Mareeanne,

it is hard to see from here what you mean by damp but not wet. If your violets are still in a soil they came from the store - it can be too wet, because this heavy mostly peat soil is just way too heavy and retains too much water.

If AV roots have too much water and not enough air - they develop root rot and the leaves turn limp and the plant dies.

Otherwise the way you describe the conditions - they should be happy.

Good luck

Irina

Thank you for your reply Irina. Tonight I have repotted all my AV's with the 1-1-1 vermiculite, perlite amd AV mix. I was suprised to see just how peaty the original soil was in some of them, and yes it was much wetter than I realised. Some of the plants had a few flowers on them, so should I do the unmentionable and take the flowers off. I also removed some little suckers at the same time. Should I now fertilise them or leave them for a while to send out new roots. Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated.

Maree

Maree -

I fertilize with a very-very weak solution all the time - 1/8 of a teaspoon per gallon - and I use it on all plants - starters, leaves, mature ones. If your regimen is like once a month - but with a higher concentration - I would hold off fertilizing for some time.

I think that removing of the buds and blossoms is a right thing to do. It will help your plants to catch up faster. WHile removing the peaty soil you unavoidably remove some of the roots.

It is great that you put down the suckers. Sometimes your mature plants already caught the rootrot from the heavy soil and will die - so you have a replacement plant coming already. Young plants have better vigor and blooming ability for 1.5-2 years - so your rooted sucker will possibly outperform the old salvaged one.

Good Luck

Irina