Some say, pictures are worth a 1000 words. Maybe if you showed us some, it would help us give you a better answer.

ill take a few pics. sorry.

First thought is too much light. Second - too much fertilizer. Third - who knows may be your FL water is too hard... You can reduce the time your Aerogarden is on - may be it will help.

I cut the time on the lights to about 8hrs a day, LONG ago. Some of the violets grow like weeds, others get these hard leaves, tight crowns, and bloom like crazy. I rarely fert. them at all. They grow to much already. I mean like 2 times a year is a lot for me. Those two times are 'Miracle-Gro' for house plants. 1/4th strength.

I water all my violets with the same water, and only like 4 or 5 of them are doing this hard leaves/tight crowns. I wish I had more lights to grow them all under, they grow and bloom with them. On the window sills, I get medium growth, no flowers...west/east/south windows, same results. So I move them under the lights when i want blooms from certain violets. I would think they would grow and bloom getting direct sun in the morning, about 6-8 hrs.

Through screens, DENSE screen, so they are not burning. i have Psychopsis orchid growing and blooming on an east windowsill, all year. So...violets should be great there, but nope!

I have 3 of 'Edge Of Darkness' plants, 2 on window sills, they have long thin stems/leaves not a single bloom in a year. BUT the one that is NEAR the grow lights is dense and puts out a few flowers, and is beautiful, it isn't under the lights, just on the same bench as the lights. And it has 6 BIG plants all clumped in a 4in pot.

But the others on the windowsills look sick, but get direct sun on them daily, and they look like trash. I am thinking all of my problems are due to certain varieties just grow different ways.

Since certain ones grow dense, get hard leaves, and bloom like crazy. But others under the lights do fine. No issues. And these are OLD bulbs, like 1/2 the light they usually put out when new. And only about 8hrs. of light a day.

I also need to cut most of them back, to get rid of long 'necks' on them,...but they look so good, I hate the idea of cutting them off their roots, and then pray they re-root in new soil, to make them look good again. I don't know if cutting the necks and trying to re-root them even works. I know it is done, but I have never done it. But it might give them back some vigor and get blooms, on ones that are very hard to bloom, they have like 4in 'necks'! So many issues.

You nailed the problem. Light. And yes - different varieties require different amount of light.

Your plants bloom for you, that's what you enjoy -so even if the leaves are not perfect - high light usually stimulates a steady blooming.

If you would be interested in showing - and wanted to grow perfect rosettes - you would get them on a different kind of shelving and under fluorescent or LED lights. Since you care about showing no more than I care about the other side of the moon... just enjoy them as is.

Regarding repotting - yes - please. If you repot them every 6 months - you do not need to reroot the crowns. You just trim the bottom of the root ball a bit - and lower your AV in a pot, cover the bare part of the stem with fresh soil - and live happily ever after. No surgery required.

I also has aerogrow light. I find it is too bright for my AV.

It is - but this grower has already several of them in a house - so replacing them is not possible right now.

i even cover the crowns with layers of paper towels to get the crowns to be looser. It works, but these lights are so 'dark' compared to a year ago, when new, they are putting out 50% light, then add the paper towels, the crowns are getting maybe 25% of the light.

You need to measure the light. It will give you a better understanding what is where. I am not convinced that if you put a layer of toilet paper - it will decrease the light to 50% and if you put a layer of paper towels - it will be 25%... Human eye is just not built to do the presize measurements. At least mine is not.

I am thinking that the most light sensitive plants can live not under the Aerogrow - but between Aerogrows. My understanding you have more than one - so spread them. They do add light to one another if kept together. Aer-plants-Aer-plants-Aer

I put layers of paper towels on some of them. Not toilet paper. They are a lot thicker:) If I put somewhere it is toilet paper, that was a typo, it wouldn't do much. The units are very far from each other, opposite sides of a room and one is on my porch, a dark northern covered porch. Little room around them to put plants, thus the violet are under the lights, they only hold like 4-5 plants. Wish I could put some-kind of bigger 'board or something under the lights, to put a lot more plants under them, to grow around the edges, and move the violets around. Then I would have a lot more bloomers. Oh, I dont have a way to measure the light. I just know the AeroGrow garden seed pods won't grow under them,....that was months ago, they need VERY strong/new lights,so they are much weaker now.

I h grown under Aerogarden and you have to remember those light are intended to make strong healthy tomatoes that bloom and fruit. Tomatoes like full hot blazing sun and violets like cool dappled shade. That is a big difference in light intensity. Maybe try wrapping cheese cloth around the lights to however many layers you need to get the right intensity. Hope this helps you get less brittle foliage.

I'm late to this discussion. I agree it's most likely a lighting issue. Funny thing is that some varieties like Rose Bouquet for example, do this all the time if they aren't happy - they can be /real/ picky and only want soft window light and don't do well under lights at all. Or you might get lucky and find an edge of a shelf and presto! You found the sweet spot. Just move the trouble makers off your lighted shelves entirely and go put them in the window and swap places with your Edge of Darkness plants to put them under your lights instead. It may make all the difference in the world for them.

I'm another one struggling with an LED light, so I love this post!!!! Mine has just red and blue light, which gives half the kitchen a weird purple glow, and you can't look at the plants when it's on :( I have it set up as an under cabinet light, so I can't raise it up. I've been using the paper towel trick, as leaves get very stiff and for tight crowns . I will also try moving the tray slightly away from the light. That's a great tip. And maybe move the plants to the window every few days. LED seems to be taking over the fluorescent market so we need all the tips we can get.... keep 'em coming!

Get an APP on your phone - LIghtmeter or something similar to measure the lux level just above the leaves of your plants. It is not a super precise method of doing it - but you will get the ballpark measurement. Violets will grow in 1500-3500 lux level *(150-350 footcandles). If you have much more - you can grow your baby MMJ plants... not AVs. Or you can reuse your under the counter lights somewhere else...with plants further from the LEDs. Kitchen glaring in red and blue... I would go bonkers...

Thanks, irina! If I had a decent phone I could use the app :( yeah, I'm not happy with the light except for making plants bloom. I'm trying to find something better, 24" or less that plugs in would be ideal. I don't have that many avs to require a whole multi shelf setup (yet). We're pretty low budget. But if I start a ton of leaves.... I'd definitely have an excuse with all the new plants! Ha! All I've got now are optimaras. Gotta join an avsa club, I know!

I am sure that you have friends with a smartphone... and these Apps are free.

Thing is - if you use fuorescents - it is no brainer... like 20 ears ago everybody in a country was using T12s - one cool, one warm light 8-10 inches above the leaves - and everything is blooming. LEDs are all different... and a red - blue combination... I am out of my depth. I know I wouldn't want these lights in my living space. My ears will grow green hair from such abuse. I understand that people who grow MMJ - do it in tents - so if one tent is using blue for babies and second - red for bloomers - but it is not a problem because these tents are zipped.

AVs are the low budget indoor blooming plants. We are in luck! It is not that we are sporting 10K orchid collection...

Right... I'm in CT where there's not much mmj growing going on and it's just barely become legalized here. Anyway, I'm def exchanging the light... the blinding purple was not a good idea. Live and learn. I'm finding some alternatives ( finally ) that use 18 inch t8 fluorescent, so there is hope!

21 inch T5 would be my choice if you have 8 inches above the leaves. They are called 2 foot - but there actually 21 inch and 23 inch tubes. Whatever you find. 24 inch LEDs from Home Depot work too- 2 of them - they are $18 a piece - but you save on electricity and life expectancy.

MMJ ... helps people medically... but stoned drivers on the road - yuck. The good part - the "grow" stores with all kind of interesting supplies...fun!