Observation I have made since wick watering

10 years ago

Hi guys so this is something I though I would share. I have this noid African violet that has dark foliage with baby pink blooms.

Now ever since I have this plant the leaves always curled under, and I tried to figure out why, But never actually got it.

I checked for mites but there was none present. Well I recently started wicking over a month ago and I repotted this violet too.

Now since I started wicking it I noticed the leaves today and what do you know? A lot of them were not curled but stright and only a few of the older ones were still curled.

So I suspect the cause for the curling was uneven watering and maybe low humidity. This goes to show that leaves react to lack of moisture by curling under just as they would if broad mites were present.

I just thought I would share this observation so if someone else has leaves curling they can check to ensure their plants are being kept moist enough and also that it has enough humidity. And that MITES are not the only cause of this reaction.

Below are pics showing what I mean. Velleta

Pic showing a few leaves that are still curl

Pic showing the other leaves that have strightened since wick watering. VELLETA

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Comments (5)

Rosie1949
10 years ago
See Velleta???? Your thumb IS getting greener!!!! Hooray for you!!!! Rosie
fortyseven_gw
10 years ago
Very interesting observation, Velleta!
Velleta Tardiel thanked fortyseven_gw
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tabb
10 years ago
Thanks for the pictures, Vell. All my 40 plants have been on wick systems from the beginning & I observed leaves on some of mine under artificial light 10 hours a day curling under & stunted looking. I too thought 1st of mites from what I'd read. I started rotating them in 4 different locations in my house that all receive different light: east morning bright light, north all day even light, southwest afternoon filtered sunlight & under my Sunblaster light 10 hours a day. The new leaves responded positively just like yours & it even stimulated plants to bud & bloom.

The moral is as growers to try changing things when they don't look happy. Sometimes they just need a change of scenery just like we do. Hope this helps someone.
Velleta Tardiel thanked tabb
Velleta Tardiel
Original Author
10 years ago
Wow Tabb, so in your case they did not like the artificial light. Goes to show that plants can show similiar symptoms for so many different reasons.

That's why there is no set way to grow violets. We just have to experiment until we find what works best for our plants and us.

Thanks for sharing, hopefully it will be of benifit to someone: ) VELLETA
fortyseven_gw
10 years ago
Some varieties do beetter in lower levels or hours of natural window light. Examples are some of the Optimaras that were developed for average home situations so were nicknamed "window sill" plants. (This can be a problem when people who are not sessoned growers receive a plant that does best under fluorescent light.)
Velleta Tardiel thanked fortyseven_gw