I have had rooting leaves develop powdery mildew, this is what helped me:

1) Quarantine away from others, change water, wash container.

2) Wipe the entire leaf top and bottom sides with rubbing alcohol on a q-tip and/or cotton pad gently. Watch them like a hawk for the next month and repeat if anything reappears.

3) Move them to a warmer and dryer location with better air circulation. (mine were growing in a garden window, I moved them to another windowsill.

4) Check other leaves for similar problems.

Thank you Nina. I will do all of these things!

Thank you Rosie - you make a good point - it is not what we think, but how the plant thinks/feels. I do not see any mildew on anything else, just that container of leaves.

You're welcome. Just a suggestion, why don't you clean everything and try to root them in a less humid environment? Rooting in water is good but maybe for these particular leaves it isn't working as it should. At any rate,,,let us know what happens. Good luck! Rosie

Actually, as stated so many times rooting in water isn't as efficient as rooting in potting media, since re-rooting in media will be required after you actually plant them.

I can put half of them into potting media and see what happens. Truth be told - I have always done better rooting in water. I seem to have higher losses when I root in a potting media.

Perhaps you keep the media too wet (common). Remember AVs are kinda succulent. Basically my success is to pot them in a well-drained mix, watered in, put them in the window, and forget them for at least a week to ten days, water, rinse and repeat till they produce pups.

Also use a small container, like Rosie's condiment cups or maybe a solo cup for a community pot with three or four leaves in it.

DBarron - I suspect that is what my problem has been. They all seem to rot when I plant them into their little shotglass cups to root.

I thought I'd weigh in here. I have killed a thousand leaves in my various propagation experiments. They were mostly noid leaves and lost doing experimentation.

It is rare for me to not get a white mold form on the surface of the potting medium when propagating. If a portion of the leaf comes into contact w the mildew thats on the dirt, no big deal.

If your leaves actually develop powdery mildew, which it could since it is in a humid environment, it has not been a big deal for me. I have never lost a leaf to pm. I just spray a very light mist of whatever anti pm stuff I have around on the leaves whenever I notice it. I have not had any adverse effects. ( I currently have a spray bottle of "Ortho Rose & Flower" mixed up just for pm.) I use it every now and again for some of my bothersome minis. There are other products that could work just as well.

I have been experimenting with some leaf propagation in the clear clamshell fast food containers. In two, I have a potting mixture of vermiculite and perlite. In two others I have a mixture of peat and perlite. They both have damp potting medium in them w the lid shut, under the lights. I am hoping to see a difference in both the time it takes to produce offspring as well as the overall health of the leaf and its babies.

Back to the point, you got pm, spray it.

I second Jeff. You got a mother leaf already infected - no amount of air circulation is going to dislodge the fungus. I tried to wash it and spray with Lysol - it just grows back again.

Get the fungicide - and treat the bothersome leaf several times. People say that Immunox Spectracid fungicide works well against the PM. You can get a concentrate and make your own solution - or get the spray bottle ready to use. My Ace Hardware carries it and I believe HD carries it too,

Some varieties are PM magnets. Every variety resistance is different. I never saw PM on species Saintpaulia rupicola - that's one cast iron plant

Have fun spraying

Irina

I did spray the leaves with a 50/50 solution of isopropil alcohol and water and they do look better. I have the bayer triple fungicide that I use outside in my garden - will that work? If not, I will pick up the Immunox while I am out today. I really appreciate all of your help.

Alcohol won't kill fungus, it'll simply burn the leaves, adding further injury.

I am sure that alcohol will kill the fungus on the surface... but I think fungus is already in a tissue - probably not too deep - but enough to reemerge.

Triple action fungicide - is probably based on a Neem oil - and it is a very mild fungicide. But if you have it - use it NOW - and do it several times several days apart.

You just need to keep a mother leaf alive until babies can do it on their own

I.

I sprayed my little leaves last night with fungicide. They had already been moved to a different pot and a different location. Although I rinsed them off, most of the little leaves have some white all over them. Is this normal?

I would very gently feel the leaf. Does the white come off during gentle rubbing? Does the leaf feel firm and viable? If it does, spray them again.

Does the white look seem to fade when looked at from different angles? Sometimes I have to look twice at some of these plants. The leaves are hairy and can give off a white appearance when looked at in a certain light. (Not trying to insult your intelligence but I often get fooled by this when looking at certain leaves at a quick glance.)

Is this pot in a area where there is a lot of dust? Some time ago, I mistook dust clinging to the hairy leaves as pm. I figured it out but for a while, I was treating some of my plants for pm when I should have been dusting them.

If the leaves you got were not already damaged by pm before you got them, you should be able to save them. PM is easily treated and you should prevail. Keep up with periodic spraying until its gone.

Good luck!

Easily treated it is not - if left unchecked it will spread on everything. And you need a good fungicide to nail it. Young leaves - old leaves... every plant. Right now your mildewed leaf - is a source of infection - so I wouldn't put it in a middle of your healthy plants.

Good air circulation - is a preventative. When you got it - moving from room to room is useless.

Keep spraying.

Easy for me. Should have made that more clear.

Sorry. I did not mean to come off as some sort of pompous ass. What I meant to say is that I give my plants a daily inspection. Any suspected of being afflicted with pm get a spray job. Thats it. Thats my whole defense system against pm.

On the grand scheme of things, of all the various pests and diseases that can damage and kill AV's, I find pm the easiest to detect and prevent.

Thats just my opinion though and I would not be surprised of others did not agree.

Jeff - you are a gem. And your AVs are lucky to have you as their keeper.

Regarding PM - if you go at it with big guns - you can do it easily ... which I will do too.

If you try to do it with the home remedies... it is not going to go away - and a lot of people try it.

Running a fan, spraying collection with a Neem oil, Green Cure, Lysol etc. is a preventative.

If you got it - you got it. It is like being a little bit pregnant. You are in.

Actually Jeff, I am a little like you. There isn't a time I don't pass by a violet or plant in my house that I don't look at it with a critical eye. Not an admiring eye,,,,a critical one. For any abnormality, crooked leaf, tight centers etc. I believe in prevention instead of all out war. I am better at winning little battles than fighting wars!

So even if I imagine something, I give it a little wash, or spray, or whatever it needs to combat maybe a real OR imaginary problem.

For instance if I cut a leaf, before I plant it, it gets a spray of just general bug killer. Just in case. Don't see anything but I just do it.

Guess I am a helicopter mom. sigh. Rosie

The leaves are still firm, but the white residue doesn't come off when I rub. I will probably treat again tomorrow. I have moved it away from the other leaves that are rooting.

Can I assume that spraying with lysol or neem are preventatives? I do have some neem on my potting bench - is that something that would help?

Thank you everyone.

It will be a good idea to use it on still healthy neighbors to stop the spread. The fungus on a sick plant is generating spores that are so light that they spread by the slightest air movement. Since the white substance returns even if you wipe it or wash it... I presume PM is still alive.

It always resurfaces in the fall and spring - because the difference between night and day temperatures is so significant that there is a chance of a light dew on the leaves at the lower point. The presence of dew wakes up sleeping spores - that are probably part of the dust floating around - and it gives the parasite a chance to wake up and root in the leaves. The air movement for a fan prevents the dew setting - and keeps the spores from getting active.

After PM started growing on a leaf - you can run your fan - but it is not going to dislodge it - while it will help the rest of the collection.

Irina - I will go through all the leaves on that shelf. I appreciate the information and the help.

Ironically, I was wondering why I was seeing PM now, instead of when it was so humid this past summer. You have answered my question. I do feel that the more I learn the better!

Thank you.

~C

Pests are present - so you need to be prepared to fight them off. It is just the question of time until we all get close and personally acquainted with all of them. Some - are ever present in the outside environment - thrips, fungus gnats, powdery mildew. Some - come with the plants we share and acquire. No matter how cautious, vigilant and proactive we are - the best is to recognize them as soon as possible - and deal with them.

It is like a flu - you can wash your hands and do things right - but sooner or later you catch it

Watch out!

I.

Quite honestly, I am wondering if I should just toss these leaves. I may still end up doing that.....

I wouldn't. Not yet. You took the time to get them this far, spray them. PM is always something to watch for. It could very well show up on your next set of leaves too.

Use something store bought for pm. Yeah, the home remedies blah blah blah. Mix it to the recommended strength for pm and give them a good misting in the morning. Do it a couple mornings in a row. Don't put them back under the lights until they're dry. PM cant stand up to the good stuff!

If these were mine, I would not even consider throwing in the towel yet. On the other hand, if they are not hard to replace and you're just tired of looking at them, in the words of Ron Popeil, "toss em and forget em"!

Carolyn I agree with Jeff. It ain't over til they crumble! Put them in NICU,,,,Code Blue!!! get the paddles!,,,,,there may still be a heartbeat!!!!! Intubate them!!!! And after all of that,,,,when there is no more heartbeat and they are dry crumbles,,,,,,, THEN throw them out! (last hope) Rosie

I haven't tossed them yet - I am still waiting to see how they do.

I bought neem oil ( 100% pure) and I have been reading (and looking on youtube) how mixing it with water and '' soap'' . Do I really need to add ''soap''

What are you advise for making the right mix? Do you use it pure on plant sometimes?

Thank you for helping me!

Marceaulyonnais, usually the reason for adding just a teeny bit of soap is to break any tension and allow better mixing and sticking of the product you are using. I have never used Neem oil, so I don't know about using it pure on the plant. Maybe someone else can help with that. Rosie

I have some Neem Oil but I have not had occasion to use it yet. My guess is that somebody here has used it for PM and would know the mixing ratio. Im sure you can google it and come up with something pretty close. I put a couple small drops of dish soap in my solution when I am spraying plants. As Rosie mentioned, I have always done it to improve the adhesion of whatever I am spraying to the plant surfaces.

Thanks Jeff!!! Rosie