Question
I just repotted several african violets 2 nights ago.  One is angry about it!  It was in a TINY pot -- only 2 inches across -- and I put it in the smallest african violet pot I could find, about 4 inches.  I repotted by the instructions everyone gives out, but it's not doing well.  The bottom row of leaves have all started to droop and die.  What do I do to help him out?  Thanks!

Answer
Heather,

I want to ask you, is the "angry" plant a MINIATURE African Violet?  The reason is ask is that you said it was in a 2-inch pot.  For whatever reason, all violets prefer to be a little root-bound.  I'm not certain how this promotes flowering, but it does.  Just remember this next time you think you want to upgrade a violet to a larger pot.  In fact, it is possible to have violets for many years and never repot them!  I have about 14 violets currently, and I would not have repotted them at all except for the fact that four months ago I changed them over to self-watering violet pots.

To diagnose what is actually wrong with your little guy is difficult.  I am certain you watered well after repotting.  Could you have watered too much, possibly leading to overly wet soil?  Also, was the new soil sterile, and not affected by any pests or fungal disease?  Also, did you fertilize after repotting?  Feeding is a no-no for all plants right after repotting or transplanting.  Or, did you perchance not water it enough?

My first inclination is toward either too much water, or too little water.  If you indeed watered your violet properly after repotting, then the problem may be that the plant became waterlogged, at which point it would only take several days for some of the bottom leaves to start drooping.  You see, if the plant is in too large a pot then you have extra soil volume in addition to extra water, putting a lot of stress on the plant, and thus, you have a small root ball inside a huge "room" of soil with a lot of wetness; see?   My suggestion for you is to remove the excess water by whatever means you can IF you think waterlogging is the culprit.  You can remove the violet along with ALL  roots and repot into a container of smaller size, or you can simply remove all the wet soil, then place the plant and roots back in with drier soil.  You will want to water, but sparingly, and, according to how wet the plant appears to be, maybe not water at all on day #1.

If, however, the "wet soil" theory does not bear out, or you do not think this is your problem, then you can email me back, at which point I will be happy to further investigate it for you, or you might consider taking the violet in to a nursery specialist so it can be properly diagnosed.  You do need to act swiftly, as you know, because hopefully the violet can be saved, then time is of the essence.  Good luck.  Let me know if I can do anything further.  It would be my pleasure