Question
I have about 20 violets and they are probably about five years old.  They have always thrived with beautiful blooms and were my pride and joy.  They are all dyiing.  The leaves aroud the edges are shrivel up and when I picked them off the stems are wet.  I have not over watered them or done anything differently than I have in the past.  I repotted all of them and picked all the dead around the base of the plant.  It has been about 3 weeks since I repotted them and they are still going down.  I am sick about it.  Do you have any suggestions?
Susan

Answer
Susan,
I would be sick about it, too!
When you mentioned that the stems are "wet" when you pick the leaves off indicates a POSSIBLE fungal infection. These can happen for any reason, arbitrarily. Usually over-watering is the culprit, but you sound as if you are experienced with violets. The fact that all of them are affected also indicates that they may all be infected with a fungus, as fungal infections are spread easily among plants.

You probably should not have repotted them. Anytime a plant is "sick" or ailing you should not move its roots or change pots. But, that is already done. What you CAN do is go to a nursery or large store such as Home Depot and purchase a product which is a treatment for fungal infections JUST FOR AFRICAN VIOLETS. Use it sparingly following all directions, and you may want to reduce it to half=strength (dilute with water). That is what I would recommend to you since we are not certain it is an infection.

It is entirely possible to save them I suppose. You might even take one plant in to the store and ask someone in the gardening or potted plant area. Sometimes the staff in these stores actually know what to advise. I would also not give them as much water as you usually do right now, remembering that fungi reproduce very quickly in warm, moist environments. Of course, this is the optimum environment for violets, too. Makes it tricky.

These are my suggestions, and if I can help further please write back with more details.