I am a novice on the AV subject myself. But I would cut the dose of fertilizer in half from what the directions say, and I would repot all plants or rinse the soil for a few minutes with luke warm water to get rid of any built up unwanted deposits.

Regards,
Milli.

Juanita,
Any chance you can get us a picture or two to take a look at so we know exacty what you mean when you say 'thick leaves' ??

Dora

I am also confused by your description of "thick leaves" - this could mean several things. It could be the fertilizer but it could also be a pathogen.

If the leaves are becoming twisted and deformed, with the crown getting a tight and bunched up appearance, this could be caused by mite damage. This is a pretty common problem.

If the leaves in the crown are actually swelling up, this can be caused by root knot nematodes. You can check for this by pulling the plant out of the soil and looking for little nodules on the roots (http://www.nematology.umd.edu/images/zun069.gif). I would be really surprised if this were the case because it is now pretty uncommon since most people use pre-sterilized soil but hey it's possible.

Best of luck,
Christine

Here is a link that might be useful: Crown Swelling causes

I wrote a rather lengthy response yesterday, but apparently did something wrong because it isn't on here today. Oh well, I'll try again.

Shirley, my sister, is using both soil and fertilizer she purchased at an AV farm in Nashville, TN. This makes us think the thick leaves are the result of mites rather than too much fertilizer. Keep in mind, neither of us are at all familiar with mites or any other pathogen.

The thick leaves are occurring in the very center/crown of the plants, and they are growing downward rather than upward. They appear to be very brittle. I can try and get a picture of them, but my camera is quite old, and I don't know how clear it might be.

I really think mites are the culprit, but we can't see them. Shirley is thinking of using a hefty spraying of Safer Soap. Since she's ready to toss them out anyway, if the Safer harms the plants it won't be a great loss. Will Safer even help with a mite problem?

Thank you so much for your replies. We both appreciate it.
Juanita

AFAIK Safer is only effective against mealybugs, thrips, and aphids. Not mites. Here's all the chemicals and doses I know of:

- Avid (for mites), 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water

- Forbid (for mites), 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water

- Judo (for mites), 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water

- Kelthane (for mites), 1 teaspoon per gallon of water

- Pylon (for mites), 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water

I personally use Avid with good results. To treat your plants, *wear gloves*, wrap the soil/base of the plant in cheesecloth (to prevent soil spillage but still allow chemical through), invert plant and dip into bucket with miticide with top 1/4 inch of soil going into miticide solution. Repeat 3 times at 7 day intervals (treatment will be done in 3 weeks.) This should take care of your mite problem and shouldn't harm the plants.

Thank you for the instructions for using Avid. Shirley is on the hunt for some. (She thanks you, too.)

Hi, Juanita.
My best results with Avid is to submerge the plants for 20 minutes. I have not had to repeat the treatment when I do this. However, all the flowers are lost and some leaves are damaged.
Carol

20 minutes is a bit long IMO, I would recommend doing several shorter treatments instead of one long treatment. That way you can hit any eggs that haven't hatched yet (I don't think it kills the eggs.) There is also less chance of damage to your plant's foliage