Hi Anne :) thanks... this was never a dark plant ... maybe it was a darker green before but not very much ... the light it gets is 2 hours of afternoon sun through a pale grey sheer curtain ... I don't mind moving it to another location as long as it doesn't have bugs. Most of the time there is no sun just brightish light.

(ps: I too was puzzled over the description that it was supposed to be a dark green plant.)

Not enough photosynthesis. The sun is aseptic and good against some bugs. Balance between day and night is essential for all living things.

I use cinnamon oil spray on the surroundng area to get rid of insects, fungi, bacteria, although not too often because the plants can breathe ethanol.

vk17 has an excellent thought - in your reply above you say it gets "2 hours of afternoon sun" and that is through a sheer curtain. What exposure is that window - south? east? west? Is that period of 2 hours the only light it gets? How far away from the window is the plant? If it only gets 2 hours of light that would be far from enough light, the opposite of too much. A long period of poor lighting will cause the plant to grow pale and will also stunt its growth. You need to try a different location for your plant, or perhaps put it under artificial light to see if it improves. Left like this, it will not survive much longer, I would guess. BTW, I don't see any obvious signs of "bugs" on your plant. Play with the light exposure for it; I bet that will take care of any issues.

:) thank you vk but now i'm confused if it wanted MORE sun wouldn't it be reaching towards the light? ... thank you for the suggestion of cinnamon oil spray. I'm assuming you're recommending it for the other av with insects.

:) thanks Anne... it gets 2 hours of direct afternoon sun through a curtain ...the rest of the time there is bright sunlight but not coming through the window .. I have another 10 mini violets with it in the same place and they are not either reaching for the light or showing problems. Since it doesn't look like bugs ... then I can move it to another location I have in mind ... there are lots of avs there as well and they all seem to be happy. I guess my biggest worry was bugs and not wanting to spread infection from one location to the other.

If other violets in the same location are healthy with round and not elongated leaves, then it's something innate (1) soil and/or (2) plant condition (e.g. genetic mutation, bugs).

thanks vk .. I moved it ..i'll wait and see ... i'd hate to lose it because I had to import it into Canada from Violet Barn ... so it's expensive to repurchase. :) I did get several plants from him that are doing well so I guess I consider myself lucky :)

Hello! This post is old now, but I thought I'd add my two cents. From here, it looks like the soil is not porous enough. With violets, 60% perlite to 40% soil is a good choice, especially if your environment is on the humid side. Lack of air flow to the roots could certainly be affecting its growth just as much as sunlight. Violets enjoy good airflow in general; they receive direct light much better if there's a "breeze" in the room.

If you do discover that there is a pest problem, I've found Nature's Care insecticidal soap to be very effective with most critters. I dilute by 15% if there's an active infestation, and by 50% for a preventative.

Best of luck!

hi ... Thanks hobgoblin :) ... yes my perlite to peat mix is 2 perlite to one peat but it's possible that it's still too wet for this plant ...

The other ? 40 or more house avs are doing well in that they're growing/green and fairly symmetrical but not many of them are flowering or flowering as much as photos suggest they should ... I do have a problem with light ...I bought a light meter and didn't realise how different a reading could be 10 cms away ... I also have dark tinted windows ...gray not white shears, big trees and a sun that will not stay in one place but insists on moving all over the sky so I can't get consistency from month to month.

I have moved it since the original post ... I am also planning on taking some leaves from this one and repotting them in different mix where it will be watered as normal and not wicked ... I suspect that avs that want more light (as this one does ((I 'spoke' to another twinkle owner and hers has to be placed at the brightest part of her shelf)) ...anyway I suspect that av's that want more light also want to be kept dryer if they have less light ...i'm doing experiments on some of my more difficult plants one wick/one normal and keeping them together ...i'll know more in a few months but so far it looks promising ...

this twinkle blue is going to a friend with lights ... :)

hobgoblin thanks for the recommendation of the insecticidal spray ... what I found was it's sold by miracle-grow and though available in the USA through walmart or homedepot ... it's not sold in Canada though we do have other miracle grow products here ... amazon also does not ship it to Canada but I will see if I can find it ...otherwise I will try to find something similar with similar ingredients :) thanks.

I really do not see any signs of bugs... but definitely culture issue - if you make your own mix - peat perlite vermiculite - if you do not adjust your pH - the mix will be acid - and if it is not in a range of 6.2-6.8 - the plant will starve. It won't be able to absorb the nutrients. Your light is also an unknown. The minis are more sensitive to the environment than standards - and it can explain why it is so pale while the rest of them do better. Adding the pesticide to the equation - will make the situation only worse.