It could be over-fertilization, ... it also could be exposure to some plant pest since April.

Typically, when they're this far gone (small crown growth), ... there's no recovering. And I'd be a bit concerned for any new violets. (Did I mention about the time I lost 100+ plants to Broad Mite ?)

I've lost plants to over-fertilization as well. That tends to burn out the crowns, leaving you nothing but the outer leaves and any suckers that develop.

If I were you, I think that I'd discard every plant that looks to be affected, ... clean and sanitize the area where they were positioned, and get some new replacements.

It doesn't look like there is any pest. I placed leaves under microscope. The middle crown growth is perfectly formed, except it is small. It's the mushiness of the plant that worries me most. The only one blooming....I guess it needs to go. :((((((

But I'll add a picture first....

Aegis has given you some sound advice. Sometimes a plant goes into a decline & we never know the exact reason. Nursing a sick plant back to health generally isn't worth the effort when so many healthy violets are available.

Review your cultural conditions & keep a sharp eye on your other three if you decide to keep them. All of us AV growers lose plants on occasion so don't beat yourself over a loss. Chalk it up to a learning experience and go on.

Terri

terrilou and aegis,

While the advice makes complete sense, I decided not to toss the violet just yet.

I did move it to a completely different room away from my other violets, though I am pretty sure pests are not the issue here.

What bothers me is not losing a plant per se (in fact, I should say "yet another plant"); but not knowing what caused the problem in the first place.

If I keep tossing plants simply because they "didn't work out", I can't chalk all this up to "learning" - because I am not really learning anything.

Next time I could be making the same mistake if said mistake was not identified before.

As you can see the leaves are soft and droopy although the plant was never waterlogged to my knowledge. The soil stayed damp/moist all the way through.

It is also true that this violet never got its original soil changed, the one it came in about half a year ago. So it may have been a bit too heavy and kept too much moisture which eventually led to root rot? Could it just need repotting?...

I would be tempted to attribute the decline to fertilizer because when i saw it blooming happily and for so long, I thought it needed to stay on a nice dose of fertilizer and I think I dropped a bit more in there than I should have during the past few enthusiastic waterings. The fact that this was a fertilizer higher in phosphorous may explain why it sent more blooms while the foliage was becoming stunted and later softened.

At the same time, you said that symptoms of over-fertilization are burned crowns (the new growth). This is not burnt - it seems perfectly healthy, it is not tight - but it is small/stunted.

I will keep it so I can take it out, study its roots (not that I know how to tell a mess-ed up root system from a healthy one) and just study its evolution. Give it more time to see how it will develop, whether it it will just die on its own and if yes, how.

I am not doing this to "save the plant" or save money for another plant - I just need to actually learn something, even if this means turning the poor plant into a Guinea Pig.It's far away from my other plants anyway...and I need know what in the world I am doing that most of my violets meet some weird fate sooner or later. :-(

And another picture from above. Notice the crown - small growth but not burnt, tight or deformed.

All other leaves shrunk too. The plant used to be fuller, with larger leaves and much more luscious. So I did something to it - but I need to find out what so I won't do it again.

The photo helps a lot.

The crown growth looks normal to me.

You might be experiencing some leaf drop due to warm temperatures. That's fairly normal if your indoor temps are exceeding 75 degrees or so.

What I would do is to wait until temps drop ... and then beef up my fertilization slightly. Go for 1/4 teaspoon rather than 1/8 teaspoon.

Thank you aegis? But shouldn't i go easier with the fertilizer instead of stronger? This plant has received quite a bit of fertilizer before so in fact, I was thinking about taking it off fertilizer for a while, after it stops blooming. The thermostat in my house does register 77-78. But it doesn't feel hot at all to me and my other plants seem to be just fine at this temp.

I meant to say "hold the fertilization" until temperatures drop.

Different plants react differently to higher temperatures.

I know of a few different plants which will SLOWLY drop leaves in the summer. A basic rule-of-thumb for growers is to hold-off on fertilization in the summer ... unless you cool your house to compensate.

Hmm...I never knew about holding off fertilization during summer. I just thought that when the plant is in bloom you should make sure it gets fertilizer, usually with a higher phosphorous content, to support extra bloom. I think I was getting so excited about one of my four plants blooming, that I dumped too much fertilizer on it - and during the summer at that.

Summer temperatures tend to put stress on AV's, so growers will typically stop fertilizing so as to avoid putting any more stress on the plants.

When fall arrives, you may resume fertilizing as usual.

Ask five different growers about fertilizing & you will get five different opinions! I tend to fertilizer year round as the temperatures in my growing areas seldom go over 80 in the summer and stay around 74 day temps in the winter. I rarely use more than 1/4 tsp per gallon of a urea free formula. . . often less. I let the plants guide me. If one is growing & setting buds, it gets fertilizer. If it seems to be resting, I will back off. Of course, this means that ideally I should study each plant. I don't always do so. . . another reason for me to use a low dose.

I am glad you took that overhead pix. Your crown as others have said, looks normal. Those leaves will always be small at first. They grow out to be larger.

Begonia, I have read every one of your posts and you are working so hard on your violets. Almost obsessing. I wonder if you should take a step back and just breathe. I mean this kindly. At the rate you are going, I wonder if you will ever just sit back and enjoy your violets instead of looking at every small deviation and wondering what you did wrong when nothing is really wrong.

I think you are doing fine. I don't think you are doing as much wrong as YOU think you are doing. Try to relax. You have new babies now and they are going to go thru a lot of changes being packed up and coming from a nursery. If you agonize over every change your hair will be more grey than mine! lol. (mine is really grey!)

Violets vary in their growth cycles and 90% of it is nothing to be alarmed about.

Please don't toss that plant. She is fine. Let her go thru her next cycle. They do go thru phases, just like us!

I tend to fertilize a little more when plants are actively growing/blooming. That doesn't mean a stronger mixture, it means only that instead of doing it every 4th watering I may do it every 2nd watering. Even my wicked violets only get fertilized water every other watering. 1/4 strength or LESS. Usually much less because they suck it up for about 1 to 1 1/2 weeks. Then they get plain water again.

Terrilou said it very well, "I let the plants guide me. If one is growing & setting buds, it gets fertilizer. If it seems to be resting, I will back off. Of course, this means that ideally I should study each plant. I don't always do so. . . another reason for me to use a low dose."

Remember, when you do something different to a violet you have to wait several weeks at least before you see if it made a difference. There are NO quick fixes with growing plants. They take time to acclimate to what you did different!

You are doing fine. I have re read alot of your posts. Most of your angst just has to do with inexperience. And you want to succeed. Like we all do. That is what this forum is for and by all means if posting a pix with a question gives you piece of mind that is fine. But in between,,,,,try to slow down and breathe. Good Luck!!!!! Rosie

Esteemed fellow AV growers,

With all due gratitude for the help I have received here, I am afraid this plant is NOT OK.:-(

I don't think the problem is that I have been fussing over my AV-s too much. :-)

This plant really has something and I am frustrated I cannot tell what.

Today it went further down hill, with all leaves on first row dropping and getting really soft (see pics) - despite having been correctly watered. Soil has been kept evenly moist.

On top of that, another violet (the large, "My Love" Optimara) that has shared a stand with this one, continues to turn one new leaf limp every day. I took them all off, one by one, but if it keeps turning a new leaf limp every other day, there is clearly a problem.

I am almost 100% sure it's not any pest as I looked at leaves closely, including under the microscope.

I am not even sure if the two AV-s share the same ailment - I just know that these two plants on this corner stand are not doing well.

Maybe the kitchen gets hotter than what the thermostat in the hallways shows (which is the 77-78)...but I have my other plants on an opposite wall in the same room - and those seem fine.

Maybe it was the fertilizer that burnt too many roots....but then I don't know what's with the Optimara.

I just don't want to go through this experience without learning anything so I know what to avoid next time.

I am thinking to disbud this plant, take the entire first row of leaves off and repot it with fresh soil.

Hi Begonia

I neglected to mention before that I, too, have at least a couple plants that are slowly losing leaves this summer. They're blooming, but they always lose leaves in the summer. They're not losing them at the rate of a leaf per day, so I think that they'll make it to the Fall when temperatures will drop somewhat.

There are, actually, a number of AV's that I have lost over the course of a summer. Even after I thought that I solved my Chloramine issue, I still lost maybe a half-dozen plants in a summer.

One of the plants that I've always wanted to grow is Royal Rage, pictured below ...

... but, I've never been able to grow it through the summer.

In summer's past, I've also lost Southern Sugar, Harmony's New Flash, ... and there's really only been one of the Ma's varieties which I've been able to grow (of the ones that I've tried ... repeatedly).

My conclusion was that I simply could not grow these plants in my environment ... and I've since tried to concentrate on the plants which seem to thrive in my environment.

Aside from this, my recommendations for a plant which seems to be struggling through the summer are these ...

* try to keep it cooler (heat is the root of the problem)

I've thought that I should put my summer strugglers in my lower-level display (where it's a bit cooler), as opposed to being upstairs (where it's a bit warmer).

* keep it a little drier (excess moisture can exacerbate the problem)

These plants become more difficult to water through this time. They need adequate moisture, but at the same time, ... seemingly not a drop too much.

* take a break on the fertilizer (fertilizer puts stress on a plant that's struggling)

You really want these plants to REST during the summer. Then, you can perk them up in the Fall for a 6-8 month display of blooms.

But, as I said before, ... I don't struggle with many of these plants. You can find more heat-resistant plants which will flourish for you year round.

Very helpful advice! There has been a discussion going on in various places about some violets developing root rot this summer. Seems to be affecting Optimara. It seems to show up in the outer leaves showing signs of decay. The all about African violets podcasts were talking about it about 3 episodes past. There is an index of topics on the website. Or perhaps ask the people on the optimara Facebook page. It is a public group. Joanne