Very pretty color. To me,,,the small leaves in the crown look fine. Am I missing something? I agree with Irina,,,,just enjoy for a while. Rosie

Most of my plants' center leaves turned brown after I repot and put them on wick. Some crowns died completely (e.x. Ann). Now I know they were burnt by the fertilizer in my mix (Miracle-Gro). See if you have the same problem. I just let them be, eventually they recover. The ones without crowns grow a few suckers at the center, I just remove all of them except one. It might look odd but eventually it will be ok. I am sure it's faster than restart a leaf.

Oops. Guess my new unopened bag of African Violet Miracle Grow is going back to the nursery.

You have to be careful buying anything from the big box stores. They're sneaky! For the last several years I bought AV potting mix from Lowes along w vermiculite, perlite and peat moss. I guess it was to early when I went in there but I bought what I "thought" was the same stuff I had always bought, threw it in the truck and got on w my day.

A couple days later, I got ready to mix up some potting soil and went to retrieve all my parts and pieces. Yikes! The AV potting soil bag now said Miracle Gro on it as did the peat moss! They were in the same color bags as what I had always bought but were NOT the same things I had always bought. I made a return trip, got my money back and went elsewhere.

They were real clever in matching the colors and markings on the bags. Them scoundrels!

PS They no longer carry the non MG products.

hmmm,,,I specifically buy MiracleGro houseplant soil. I don't buy AV soil of anybody's. I mix it 1/2 perlite with 1/2 MG Houseplant soil and I don't have a problem. Do you think maybe they put something different in the MG AV mix??? I buy MG perlite, vermiculite and anything else I need. I don't have the burning problems etc.

Jeff, what "brand" av soil were you buying in the past? Since I always go straight for the MG, I never paid attention to other stuff. Not saying it isn't good, I just always bought the MG.

Julie are you using the MG African Violet soil? or just the MG Houseplant soil?

I know that Big Lots sells bags that look just like the MG bags, but it is something different. It is not AV soil, it is Houseplant soil. I don't know if they have AV soil of any kind, but maybe that is what you may be looking for? Rosie

I would never argue with success! You have a wonderful way with plants and I don't think Id change anything if I was you! You have dialed your system in around MG products and have made it work.

I used to start making my potting soil by purchasing the premix AV potting soil. (I think maybe Scott made it, can't remember right now but it was primarily peat, perlite and vermiculite. I then added my own additional amounts of perlite, vermiculite and peat to the mix to get the ratio that I wanted. I dialed my system in around generic products with no additives. I did and don't want any fertilizer in any of the products that make up my potting mix because I wick water and put all of my plant food in the water.

If I accidentally use MG peat which has plant food in it and MG AV soil mix, which has plant food in it, to my mix and then I add plant food too, it's kills my plants. (You don't have to ask me how I know that.)

MG is bad for me but probably works great for others who have learned how to use it.

Jeff - mixing your own Cornell mix - saves you from a lot of issues. At least you know what is there - while with MG... It can come from a bottom of a barrel and have too much of this and that...They probably throw the appropriate stuff in a silo.. - no guarantee it is consistent through.... Little bit of rain when they are loading it - and all the fertilizer gets glued together. The wetting agent is stable if the mix is dry - but here comes the rain - happens when you open the bag - and the cloud of fungus gnats emerges - with time this wetting agent deteriorates ... and becomes herbicide - so buying MG fresh - not on discount in some obscure shop - is always a good practice.

I don't use peat in anything. Now that I think of it, I haven't used vermiculite for anything either!

And as I said, I only use the MG Houseplant stuff. NOT violet soil. I wick water also which is why I use the 1/2 to 1/2 mix. Actually when I measure the perlite I am a little generous with it.

I hope you find something that works for you Jeff. So far this works for me. When it gets to the point when it doesn't I will be looking for something else! You think my Lowe's doesn't carry MG anymore??? I haven't been there for about 3 weeks so maybe I better check! Rosie

Hey Rosie,

I sure didn't mean to stir up anything. I have been making my own soilless mix for almost a year now and it works very well for me. Not saying anybody else should do it how I do it. I don't have any soil in my mix any more. Mostly perlite w some vermiculite and a very little peat. No fertilizer in any of it. If I start w zero food in my soil, it is much easier for me to regulate just how much my plants are getting since if I don't put it in their water, they won't get any.

No big deal and I would think your method is just as good as what I do, just different.

Yes, Lowes does carry MG products and little else. That was my problem is that they discontinued the undoctored products and replaced them w the doctored up MG products that looks an awful lot like the ones I used to buy. For me, failure to catch this error could result in me overfertilzing my plants and ultimately killing them.

I was unpleasantly surprised when I realized even the perlite product I had been buying now had fertilizer added to it as well as all the soil mixes carried by my local big boxes. So glad I noticed the small writing on the perlite package before I used it. You're right, Jeff - if you aren't on top of exactly what's in your soil mix and you start adding more fertilizer on top of it - disaster! I've been through an over-fertilizing debacle years ago and it was not pretty - nor was it quick to come back from. And I think Irina is absolutely spot on: the amount of the fertilizer can vary from bag to bag and I can't ever feel safe with that stuff. I'd much rather add my own fertilizer, thank you MG very much!!!

Oh Jeff,,,,,no,no,no,,,,I am not trying to come across as arguing. I just wanted to make sure you understood I didn't use the MG AV soil. That what I used is the Houseplant soil. That maybe their would be a difference between the fertilizer content of both bags. I guess THAT was what I hope someone would pick up on. The difference in the actual bags.

Shame on me,,,,,I have not paid that much attention at all!!!! Very enlightening!!!! I just use a bag, run out, buy a bag. Never read what is in it. It worked so I really didn't think about it.

Maybe it works for me because I am very forgetful about putting fertilizer in my wicked plants!!! I think the last time I did it was last summer !!!! I don't know. Now I am going to have to start thinking about this.

So if I use the MG Houseplant soil (1/2 soil & 1/2+ perlite) for my baggie containers (or any container for that matter) for starting leaves and I have a couple fatalities would I blame the extra fertilizer in the MG? When I do have a fatality usually the leaf just "mushes" and I always felt the soil may have been too damp. It doesn't happen often. And it is hard to get the soil dry enough for an enclosed baggie IMO when I am in a necessary "need to start a leaf" mode.

I am really torn. I remember in the greenhouse the violets/gesneriads automatically got watered with Peter's brand fertilizer all the time. There was no clear watering in between. If you used that hose out came the blue water!!!! And I used Peter's for years afterward. But then again, I don't know what soil mix he used. It was just made up by him and dumped onto the potting table and that was that! So everyday, sometimes two/three times, the plants were watered with Peter's fertilizer automatically added in. And that meant the started leaf pans also.

So how much fertilizer is too much? And if I do become worried about fertilizer content in the soil, is there any way to get it out???

What does anyone think??? My brain is certainly confused now. Rosie

Isn't the fertilizer in MG's AV mix the little time release pellets you see sprinkled throughout? If so, I can see where some bags could contain more of these than others. In the past, I have used MG AV mix with additional perlite. I used to pick out a few of the pellets but mostly I said what the heck! I didn't water these MG plants any differently than those in different mixes. . . 1/8th tsp per gallon at every watering. I don't recall ever experiencing burn issues.

If these pellets are like Osmocote then I am guilty of adding additional fertilizer also as I do like to throw in a couple of pellets (when I remember!) while repotting larger plants. I learned this tidbit from a well known AV hybridizer and show grower.

Thankfully, AV's are a little more forgiving than some would think. Any method of delivering a useful amount of food, water and light will end with acceptable results. What some of us tend to dwell on is the fine tuning. Those small changes that bring about very small results. When over the years, a number of those positive, small changes are made, the result is near optimum conditions for our plants to thrive. This is what I am working toward.

Any food purposefully given to a plant is an experiment. It might be to much, it might be to little. Knowing, not guessing the right amount is the trick and one that is hard to achieve I might add.

I go about this in a somewhat scientific fashion. My grandmother on the other hand, could propagate a broomstick. She knew nothing of what I speak. She had a gorgeous garden up until the day she died.

Lots of different ways to do things!

Terri, you reference MG AV mix. I have never used it. I have never looked to see if there were any little time released pellets in the AV Houseplant mix. Maybe I should. But I guess ignorance can be bliss at times!

Jeff, maybe I do ok because av's are somewhat forgiving.

I think I will keep this thread in mind but, at least in my world for the present,,,, "if it ain't broke,,,don't try to fix it"!!!! Rosie

Everyone,

I used MG AV mix. I believe my problem came from that. Pretty much all my plants suffered. Now I bought a unfertilized potting soil to use. No problem lately.

What brand is it Julie? Where did you buy it? Rosie

Rosie,

The unfertilized soil is called Espoma Organic Potting Soil. I got it in a local nursery called Lucas. i believe I saw it in Lowe's after I bought it. It 's a dollar cheaper at Lowe's.

I really should be more aware of what is out there! Thanks! Rosie

Hey everybody, sorry I didn't respond. The violet in question has only been in half MG all-purpose potting mix/half perlite for about 2 weeks now with plain water only, so I doubt it's fertilizer burn. But, I don't know what Home Depot gives their violets (I always assumed plain water), so maybe that is indeed the cause. One center leaf was browned when I bought it, so I'm pretty sure it's Home Depot and not me.

And about fertilizing: For a while I was giving my violets too much liquid fertilizer, but ever since I began using 1/4 strength, they've been growing and throwing up bloom stalks. (I know, water is wet, but I'm still learning! :o))

Now they're all in half MG all-purpose mix/half perlite/little bit of worm castings and doing much better that way. I also ditched the vermiculite but that was mostly because I ran out and didn't have the car to go out and buy more.

Sounds like they are recovering, and we all experiment and learn. Good Luck!! Rosie

I agree with Irina, it's probably just been jousled around a lot getting from grower to where you are. Smashed up in those little plastic bags and packed off in a truck smashed in with a thousand other violets, the crown is bound to suffer and brown is the first place it will go. Just give it some time to shine!

Linda