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greenamachina

These poor poor things..

greenamachina
14 years ago

Hey guys! First post on gardenweb!

So I was with my girlfriend at Lowes today, and saw the plant clearance rack(that's never good news I know.. lol). I'm new to plant care/growing and saw these sad african violets. They were 1 dollar so I decided it would help me learn whether I successfully revived them or not. I picked the best-looking pot, and I'm wondering if this is salvageable. This looks like a case of way excess watering. Lots of water damage on the leaves. I have removed the plastic cover and am letting the soil dry out, and after it shows me a little sign of recovery (if any), then I will repot to a much better draining soil. If it takes a turn for the worst then I'll just propagate from a leaf. The first pic is with all foliage, and the second pic is after I removed some dead leaves. What do you guys think?

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Comments (6)

  • travisviolets
    14 years ago

    Hi, Its cold damage. Trim the out side leaves and let it dry out. Put it in a strong light but it need 10-12 of darkness. Water only when its dry again. Keep it warm.

    Travis

  • Christine
    14 years ago

    Welcome to GardenWeb Greena! Warning: these things are addictive - you'll want more after you watch this one recover. Where there's green, there's hope is my motto.

    One other thing I'd do with this plant is to completely remove all of the bloom/bud peduncles (stems). Right now the AV needs to spend its energy growing healthy new leaves. Keeping a plant disbudded stimulates leaf growth as do the light and heat (75º - 77º) Travis recommended.

    Good luck - let us know how the plant's recovery progresses.

  • loveviolets
    14 years ago

    I also found one a few months back in Lowe's. The poor thing only had 3 leaves left and these were not the best. Price was $1.50. When I came home I immediately removed all dead leaves and removed it from the container, it was so water logged.I put it in a new pot with fresh soil mixture. Bagged it and sat it on my kitchen table and prayed. The 3 poor leaves and stems were not the best. In a couple of weeks I saw a very tiny leaf forming and by this time the other 3 leaves and stems were beginning to rot, so I trimmed these off and hoped for the best. Today, it is filling out nicely and I am anxious to see it bloom. Do make sure you keep it away from any of your other plants until you know it is disease free.
    wilma

  • greenamachina
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks for the warm welcome and help guys! I've disbudded the flowers even though it pained me to do so. They're pretty but I dont think the energy spent is worth a near death experience :P Plus I saw a thrip in the soil lol. Another question: It looks like some of the leaves have vascular damage from the cold. If the leaf still looks healthy is it safe to leave it on? Thanks a ton!

  • Christine
    14 years ago

    Yes, leave on healthy leaves. Eventually you'll remove the old ones as new ones grow out and mature.

    Thrips love munching on flowers, so disbudding will help you get rid of the critters. Below is a link with more info on thrips.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Doctor Optimara: Thrips

  • fred_hill
    14 years ago

    HI,
    Thrips can be found only on blossoms. If you saw something in the soil it must be something else. I would not only remove the dead leaves but I would take it out of the pot and remove as much of the soilless mix as I could from the root system. I had a friend say that she would tickle the soil off the roots. This meant that she was gentle with what was left of the root system. I would also use a very light mix. One part peat and one part coarse vermiculite and one part coarse perlite. Do not plant it in a large pot. The pot should be 1/3 the size of the crown of the plant. If you would like more info Email me and I will email back to you three pages of info that I used to distribute to groups when I lectured on AV's. I hope that your plant will survuve, AV's are a hearty plant that are easy to grow.
    Fred in NJ

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