Streptocarpus Dying leaves brown

18 years ago

Hi. I had about 12 streps that I ordered as tiny babies last fall from Rob's Violets. They did great, blooming and growing, and I keep potting them up into successively larger pots until I got to 4" azalea pots.

Then this summer came around and they started dying. It starts with the leaves going brown and crispy, from the outermost leaves in. I would remove the dead/dying leaves until eventually there was nothing left but a dead stump in the middle. I also noticed that during the last round of blooms, some blooms would turn a sickly brown color and go limp. From the autopsies I have done, it doesn't appear that they are rotting.

What's up? I have been fertilizing each week with DynaGro, flushing with plain water every monthm, and I know I am not overwatering. Nothing has changed other than summer came and the temps in my home did increase (bad AC) to probably around 75 or 80 during the day. It's humid as all heck (VA summer) so I don't imagine that's it.

I have already lost about 4 plants and don't want to lose any more!

Thanks for your advice!

Comments (2)

komi
18 years ago
What strength fertilizer are you feeding it? I don't grow many streps, but the ones I have burn very very easily if I fertilize with more than weakest possible solution. That's my first thought.
jon_d
18 years ago
They might be rotting. If the base of the stems and crown turn purple that's a bad sign. Streps like cool temperatures. Your house with its bad A/C may be too warm. You might want to put a fan in the room to keep air circulating. Also, you might repot into fresh mix that is very airy (lots of perlite). When my mom grew streps in her basement light room back in the seventies she potted them up in bulb pans with a ring of long fiber sphagnum moss around the root ball. She found that they tolerated the warm Chicago summers in her basement much better. The streps may be telling you its time to fix the A/C??

Also, start propagating your plants so you have backups.

Jon