C. -

It was way too small for a pot - so the soil stayed too wet and it rotted. Probably the mars on the leaves someway connected to the wet roots. Mars do not look like anything bad.

the soil for dandy pots you use... where is your perlite? The soil should be - to start with 1:1:1 peat, perlite, vermiculite, then put a half inch of pure perlite on the bottom of the pot and add another part of perlite to your soil.

If you want to save your plant - you probably need to put leaves down. It is a young plant, it looks wilted - it probably has the stem rotten too. You cut a couple of larger leaves, let them swim in a lukewarm water for half an hour to rehydrate and put them in a small container - like a condiment cup - with 1:1:1 soil and put it in a zip bag. I heard that people use Jiffy pellets wetted and crumbled for the starting mix as well. The secret - the soil should be barely wet, but the air - humid. Normally Chantaspring is a very easy one to root.

Good Luck

irina

I put celticcraftress's url in the link below... we had talked about it off-list before she posted it. I'm not sure what to make of it. I had sent her the Chantaspring sucker, so i checked the mother plant and it's fine so that rules out disease. She's using fresh potting mix so that would rule nutrient deficiency. It looks a lot like what Nancy Robitaille calls "ring spot," due to leaf contact with cold water except celtic was using a self-watering pot.

Anyone know what's going on?

Thanks,
shireen

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:380249}}

Perlite...? I wasn't aware I needed to add perlite to the African Violet soil mix I bought. I thought it had everything the little guys needed. Im sorry, I am a beginner. So far Chantaspring appears to be perking up sense I chopped the extra possibly rotten "tuber" away and replanted in a converted medicine cup pot with new soil. It is also in a greenhouse setup like I did for my Teeny Bopper. TB is just flourishing now (was a cutting too), so we'll see what happens for Chantaspring. Hoping for the same results. I know I should just chop it and start over with leaves, but my gut says to wait because it has lots of new leaf growth that hasn't stopped yet. I guess if it dies, i'll learn my lesson and chop from now on. I might cut just one leaf though...im thinking about it. Just don't want to cause it anymore trauma yet.

By the way, those $1 clear boxes at Michaels Arts and Crafts make fantastic little re-usable greenhouses. ^_~

C. -

nope - the African Violet mix you can buy in big stores needs to be corrected with perlite and vermiculite - or at least perlite. It has mostly peat - which is tha cheapest component of 3 main ingredients.
If you want to use Dandy self watering pots - you need to add even more perlite and a layer of pure perlite on the bottom.

When you work with plants - you become amazingly creative and recycle lots of stuff. Mini-greenhouse - think - salad or angel cake container. My friend has an excuse to buy mini-deserts in Whole Foods - because they put them in a perfect small "greenhouses" for starting seeds.

Whatever mars you had on your leaves seem "mechanical" - some kid of bruise or conditions or sun or water etc. No Bugs. You do not need to remove a leaf if it has a spot.

Since you are advancing in your violet knowledge - take advantage of this wonderful site and work through it.

It is a good practice when you get a new plant - to take a leaf and put it down for babies. It comes froma different house with different conditions - so may be the stress can be too much - but you have babies coming anyway.

Irina

Here is a link that might be useful: Rachel's Reflections

Your pics seem to ask if it's sunburn.
Aside from the soil change that your going to make to help the roots your "sunburn" is a result of over fertilizing Which is understandable as the soil in the pics is, as said not the best.

Personal preferences it's 50 - 50 to cutting or removing leaves at such a small size as they are also vital for the plants general health and production. As it is also a good idea to start fresh as back up and other plant isolation concerns that have some mentioning

1 lt. pop bottles make for good hothouses as well.