Leda said:kkay,

I have some Russian leaves that came with an order of other violets as a gift. They were quite prolific. They are still small. I can't wait for the blooms!

Leda

Some of the Russian varieties are so very pretty or else the people taking the pictures are extremely good at taking pictures. I have a friend in Kiev, Ukraine that I have gotten leaves from. Karen M

kkaymci55 said:

Some of the Russian varieties are so very pretty or else the people taking the pictures are extremely good at taking pictures. I have a friend in Kiev, Ukraine that I have gotten leaves from. Karen M

I hope we will have more to share later....

I'm looking for advice for my AV that I purchased from my local nursery. It needed to be re-potted desperately, now it just doesnt look right to me. I've kept her under grow bulbs, the lights are about 10" above her. Does she look OK? The spot on the leaves concern me. Thank you for any in-put. This is only my second AV, a friend gave me a starter back in Jan. and she's growing like a weed and that got me started The 3rd pic is my starter that only had 3 leaves on it when it was given to me..P.S. I only water from the bottom

The first couple photos almost looks like cold water damage. Did you maybe get cold water on the leaves at some point? Both AVs look like they have multiple crowns (more than one plant) in the pots. It is recommended to have one crown per pot or else they will stop blooming eventually (or so I've read). It is only advised to leave multiple crowns when they are considered 'trailing' African Violets. If yours are trailers or not, I cannot say.

Planto

Thank you Planto, I'm not sure how I could have gotten cold water on the leaves but anything is possible. I guess I better start doing some home work because I have no idea what a crown is or how to fix it.

Christine,

I am not an expert but I have more violets than I want to count (close to 100), read one book and several articles on AV's. In my opinion, the spot on the leaf is not a concern but most probably a "bruise."

When one of my violets does not look quite right to me, I think about garden pests this time of year. Have you looked under the leaves and down into the plant where the leaves attach to the main stem?

I don't water from the bottom because "violets don't like wet feet." That is an old saying but seems to be true. I water mine with hair coloring bottle (not previously used for hair color) and turn the planter 1/4 turn from the light source to keep the plant growing in a rosette form. I blot any drops of water off the leaves.

The first pretty plant may have suckers (baby plants grown in between the rows of leaves.) The second plant has multiple crowns which means more than one plant in that planter. I learned how to separate the plants on youtube.

I hope this helps. I have always had an AV or two in the house. Mine had multiple plants as well and were planted in an "inappropriate" planter. Last year I went crazy and bought a bunch. Since then I have propagated many. I have changed my watering method several times, stuck to the 4 inch recommended pots, "surgically" taken off suckers and made new babies from them and started plants from a single leaf. I have failed a lot, learned a lot, and had a few successes. Welcome to the kingdom of AV's!

Leda, I got out my flashlight and did a through search and see no signs of bugs on the first plant, what I did see are some babies starting and on the new av I see what looks like baby plants starting also. I will check out youtube and figure out what I need to do. Thank you so much for explaining suckers and crowns to me. I have alot of plants 55 was my last count, but 100 of 1 kind thats incredible
Christine

Christine, you are more than welcome. I was going to get the youtube site for you but I noticed they have a bunch of videos on "separating African Violets" now. I am going to go back and see what more I can learn. Right now I have a bunch of baby AVs but have mealies so I might lose my collection. I have a bunch of houseplants too. The AVs are kind of walled off by plastic so I am hoping they don't spread to the other plants.

If anyone has ideas on getting rid of mealies on AVs let me know please. HELP!

Leda, I found this information on Dr. Optimara site, I dont know if you read this already.



For light infestations, try rubbing the insects off with a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol (70 percent isopropyl). Then, thoroughly rinse your African Violet with lukewarm water, and let any excess drain off. Repeat this procedure, each day, to remove any newly hatched Mealy Bugs.

For heavier infestations, you may need to apply Acephate (as directed on the label) or Malathion (1 teaspoon of Malathion 50 per 4 liters of lukewarm water). Repeat treatment, every four to five days, until the Mealy Bugs have been eradicated. (Note: Many household insect sprays, which contain Acephate, also contain a specific additive that may damage the foliage of African Violets. Therefore, if available, use a soluble powder, and mix your own spray.)

What about neems oil, water and dawn dish soap mix? Mix your own of course. I use this on my tropicals and other houseplants. I noticed that a few of the AVs I got from trade had mealy and I was disappointed to see that. I used the soap mix and it worked. I was careful not to let any sun get on the leaves until it dries. That can really make a mess.

I really think people need to be very aware that these little critters can not be seen until they are up and eating and you need to keep pots and soil as clean as the plants. I learned so much from the State Inspectors when I became a certified nursery as to where they hide and how they can just pop up it seems out of nowhere. I am so glad they do a yearly inspection so that I am usually sure my plants coming out of my greenhouse are clean. This year they even inspected the plants I have in the house since I use them as "stock" plants. I too many learning about AVs and this is all very interesting. You can never be sure with any of these insects. Scale is another nasty one you can not see in the early stages. Do AVs get scale?

Thank you Christine! I know I have alcohol around. I would rather not use pesticides because of allergies.

JB, what proportion of neem, dawn and water did you use? Yes, I admit I am bad about keeping things clean, especially the pots!

I don't know about scale. I can look it up in my two books after I do my daily check!

1 1/2 tsp to qt. of water or 1 oz per gallon
1/3 tsp dawn dish soap or 1 1/3 tsp per gallon
Mix well
Spray the diluted solution generously on all leaf surface, including the underside. This solution can also be used to water the plants . Do not apply in direct sun light. Use once every 2 = 4 weeks.

This is what neems recommends.

Thank you, JB!!!

Leda said:Christine, you are more than welcome. I was going to get the youtube site for you but I noticed they have a bunch of videos on "separating African Violets" now. I am going to go back and see what more I can learn. Right now I have a bunch of baby AVs but have mealies so I might lose my collection. I have a bunch of houseplants too. The AVs are kind of walled off by plastic so I am hoping they don't spread to the other plants.

If anyone has ideas on getting rid of mealies on AVs let me know please. HELP!

I have little condiment cups with lids that I keep handy full of rubbing alcohol and a Q-Tip. Any mealies, dab them with the alcohol. I let them get away from me and ended up throwing away a lot of plants. Now its pretty much gone but every few days pick up plants, turn them around and look intently for white cotton patches, then if I find anything, grab the alcohol and Q-tip. They love streptocarpus more than anything so had to toss all but a couple and start over. Karen M

Good to know, Karen. Thank you. I only found two mealies today. It is a big collection so everyday I will try to go through them.

I finally found the time to work on my AV's so I'm going to follow this video, she has made it pretty clear even for me the beginner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

One down one to go, How did I do????? I'll wait to hear your comments before I split up the other one.

That is the video I used too.

Looks good to me (for whatever that is worth.) Now just turn them 1/4 of the way every time you water and they should become very symmetrical. I can see blooms coming your way!

Looks good to me and the little ones look green and healthy. Karen M

Now I feel more confident to do the other one. I think that one will have alot of babies for me to give away