African Violets and Gesneriads: Bargain Violets, 1 by begoniacrazii

begoniacrazii wrote:
Here's what I think the problem is with the dying ones. Well they are 'dying' per say. but the outer older leaves are drooping and wilted.

My intuition tells me they were TOO wet. their decline bagan when I made my new AV shelf in my office. They all got wicked at that time.
Today, I repotted each one - using a very coarse soil mix with lots of perlite. Enough so that when I made a fist, it wouldn't stick in a ball and crumbled easily. I removed as much of the original soil as I could.

my FAVORITE one with the green and gold variegation was the worst! the soil felt like a soggy sponge. After I got rid of the soil I really looked at it closer. I think it was only peat moss. Then they use what 'looked' like perlite but WASN'T, it was itty bitty styrofoam balls the size of perlite. Kink of what you would find in a bean bag chair. (ever have one of those break in your house and you will know what I'm talking about - my kids once thought they could use it like a trampoline - a gazillion little styrofoam beans everywhere.... ) Anyway it was so soggy.
Remember, when they were in my bedroom, they got watered when the top of the soil began to dry and then I would set them in a dish of tepid water until they drank it up and then put them back in my bedroom.
SInce I moved them that is when the problem started. When I moved them they all got the little tupperware type containers and wicks.

So I think that was really the issue. Here is a shot from when I had just made the shelf