Take the sharp blade and start cutting the stem from the bottom up. If the stem is healthy from some point up it will root under the baggie even there not many leaves left or practically not at all. Healthy chunk of the stem has enough energy to send new roots and new shoot. If all stem is dead.. bye...

Next time keep your new purchase in isolation and water sparsely from the bottom until you have time to take care of it. Some people put wicks but water from the bottom - wick helps rewet the pot faster. Probably it was the case.

Good Luck

PS please ask more questions, we all enjoy troubleshooting - one day you will be doing it for newcomers.

It sounds like it may be root rot. Yes, you can reroot the crown. Below is a link to an illustrated how-to lesson on doing it. What you have to make sure to do when cutting off the rotten part is to make sure none of the rot is left on the part you restart, even if you have to remove some of the leaves to get a clean cut. Doing the operation will take care of the long neck at the same time. If the plant has a long neck it's probably been awhile since it was repotted and it will probably be happier and grow better once it roots in the new lighter mix. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Restarting an African Violet

Oops, sorry Irina - I didn't see your response when I started typing my answer! Looks like we both gave the same advice to cut the stem though.

Donna -

And you gave the Good Link!

I.

Thank you Irina. We certainly enjoy getting our questions answered here. I don't know about everyone else, but I hate using internet searches. Too much info. I always come here first. Thanks for answering all our questions (Even if its the seventeenth time you've been asked the same thing!)

As for answering other people's questions, that's still a long way off. As illustrated by the next question I have:

What would a dead stem look like?

Thanks again for all of everyone's advice! I saw rot and thought the worst but maybe my violet will survive and tell the story to its grandchildren! :)

Dead stem -
when you cut a healthy stem - the cut will be green - or reddish green - if this is a violet with red back leaves - with darker dots arund the perimeter - it is plant vascular system - "veins" that pass the water and nutrients to the leaves. Dead - dead stem will be dry, rotten stem will be black. The idea of stopping the rot - is trimming the stem up till there are no black. The last cut should be done with a clean blade not too pass the infection. Rot starts from the roots and goes up - so the center of the crown is the last to die - and if you can save the tip - it roots easily. If your plant starts looking wilted, the leaves lose luster - get it by the stem - and pull it. The rotten roots break easily, the healthy hold really well.

If you do the intervention as soon as the plant starts looking sad - you do not loose the plant - and it will root and back to bloom in 2-3 months. If you procrastinate - too bad...

Keep asking.

Regarding searches- specify several words, put them in quotes to narrow results.

For example :
"african violet" root rot

Search om "images" - you probably find a pic that is relevant faster - and then you can open the site where tis image is displayed.

Good Luck

Irina

Okay, I cut the stem. When I did, I saw a green ring on the outside with a maroon-brown center. My violet does have red backed leaves. It's been in the pot for a few days. Now it's all wilted. And I think I saw a another rotting leaf (just the tip) right under the very tip of the crown. I only have a few leaves left now. I have it under a humidty dome/plasic jar. I repotted in this weekend so it was out of the soil for about 15 mins. Could this be the source of the wilt? It hasn't perked up much since I put in different, better soil. Should I cut the very tip of crown and reroot that? I think I waited too long to cut the crown the first time...

Maroon with dots - is good, black and brown soggy - is not.

if you repotted it - some wilting is expected - but not for long.

When you were repotting it - how the roots look like? If they are yellow white and hold to the soil well- they are OK, if they are brown and break easily with lumps of soil - they are probably dead.

Spray your plant with water twice a day and cover with the dome. if it doesn't perk up - cut the crown off and stick it in a glass of water so it will rehydrate and become turgid again. After that - you can use the link Donna posted recently - plant the piece - and put it under the dome.

I think you need an AV buddy - do you have an AV club in your area? Seems that a little workshop would help.
Check the avsa.org for "affiliates" and find the nearest club. May be there is a member near you who can mentor you a bit until you learn some hands on things. It is not a rocket science really.

Irina

Sadly, I cannot go a club meeting, however much I'd love to. I will put the crown in water to rehydrate it again. When I said "repot" I meant that I put the already cut crown into different soil. Before, I had it in (very) old soil to hold it over until I could mix some more for it. Thank you.

After you rehydrate it once - make sure that the soil is humid - not wet - and keep misting it. As long as humidity under the dome is 100%, it won't lose water - it will stop wilting annd start growing roots.
If it won't rehydrate in a glass of water - it is probably damaged to the extent you cannot do anything.

Anyway - do not despare - there is a learning curve, and we all lost our portion of plants. I still lose some - but mostly they grow and take over the house.

Good Luck

Irina

Thank you! It has perked up and has a single root growing out of the bottom. It is on its way.

Hopefully it will take over my house, too.

it would be an interesting science experiemnt to watch, but are you sure you want to?

You'll be redissolving whatever organic rot is left in there, along with any toxins or impurities that could have accumulated in the old tank. You'll be fighting a dirty old tank problem before you even start.

Think of it this way, you've basically got Dead LR. Compare that to starting a tank with marc's dry rock; It's the same thing except a lot more stuff died on your rock and was then mummified by the caked on salt.

The reccomendation with marcs rock is to give it cure if to let it clean itself. I would think your rock needs at least as much cure off time. Why not do that nasty rot off cycle in a garbage can, or via the bleach method, then start with fresh clean water and have a spiffy new tank.
You know you'll be regretting the science experiment a year or two later.
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