section10,
Well, when I bought a healthy av from a local Wal-Mart, I had to literally slip it out of both the pots it was in (usually they come in a green plastic pot and a colored outer plastic pot) and set it on a towel, moving it every thirty minutes or so, for a total of 2-3 hours to try and get all of the excess moisture out of the soil. I've found with my african violets, they like to dry out and then be watered again, so this was way too wet for mine.

I'm guessing this is the case with your av as well. With no blossoms, that is fine, I mean the plant is not necessarily sick because of that as sometimes they go through periods without flowers. Are the leaves discolored, I mean are they yellowish green in color or green with yellowish markings on them, or are they solid green in color? I would keep it away from direct sun (sun coming in from a window, I'm not sure if this is considered direct or indirect, but keep it in a shady area, I don't mean like in the dark, but in a bright windowsill that doesn't get any sun from the outside on the windowsill). I'm not sure what else to say, I hope this is some what of help. I am sure others will pitch in their advice as well.

Elizabeth

I'd say the leaves are solid green.
Thanks for the advice.
Jim

Hi, Jim,

The first thing I would do is try to determine why the leaves are limp. If it had been properly watered in the store, they should be firm.

Possibly the plant was allowed to dry out to the point of limpness, and then got watered. In some cases, the leaves will then firm up. Feel in the soil with your finger and try to tell that way if the soil feels waterlogged, or just damp.

If you have had it for a couple of days and the leaves are still limp, I would then suspect root rot. Put out some newspaper to catch the dirt, and take the plant out of the pot. Before removing any dirt, just sit and look at it for a minute. See anything moving? Any whitish webby areas? If not, gently remove the soil from the root ball. You'll probably find that it is mostly peat moss, which holds an enormous amount of water. You will also probably find the roots very brown if any at all. When you get to the stem portion, is it mushy? If so, this is root rot. Your only chance at this point is to remove the rot working your way up the stem until you get to nice green stem. If you can do this and take off leaves as you work up, you can try to root the remaining crown. You will need a little stem to do so, so take off some more of the leaves until you have a 'stem' at least half an inch long. At this point, I take the crown and immerse it in very warm water to rehydrate the leaves, and leave overnight, changing the water to keep it warm. Then I pot it in a 1-1-1 mix, bag it, and put in a light place until the stems sends out new roots.

If you have any moving things in that soil, pitch it in the garbage and kiss your $1.50 goodbye.

Good luck.

Barbara

Jim,
I agree with Barbara. You are welcome for the advice by the way... if they are green and don't have a tint of yellow on them, it sounds ok. I've seen african violets here at Home Depot that looked horrid, instead of being solid green, they have yellowish streaks all over the leaves and the leaves are all crinkly looking... those people don't know how to care for plants (at least the one here they don't lol).

Elizabeth

Update,
I repotted the plant yesterday in AV soil and trimmed off most of the outer leaves which were in pretty bad shape. The plant left is about a third of what I started with. The roots looked okay though and after potting I set it up in a north window in a tray of water for humidity and this morning the leaves seem to have lifted up somewhat. Maybe it wasn't as bad off as it first looked.
Jim

section10,
Good to hear! I hope you can help it grow into a beautiful plant.

Elizabeth