Question
Oh no, a possessed pot!  I'm not sure what it is made of; some sort of porous, brownish clay stuff.  My AV that is totally healthy is in an identical pot; both plants and both pots bought at the local Home Depot (not the best quality, I know, but at least when they die I don't feel bad for spending a lot on them).  I've been taking out the old plant and its soil and putting in the new plant with just its own store-dirt.  No cats or anything like that; just a hamster, and she doesn't visit the plants much!  Oh, and all three that have died had pink flowers.

I guess if I decide to invest in a new AV, I'll also invest in some good-quality soil and a NEW pot.

Thanks!

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Followup To
Question -
I have (had) three African violets.  All are watered about once every week or week and a half with african violet fertilizer, and all are in a south-western facing window.  I water all three from the top, but I am very careful not to touch the leaves with water and to only add a little at a time to the soil.  One is doing very well, with abundant leaves and flowers.  One had a rough time last winter (it was below freezing for a few weeks straight), and has gone from being as healthy as the first plant to being very smallish.  Although it is growing new leaves from the center, the bottom leaves are dying faster than it is growing, so it continues to shrink.  My third plant is now dead, and was a replacement for two plants before it. All three have been in the same pot and have all three died of the same problem.  The four or five innermost leaves at the crown turn brown and mushy, and all the rest go limp and then die.  I had only had this plant for maybe three months, and it had just started to grow and flower regularly, and then suddenly one day it was dead.  

So my questions are, one, can anything be done for the shrinking plant, and two, is my pot that all the dead ones have been in contaminated with something (crownrot?), and is there anything I can do to stop this from happening again?

Thanks Johnnie!

Erin
Answer -
Hi Erin - I hope you had a good Labor Day!

It seems your pot is possessed!  You can either throw the pot away or, what I would do, clean and soak it in a solution of bleach and water to kill any fungi/bacteria/infestation that can be there.  Once that is done, find a good priest.  You don't have to do the last part!  Once all that is done, you can eliminate a problem pot.  Hopefully your pot in not terra cotta - African Violets do no like these pots!  Necrosis refers to the dying of part of the plant by any means.  In order to help you more, please tell me where you bought your plants from - like a nursery or a discount store.  Secondly, do you remove all the soil for them or use the old soil once you repot them?  Refer to my previous post about soil in bought AVs.  Do you have a cat that might be messing with your plant?  

Let me know!

Answer
Erin,

 You said a bad word - pourous!  I'd used a glazed ceramic pot or even plastic.  I don't think it's your hampster either.  I haven't had much luck with Home Depot or Lowe's - their plants seem to be neglected quite a bit and I've found diseased plants readily when looking around.  Don't give up on your african violets!