Good pictures. The reason your soil is hydrophobic (does not absorb water readily) is because you use Mancozeb and Banner Max on it repeatedly. Good soil needs healthy fungi and you're killing them every time you treat for rust. If you are going to treat the rust with chemicals, you should come back as soon as the rust goes away and treat the entire yard with compost at a rate of 1 cubic yard per 1,000 square feet. The compost has all the beneficial fungi and bacteria that healthy soil needs. That should restore your soil so that it absorbs water again. It might even cure you of rust next year. Do you normally use fungicides later on in the season? If so be sure to follow up with compost at the same rate. That rate should look like a light dusting. That is only 1/3 of an inch so ALL the grass should be visible after you apply. I sweep it in with a push broom to get it off the grass blades. Down in Brazil researchers found that rust and red thread could be treated with ordinary milk. Spray it on at 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Usually they dilute it in water to get that. If you use an Ortho sprayer, set it to 3 ounces per gallon and fill it with milk. It takes about 3 weeks but that usually gets it without damaging the other fungi in the soil. In fact milk is an organic fertilizer, but I don't know anyone using it routinely. I used it on African violets for awhile.

Hi Debbie, Welcome to the AV forum. There is a lot of info here to cover. I just hope that it doesn't bore you or drive you mad from reading all the entries. If you are unsure about what to do this is a good place to find the answer. I agree with Barbara, try flushing the salts and excess fertilizer out of the pot. I always tell all new growers to isolate any new plants for a minimum of a month before putting them with the others. Once again welcome to the world of AV addiction. Fred in NJ

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Lisa, fun post and gorgeous blooms! (in January!) (Congratulations to Nik and all players) Sheila, I was interested in the DA own-root RMV question, too. Last spring I called their Customer Service who said they’d research the source of own-root cuttings and got back shortly to say they’re all from back home in the UK. They believed the mother plants there were grafted, but that doesn’t sound like a problem, does it, since they apparently aren’t plagued with the virus there, fortunately. (Nice, husky own-roots from what I’ve seen.) Not too late to say “Happy New Year!” to all! Linda