Justin,
Posting some pictures here would be a great first step.

Linda

I think you just nailed 2 most possible causes - too much fertilizer and too close to the lights. You probably have enough ambient light from the windows - otherwise I cannot explain that you turned the light off for a month and nothing changed. Mites - they will screw every single plant bad... Have a look - if the good looking plants are dark leaved - and bunched up plants are light green varieties - it is light.

There are AV growers from Hong Kong you need to meet. Usually the experienced growers from your area will give you advice on how to do it appropriately in your part of the world.

Good Luck - and we will appreciate the photos!

irina

Another thought-you may be able to get urea-free fertilizer on E Bay.

Linda

Thank you for taking the time to respond:) I'll take some pictures shortly and post them.
I'm using about an 1/8 of the spoon provided in over a litre of water to fertilize the plants. I'll order some from Ebay or elsewhere. Any recommendations on which would be best?

I was hoping i could post more than one at a time. This is the set up i could manage. Space is at a premium here in HK. Most of the plants are 10 inches below the lights. So far i've only installed one new bulb. It's a phillips 21W, 6500K, and 1900lm. Too strong perhaps? The shelves are a foot wide. I've resorted to using aluminum foil to reflect the light back down.

Here's one of them that i'm worried about. I know I have to remove that yellowing leaf and will do that today:P

Here's another. It has a bit of a reddish, rusty stuff on the leaves in the crown.

this one seems brittle to me.

I'm not sure about this one. It's flowered recently and I'm not sure how an AV with leaves that are supposed to curl should look. I think they look too close together.

Reddish rusty stuff is usually salts from too much fertilizer. Drench that plant with plain water and then let drain well, I use a paper towel at the bottom of the pot to squeeze excess water out.
If your other problem is too much light, leaves will bunch up and it will take a while for them to grow out. I am not an expert, but I have found that some of my plants do not like artificial light, and did much better after I moved them to a window. If you don't have window space you could try moving the ones you are having problems with further alway from the lights, on a side table or something. I hope this helps.

Justin,
The reddish stuff in the center is a dead give-away. Too much fertilizer! As Perle says, drench the plant and then back off on your fertilizer for a while. What are your N-P-K numbers on your fertilizer? In my experience, a high P fertilizer can affect your plants in this way. You want to use a balanced fertilizer.
I also think your violets are getting too much light. Ten inches is very close to the lights. Can you space your fixtures farther apart? If not, maybe try moving your affected plants to the ends of the fixtures or try natural light. Also, new bulbs give off much more light than older ones so this could be an issue, as well.
I use Dyna-Gro fertilizer. It is a liquid so shipping may be prohibitive if you buy from E Bay. If you like, look into it on E Bay and if you decide not to purchase it there, come back here and I will do some checking around for you to find another.
I hope this helps!

Linda

Also. your little one with the fertilizer salts in the crown should be potted down. If it is struggling with fertilizer issues, you don't want it to have to deal with over-watering as well. Pot it down and enclose it in a baggie or a dome until it looks better.

Linda

I like your setup ...

You might get a necessary lessening of light by removing the artificially placed reflectors ... and that will let more light out into the room also.

Your plant issues look cultural (i.e. not pests or disease).

They actually look pretty good, ... maybe just a little tight.

I use 1/8 of a teaspoon per gallon - 4 times less than you, Justin. That's the answer.
I.

Again, Thank you for your help. You guys rock! :)
I've repotted two of my plants and put them in bags.
My current fertilizer is a 14/15/11.5
I wish i could adjust the lights but the shelves are attached to the walls. I've only changed one bulb, and that was on the top right (attached to the wall). I wanted to see if it was too strong. Maybe I should try a lower wattage bulb? I'll try moving all of the affected plants to the ends of the shelves and see how that goes.
I was thinking of trying the optimara violet food. It's a 14/12/14, and it's a powder so I can get it shipped here easily. speaking of fertilizers, do they usually contain micro nutrients that the plants require? I thought calcium was a big one that's needed. I never seem to see it listed.

Justin,

Personally, I think your violets are suffering more from over-fertilization than the lights although I think the lights may be an issue as well.. Move your plants around and maybe reduce the time your lights are on and see what happens. They will have to outgrow the bunchy centers and then maybe you can play with the lighting situation. You'll have to experiment a bit. Also, remember that some violets will never be happy with your set-up. These you give away and get some that like your space better.
I have not used Optimara but many violets growers love it. Their web-site shows just seven micros listed. (All micros are essential, not just certain ones). If I were you, I might start with that one since shipping wouldn't be an issue. Most growers rotate fertilizers to make sure their plants are getting what they need. While you get started with the Optimara, you can look around for other fertilizers if you like.
And-over-all, I think your affected plants don't look that bad. And your other ones and your set-up look awesome! Carry on!

Linda

Not sure what prompted me to lift a violet out of it's pot, but I did. This one in particular i've had for 2 months and it hasn't changed at all. I found soil mealy bugs:(
From what i've read, i need to find diatomite? or a chemical to put in the soil.
Would anyone suggest I just toss all of the plants and start from the beginning? I lifted about 8 more plants out of their pots and 4 of them had the white stuff and a few bugs that i could see. Not too many though.
so frustrating. I'm heading to the flower market to see what I can find. I'm sure they won't have the diatomite or will know what i'm talking about:P sigh

Justin,

No, do not toss your plants. First, take leaves to root in case the originals do not make it. Then, look around and see what insecticides you can purchase locally. Come back here and tell us what you find BEFORE you use it.
You can also re-root your plants: cutting off the roots , disposing of the soil and insects and starting your plants in new soil. If you want to do that, again, let us know and we'll direct you. I know it sounds drastic but it's a common practice and it's easy-peasy!
And....don't get discouraged. We've all been there. It's just part of the learning curve.

Linda

Thank you for your help Linda!
I went to the flower market here and they didn't really understand which insect I wanted to eradicate. I showed them pictures and they tried to get me to buy a few different things. Most of them were foliar sprays, and the english that was printed on them did not list mealy bugs. I have neem oil, but that is a foliar spray as far as I can tell. One of them I did recognize. It had acephate in it. Optimara says there are risks to use it. The guy at the store said it smelled. My plants are in my treatment room so i'd rather not have anything that will stink. My clients wouldn't appreciate that. I think i'll do the root cutting and hope for the best. I have lots of ziplock bags to put them in while they start to reroot. I purchased more peat moss, vermiculite and perlite. I have mixed it and pasteurized it.
I don't suppose it's possible to just wash the roots completely clean? I think i'll cull my herd and just toss a few. I have a lot of suckers (40+) that i've rooted and don't need them all. It's hard to toss a leaf let alone a small plant:P Just can't keep them all. LOL

Justin

what you need is leaching. You take your pot to the sink - and run the lukewarm water through your soil until it runs clear, give the grown a nice soft shower - and then let it drain and dry on a stack of newspapers before returning to the shelf. You would be amazed how happy they will be and how fast they will grow out of their crunchy state.

I.

Justin,
Are you sure you have soil mealies? Why don't you try as Irina advises above and see what happens. (Irina is VERY knowledgeable about violets.) :)
Also, another Irina idea that I think is a gem: instead of tossing extra violets, take them to a nursing home. Most elders would be thrilled to receive a blooming plant. Take your older duplicates and keep the younger ones. They're more vigorous and likely to bloom better; just like people! If they kill them, well, they were going in the trash anyway so little is lost. I also think schools are a great place to donate plants.
I'm like you-I'm in this hobby to grow plants, not throw them out.

Linda

Justin,

If you decide you want to re-root, let us know.

Linda

I'm going to lift all of the violets I have out of the pots and check for the mealy bugs. I'm positive that's what they are. I can see them crawling along the roots of some of the violets, and there is a white substance all along those roots as well. From what i've read, they are mealy bugs:P

I think i'll cut the roots off and begin anew:) It's good to learn these things ;)

I'll post of picture or two of them when I get home from work

When dealing with mealy bugs you have several good choices. I like CONSERVE SC and Marathon 1% Granular. CAPE COD VIOLETRY is a good place to look or you can find both on E-bay most of the time. Shipping? You will just have to ask. If you are looking to buy in you city look for the active ingredient " Imidacloprid "

They both use the same chemical Imidacloprid but in different form. Imidacloprid is the major chemical used for PritchardâÂÂs mealy bug (Soil mealy bug). Imidacloprid is a systemic insecticide which is carried throughout the plant once absorbed by the roots.

CONSERVE SC is liquid and you spray it or drench the plants.
Marathon 1% Granular. is in granular and you mix in your potting soil when repotting or top dress the plant.

Thanks again for your help everyone:) Here is a picture of the soil that was around the roots of one of the violets. Not sure if you can see a bug in there or not, but i definitely saw a few crawl back into the soil. It is mealy bugs correct?

Irina

I wanted to show you the scoop that came with my fertilizer and how much i'm using in a litre of water. The red spoon is just for reference.
I do get a lot of evaporation and I have a feeling that the over fertilizing is due to me not cleaning the trays weekly. I wasn't aware of that until a few days ago:P
Do you think that the amount i'm using is too much?

Can I ask you guys about this violet? It has never flowered. I bought it because I thought had lovely pinkish variegation. It had 2 or 3 crowns in it originally and now it has 5 or 6+ crowns.
Any ideas what I should do with it? The person at the plant store i bought it from didn't know anything about the violet.
I'm a bit afraid to start cutting into it in case it's supposed to be like it is. I'll post a close up of a few crowns.

Here is a close up of it

Justin,
Does your plant have a name? If it is a trailer, it is supposed to be multi-crowned. I don't grow trailers but maybe someone who does can offer an opinion as to whether it's a trailer or not.
Usually soil mealies will leave a silver-blue marking on the inside walls of the pot. Dump your soil and see if there are any. It's pretty obvious and you should be able to see it clearly. There are other insects that can live in the soil that are not harmful so you don't want to treat indiscriminately.
As to fertilizer-make sure you are leaching your pots, (as well as regular re-potting), as fertilizer salts can build up over time harming your violets no matter how much you use. But, it doesn't look like it's too much fertilizer.
Personally, I think fertilizer is a tricky issue. I've had root burn, crown loss, bunched centers (like yours) and now I think my pH is wonky. But, as I said, it's a learning curve!
I hope this helps.

Linda P.S. The foliage on your plant is beautiful Some grow variegated violets as foliage plants.

Yes, a name would really help to determine if its a trailing type. Do the crowns appear to be sort of branching off, or are they coming more from the base of the plant? I would leave it for a while and see what happens because you might have a nice trailer.

Justin - your red scoop - 1/4 of a teaspoon is more than planty for a gallon - which is about 3.78 liter. So - get yourself a 5 liter bucket, fill with water let it sit for 24 hours and add 1.25 g of fertilizer - and you are set.

You have soil mealy bugs. the best will be to reroot your violets - and bath them in 1/4 Clorox or rubbing alcohol solution before sticking them in a fresh soil.

I use Marathon as a soil additive against mealy bugs.

Good Luck

irina