What do you do if you think that you might have cyclamen or broad mites? I have noticed that in the past two weeks that the crowns of my av's are not looking normal. Crowns are turning brown and leaves are brittle and deformed. These av's are by themselves, not with my babies or some of my other av's or streps, thank goodness! I have tried to take pictures but just can't get it focused so that you can see. To close.
This is what I have done:
tossed 12 plants, pots and all in the trash, tied up in a bag
bleached the shelf
bleached all tools that I use
I am just heart broken!! These were the only ones that were blooming size. I don't know what else to do. Any hints? I just don't want them to get on the others.
Melanie
I need help .....again
you can use avid,it gets rid of mites,other then that im not sure,
I am so sorry................I agree with Jim..............Better get the AVid out and spray real well 3 times once a week for 3 weeks...............and then don't send anyone plants or leaves for awhile or receive any new plants until you have it totally under control..............
Will Do!!
Thanks so very much!
melanie..............ask Susan who got them what she did (Turtlechi).........I saw her posting today and I think maybe she had to dip hers but I don't know..............I just spray as preventative thing I do............
Thanks so much Gail. I have a friend at the agi dept at State. He said that it looked more like I over fert. them. He is running some tests. I should know more on Monday. Fingers are crossed!! LOL!!
Good for you that you have gone for help. You certainly hate to treat something you may not have!!! I just through an episode of burning my plants from too much fertilizer, too!! I hope that is all that is wrong.......
melanie,
Over fertilizing,too much light,etc. can look a lot like mite damage.Of course,always isolate the plants,but don't be too quick to toss them!
And don't forget to let us know what you lost.Some of us may have leaves or starts to help you with your collection.
Lynn
Thank you so much Lynn. Most of them I had taken leaves from. They were two or three that I hadn't. Fingers are crossed that it's not mites. If it isn't, I'll be sure to let you know which ones that I need.
Gail will tell you that I am always the first to panic!! LOL!!
Melanie
theres a hot water treatment to get rid of mites,
http://www.cyclamen.org/mite_set.html
JIM
Jim,
That's a great link!! My tried and true method is to immerse the entire plant for 5-7 minutes in fairly hot,very soapy water.Then rinse,let drip dry and then blot the crowns very well.A dip in a Kelthane does the same thing,but I don't always have it on hand.I always isolate all of my new plants for quite a while,but sometimes a plant just doesn't look quite right to me.If I ever dig out my old journals,I know I have both a hot water method and a Clorox one,but I don't want to post it unless I am absolutely sure of the proper ratio.
So far,I have never tried Avid.I need to look into that as a preventative measure.
Lynn
Lynn,
When you get a chance could you check your books to see about the bleach mix.I give every new plant that comes in the house,a bath in bleach water.1 teaspoon to a dishpan full of water,then into isolation.I was just wondering if it should be stronger on the bleach.What is kelthane??
Interesting link Jim,Thanks
That's a good practice, Jan. What method do you use? Do you soak them, or just dip them in the bleach solution? Potting mix and all or just the leaves, or unpot the plant and do roots and everything?
Kelthane is an insecticide specifically to kill mites.I will see if I can find the bleach formula.
Whewww!!! Good news!! Over fert. Such good new!! I really feel so stupid!! I have to bake some brownies for this little favor. This man that did this for me went to school with my son. A pan of brownies is alot cheaper than what it would have cost. LOL!!
Does anyone have an extra leaf of Music Box Dancer or Artic Frost? These were the only two that I didn't get extra leaves put down. I will gladly pay for them or do postage.
Thanks,
Melanie
Melanie,
I am so happy it was not mites!! I am sorry I don't have those violets..
Jan,
The only formula I found was for a drench and it was 1 tsp. per gallon. If I find the other one I will let you know.
Lynn
Melanie, I am soooooo happy for you that you don't have mites. Now I can bring all my stuck av leaves I got in the round robin back to the growing shelves. I was a scared as you.
I have trays of av leaves down and am just starting to separate so I can't help on the avs you would like........won't be long though before I have lots of leaves.
awesome news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Coooooooool!!!!!!!
Been there---done that too! LOL!!!!
In this thread some people mentioned soap and bleach dips. What does this do? I ask because a long time ago I read about a method for safely killing the germs on produce that you by. You spray them first with hydrogen peroxide and then with white vinegar and let it sit for 30 seconds or so and then rinse. I've done it for years now. It is certainly inexpensive and supposedly kills things like salmonella. I don't like using bleach because it's bad for the environment in many ways - I don't even buy it so I was wondering if the peroxide vinegar concoction might work to do the same thing on these sensitive plants without hurting them and not doing as much damage to the environment as bleach can.
Thanks for the tips, annacanna. I use (unfortunately) bleach to clean all my trays, etc, but I have never used bleach on plants in any way.
annacanna, it is mostly for insects and their eggs that we treat the plants, not germs. Some of the insects are very hearty and hard to kill, that is why we need stronger tactics. Some can infect and kill a lot of plants if not caught early enough...we are growing so many and they are sometimes growing in the same tray and close together and can easily go from one plant to the other. It is why we treat and isolate the new plants we get from anyone else....vender or friend.
I too had an over fertilizing problem about 3 years ago and thought it was insect damage. I was also very releaved that it was just that. The plants all grew out again and looked really nice after a few months.
tish
I always tend to over fertilize.........makes me so mad at myself. Sometimes I just make myself use clear water a couple of times.
Howdy. I wouldn't know a mite if I fell over one..guess I have been lucky, huh? I don't have near the plants that you guys do however. Now, I think I read someplace about spraying with alcohol for any pests...anyone heard of that? Or maybe I read it in a old plant book. Or maybe I dreamed that up. ????? ChuLin
Well I know you can kill mealy bugs by touching them with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol,but I'm not sure about a spray.
Gail, I think I am pretty careful with the fertilizer, but I do also use clear water sometimes for a couple of waterings. They seem to like it.
Thanks, Sally.........I know I am over fertilizing......mine are wicked but I am cleaning the trays today and use clear water.
It's easy to do, especially wicked I think. Each plant is different too I think.
I don't spend half the time on my avs as I do my streps.........if I am ever going to have decent african violets, I am going to have to make some time for them......as you are so right about each one being different. Right now, I am not even separating the standards from the minis half the time. (especially on all the 7 trays of babies I have potted up)
There are two kinds of mealy bugs. Alcohol will kill the ones that live one the foliage. The root mealie bugs are a different insect...they have a waxy coating and alcohol will not kill them. something systemic like putting marathon in the soil will kill them when they eat the roots. The root mealies are really hard to eridicate. Usually don't know you have them until you start seeing your plants droopy even though they have not been under or over watered.
Wicking means the fertilizer salts do not get washed out of the soil. You need to repot more often and or leach the soil...especially the mini's. I am bad about getting those done, especially the leaching. There is a violet queen - our oldest member of our club, in her 90's...she has beautiful plants, once a month she gives them a bath...washes the plant in the sink with a sprayer, leaches the soil. Well, I don't have enough time or ambition to go thru all that besides the fact I have way too many plants! But she has huge healthy violets to show for her efforts.
tish
Tish......you have just inspired me to quit potting up streps for a few hours and leach every single av I have and clean the trays!!!!
Gail....stay on task! Although with so many streps, you probably need a change of scenery!
I am loving playing with avs!!!! Yes, a nice change of scenery as I never get caught up with streps anyway!!
I'm lurking and learning. Good grief I did not know you could safely give them a bath. Makes sense cause darn near all my outside plants get bathed once a week. They love it so should the inside plants. Just not to leave any puddles also makes sense. My family always said we could not wet the violet leaves. Oh well likely grandma spoke likewise. The old stone farmhouse window sills were always full of violets and hold over plants. There were coffee cans full of herbs and such. Onion seed was first to get planted while we were still shoveling snow. I guess they had problems but we never heard of big problems with the hold over stock.