African Violets and Gesneriads: Tight brittle leaves-why?, 0 by phoebesviolets

phoebesviolets wrote:
I have a question. Over this past fall/winter, I lost most of my plants to either bunched, tight centers, or centers with tiny leaves, often with nearby suckers, which also had tiny leaves. Since there were so many,I finally made the decision to toss them, just in case there were bugs(which I was unable to see w/ a 30x loupe), and as due to limited mobility, my ability to repot was limited. I have subsequently been able to rescue a few, but the problem continues to evidence. I would dip for mites anyway, but miteacide is not currently in the budget. and I really do not think it is the problem. Some plants seem to respond to decreased hours of light--some do not. I also noticed that this usually occurs just after the plant blooms.
This is my question--Does anyone use superthrive, and if so, do you use fertilizer in addition? I use 1 drop superthrive w/ 1/4 dose fertilizer per gallon, and at the end of each month--just dechlorinated water. The problems exist in my wicked and hand watered plants--and my plants in windows as well as the ones under lights. Any suggestions ? I am at a loss.