Karin
I don't know what is causing that.
I do know that my violets did fine all winter. Then everything went to "pot."

Bugs, rots, broken/cracked foliage, yellowing crowns ad nauseum. No growth, no blooms.

I sprayed, I drenched, I repotted, I adjusted the Ph.

But, I have to ask, what changed in the Environment? Plants were doing fine with that same water, fertilizer, soil all winter.

Bugs are a springtime thing, I know and so is rot with the cold nights and warm days. And the light changes.

Don't be too quick to toss plants. I quit spraying, repotting and adjusting because I was getting to be a real pest. These plants can only take so much fiddling/fussing.

I hope someone has a better answer.

This post was edited by lucky123 on Tue, May 6, 14 at 14:53

Thanks Lucky!

Yeah, I sure feel the same. Everything was going great, and then suddenly one plant starts keeling over after another...
Now it looks like I may have mites - though I hadn't brought in anything new in months. I even saw a centipede crawl over a pot, though I had only used sterile soil and perlite. No idea where that came from.
Anyhow. I am isolating and treating what I can. The rest just goes to make room for future plants. Though I will not be bringing anything new into that room for a loooong time...

Karin
Don't toss plants. I did that and I feel bad now;
Isolate and dome every plant.
When you determine that you have bugs, get a spray and use it. I used diluted triazicide and a homemade tea, alternately. All I can say about the homemade spray is that if the BATF comes knocking, I did not shoot those nasty bugs.
But what I had to determine is why I was getting all the problems. Healthy plants in a good environment resist rots and bugs.
Before you let the plants out of the domes, determine as I did whether it is a spring time problem, cold nights, warm days, the doors are open more? Is it humidity?
I am going to dome all my plants every spring and fall. That is when I have the problems. The hungry bugs, the dry humidity , the people and animals in and out, doors and windows open, drafts and chills all contribute to rot and bugs.
Also the light changes, the window sills warm up etc
You are having problems, one after the other and like me, you have to solve the underlying issues, not just treat the rots, then the bugs, then the next thing.
What is stressing your plants? That is the real issue.

This post was edited by lucky123 on Tue, May 6, 14 at 21:50

I think this is an environmental issue rather than insects. Many culture issues show up when the seasons change. What has changed in your growing area lately?

I don't think this is a serious problem.

Linda

I know exactly what is wrong with my growing conditions! I just got up this morning and it was 10 degrees (Celsius) in my plant room!!! And my husband actually thinks that is good for the plants! And he's been doing this for weeks.
I had to throw out a ficus, which you can barely kill with anything other than cold!
I am going to have to tape the windows shut or do something else drastic...
/rant over

I am so glad it wasn't bugs. Throw out the husband!

(Mine insisted on putting my plants outside -like his mother did- I'm not his blanking mother. The sheep ate my big ficus.) Actually my MIL was okay but we weren't the same person, you know? I'm kind of surprised the cold killed a ficus too. I could hang lights on mine and I'd grown it from a little one.

Diana

It is Spring.
It is easier to control the temperature locally with heat pad than it is to control the family and pets who want fresh air, even cool fresh air after a winter of stuffy.
Domes, heat pads all help.
With bugs, Dandy Lion is a hitchhiking bug's best friend, DH likes to open windows and doors. If it is a choice between Dandy Lion being happy, DH being happy and plants being happy, guess who gets happy first?
Kill a Ficus? I almost killed a Schefflera and I did kill a Diffenbachia ( And They Said, It Couldn't Be Done!)

This post was edited by lucky123 on Wed, May 7, 14 at 10:13

Fine, I've put two electrical heaters in the plant room now. think he'll get the message?

what i don't get, is, he used to grow AV's himself. but i guess he's forgotten all about it...

and he turns around changing our central heat over to a/c. presumably so he won't have to open any windows to chill the place to freezing... i guess consistent temperatures are still better than up and down all the time...

As I said once before, no one messes with my plants, plant room, landscaping or yard under pain of dismemberment. They're allowed to look, admire, drool, covet, wish for, smell, inquire, praise, and/or help (only if asked), but that is all.

It saves a lot of drama.

Linda

Linda, you are my hero. i still have to learn to put my foot down properly ;-p

i am looking for a small setup to go in my office, where i can keep the more finicky plants separated. maybe i'll just get another aerogarden off kijiji.

Karin,
It is a Canadian thing. Most DH's think anything above 55 F is a heat wave. Canadien DH's think anything above minus 10 F is a heat wave.
Maybe tell him the plants provide the equivalent of fresh air without having to open windows. Your DH sounds like a keeper. My DH did not pay much attention to my indoor plants for a long time. He thought plants belonged in the garden in the summer. The tidy sort.

Linda, Glad you said it is a cultural issue.
I was looking forward to your opinion as I have had a few leaves look like that, also. I had not paid a lot of attention to the plants, so I removed the leaves and have begun to hover more over the plants.
Joanne

Joanne,

It looks like cell death in the leaves which is usually from environmental conditions. Insects are either chewers, suckers or piercers and this doesn't really look like any of these.

Linda

Thanks Linda,

I am still worried, but not standing there, hovering, ready to spray everything in sight :-) I'll keep a watchful eye, but it seems I am still having temperature & humidity issues more than anything else, along with probably needing to repot (my, has it been six months already?). So I am literally at the edge of my seat expecting the worst every day... My 'own' plants (grown from suckers and leaves) appear to be more resilient, or maybe they already went through the selection process...

Karin

Karin, I also find that the plants I grow from leaves in my environment are beautiful. Irina had posted that would happen. I never used to keep plants long enough that I grew myself, so I never saw the end result. They even bloom faster. I have one baby still attached to momma leaf that has a big, fat bud on it! For me, it is all about the light. They get a lot of bright, indirect light.

Maybe yours are resilient, hardened off in your environment. Mine seem to be happy in my environment. They get a lot of personal attention! ;D

Home grown plants have been raised under your environment so they are well adjusted to it. A plant that has been brought in has to get used to conditions different from those in which it was grown, usually ideal, greenhouse conditions. The older the plant, the less resilient it is. (Like people!)

And, as Karin noted, they have already been through the selection process.

I have two blooms on babies that are still attached to the mother leaf. Funny how some can't wait to bloom and some just won't.

Linda

I had the same problem . My plants where doing great up until the last week of April. Then i started losing plants right and left. I lost 3 full trays of starter plants almost over night. I live in Tucson Az where the day time winter temp is in the 80's but at night that temp can quickly drop. Late in January we had 2 weeks where the temp dropped . Then my mother opened a window in the plant room. I did not catch it for 3 days. Since almost ever thing I have is on wicks and reservoirs it was perfect for the growth of the pathogens which cause root rot. I lost a total of about 100 plants , but I have finally got it under control . I have made note on my computer calendar, it will start sending me a email in January to remind about it, until I shout it off.

Wow, i didn't even have a hundred to start with ;-) now that would hurt, unless you have thousands...

mine seem to be starting to recover, though one just flopped over yesterday, and another is looking undecided - this time i took a leaf before it was too late though.

Karin

Linda, back a few posts, you mentioned cell death. I will have to read up more about that. The leaves that looked like that were mostly older ones touching the sides of the pot. On plants that I did not look at too often.
The reptile was identified as a harmless lizard. Guess it was just curious.
J

This post was edited by fortyseven on Fri, May 9, 14 at 23:50