African Violets and Gesneriads: Need help with Strep 'Black Panther', 1 by Katlian

Katlian wrote:
My poor Black Panther seems to have a particularly virulent and persistent case of root rot. This summer it was very healthy as you can see in the photo (yes, it's an african violet pot but there's no water in the reservior). Since then two of the four crowns have died. They suddely get limp and quickly shrivel up. I repotted into a very fast draining mix and a clean clay pot and things looked okay for a while. It has been getting watered only when it's totally dry and starting to wilt. Today I got home and the larger of the remaining crowns is starting to wilt, even though I watered two days ago. I figure it has about two days before it's totally dead.

My question for the group is: if I take a cutting from the affected crown, will it have the same problem or is the fungus only in the roots? I can't really take cuttings off the unwilted crown because it's very small.

My other problem is that I have never successfully rooted a strep leaf. I used the salad box setup with perlite and the leaf that sticks out the top mummifies while the part in the perlite rots. I suspect the 20% or less humidity in my house is the culprit. The only humid spot in my house is inside a terrarium with 80% humidity and 70-80° temps. Would the Strep leaves be okay in there while they were rooting?

I appreciate any ideas, I would hate to loose this one!

Janel