African Violet failing to thrive...

10 years ago

My African Violet appears to be sick. Having read a few articles, I am concerned that it may have some sort of fungus. As another person reported, the original plant was my mother's who had an amazing green thumb... I have the only one of her violets and am terrified I will kill it; my siblings will want me hung drawn and quartered if I do. Please help!
This plant was grown from a leaf cutting and was doing extremely well, with lots of beautiful blossoms until the spring of this year. After one set of flowers faded, the next buds did not open. I thought it was lack of moisture, so I placed it above a tray with rocks in it and kept water below the pot level to provide humidity, that seemed to help with a few flowers buds that appeared, but when they died there have been no other flowers.
I wondered if it needed a rest so stopped fertilizing it with the liquid Schultz African Violet plant food mixed with water to a solution for regular watering that I have used with good success so far. The rest does not appear to have helped and the leaves in the centre of the plant are smaller than the original leaves and curling. Just recently, most of the original larger leaves have fallen off of the plant.
I have taken two of the larger leaves and planted them in a pot with fresh soil to see if either of them will root, but wonder if anyone can provide insights on what might be wrong and what I can do.
Thank you!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

snappyguy
10 years ago
Can you post a photo of the plant? Small leaves in the crown (center) can be a symptom of both fungus and mites. The larger leaves falling off may be due to age, root rot from overwatering, or even underwatering at times. This site should help you diagnose the problem too: Dr Optimara
cdnmaid thanked snappyguy
cdnmaid
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago

Thank you for your attempt to help Snappy Guy!

Apologies... I tried to attach a photo, and although I went through the exercise and it did not appear in my comment I thought maybe it might attach somehow that I could not see when I sent the question, but apparently that did not work. Ok... looks like Houzz photo is what is required, not the other option. Above is my sad violet and below are the cuttings, which I have now put into a Ziploc bag, hoping that might help them root better.
Related Professionals
Lake Charles Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Cumberland Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Joplin Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Gloucester Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Winona Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Modesto Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Las Cruces Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Hot Springs Landscape Contractors · Portsmouth Landscape Contractors · Jackson Landscape Contractors · New Haven Landscape Contractors · Cedar Rapids Landscape Contractors · Elk City Architects & Building Designers · Fort Wayne Architects & Building Designers · Coldwater Architects & Building Designers
plantcrazed101
10 years ago
Your soil looks very heavy, how often do you water it? Do you let it dry out almost to the point of wilting before watering it again? With soil that heavy I would be really careful with the watering.

Light...has the light changed at all?

Temperature...any changes?

Fertilizer...have you added or changed any fertilizer?

Water...do you use tap water?

Time...how long has it been in the same pot?

Air quality/circulation...did you start using the AC or heater around the time it started to mold? Does it get air blown on it often? Either from outside or from something generating drafts?

Can you take another photo zoomed in of the crown of the violet? Are the inner leaves twisted?

Do you see any browning or rotting of the leaves or leaf stems?

Most AVs aren't very hard to grow, so don't let my questions scare you! haha it just helps me when I can't see the plant in person in it's current location.

That might help me get a better sense of what your plant might be going through. :)
judyj
10 years ago
Weeell, if it was doing great before but suddenly changed, then I'd look for either insects or an environment change instead of water. Sounds like it happened fairly quickly (which makes me suspect environment change). Your picture doesn't show any kind of obvious fungus, but we'd want to see below the leaves. The tips of a couple leaves are showing a blackish wilt though which could be due to over-watering and/or cold air. Perhaps if you can check carefully for insects, under leaves, along the stem etc. The Doctor Optimara site is pretty good.

Barring insects:
Did you possibly change it's location at all? Sometimes even a cold breeze can do this.

Might not be a bad idea to take it out of the soil and carefully check to see if the roots/crown are mushy. If so, then you're probably looking at crown rot. You might still be able to save a portion of the crown (good job on grabbing a couple leaves). This is usually due to over-watering/letting it sit in water. However, if it's too cold-and it's wet as well, then it's a double whammy.

If the roots and crown are OK, it won't hurt to repot it in new soil. Just don't get the new soil soaking wet-just damp. See if it perks up, and if so, then you can water from the bottom in a day or so.

Best,

Judy
fortyseven_gw
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Hi, I am suspecting overwatering with the pebble tray ... see how the leaves do. Would your sibs honestly know the difference if you slipped in a new, healthy violet from a nursery? (We won't tell if you don't, as we don't want to see any bloodshed!) My theory is that all AVs come from the same original stock, anyway. you know, sort of like "Adam & Eve." Joanne