I was gifted an AV by a friend who has since passed and I think it has mites!The crown is very tight and hairy. The crown leaves are also very small and pale.I have Garden Safe Fungicide 3 spray. Is this something I can use and if so how?Do I understand correctly that it is pointless to try to propagate the larger leaves?TIA for any and all help.
Mite on my Special AV
Before you do anything, make sure that your Violet REALLY has mites.
Sometimes a tight crown can happen simply when the plant is stressed by too much heat, sun or something else.
I also don't see any reason not to propagate a leaf of a potentially infested plant if you can make sure that you keep it isolated (like in a plastic baggie or other container) until you made sure that there are no bugs on it.
Usually a good, hard spray of water gets rid of most critters, even the small ones. Repeated every few days and used in combination with something as simple as Neem Oil + Soap spray can and will usually get rid of the rest.
Most important: Keep your plant isolated from the others until you know what's wrong and try to get some clean leaves for propagation. Keep every single leaf separate and isolated from the others to increase your chances in case of an infestation.
Thanks Olaf. I gave her a good washing in warm water,dried her leaves and exiled her to the bathroom.I'll keep an eye on the growth of the crown. I took a few leaves and potted them up and put them in baggies.
Thanks for coming to my rescue again.Last time you helped me save a broken crown and learn to propagate from leaves.I'm learning so much from the people at Dave's.:))