you gotta be dilegent.

And the best piece of support that I can offer???
Don't let 'em get you down!
LOL

Dora

HI again,
I would remove the plant from the pot and disassemble it completely. More than likely you will have a neck on the original plant and you will have to repot it again anyway.
Fred in NJ