Question
Dear Mary,

One of my African violets seems to be having problems.  The leaves look fine, although the outer, larger ones are a little droopy.  The main problem is that the flowers are very small and the colors are washed out.  The edges of most of the flowers are white and the buds seem to be opening too early.  I use a liquid fertilizer made for African violets diluted 7 drops to 1 quart every time I water.  The other 2 violets that I have seem fine on this.  I've looked and don't see any signs of infestation.  

Also, does it harm the plant to remove the outer leaves?  I want to take off the outer rim of leaves to make the plant look more balanced.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Gita

Answer
Hello Gita:  First of all how long has it been since you repotted your violet?  If it has been longer than six months, it may need fresh soil. Soil breaks down over time and the plant cannot take up the nutrients from the soil no matter what fertilizer you are using. When you repot, be sure to use a very light soil mix. I do not recommend Shultz.  Miracle grow is okay as long as you add at least 50% perlite to it. Both are available at Wal-Mart. When you repot, do not overpot--in other words don't use a pot that is too big. If you do, the roots will be soggy. African Violets don't like soggy roots. The pot should be 1/3 the size of the plant...if your plant's leaf span is 12 inches, you would use a 4 inch pot. That's just an example. Have you checked the root ball of infestation of bugs?  Soil mealy bugs look like white pieces of perlite--except they move when prodded!  Also, your plant may need more or less light...but since you didn't mention it, this may not be a problem. If you haven't visited the African Violet Society of America web site, you owe it to yourself to do so.  http://www.avsa.org  It has links to commercial growers and some have picture tutorials on how to repot, start a new plant, etc. I hope this information is helpful. Please get in touch again if you have any more questions.

Mary Hill, Tulsa