Evergrace in trouble

This is the AV that I found not long ago hiding out with some of my cacti. It looked really bad and all of the leaves were drooping. So I got it out, took off all the dead flowers, started to water it and it started looking really good. Now all of the leaves are standing up really pretty. However, they leaves have started to turn yellow and I'm not sure what is wrong. Can someone please help my big beautiful Evergrace before it is too late? I am posting a photo of what the whole plant looks like and then one of the details of the leaves. Thank you.

JesseK

Now here is one of the leaves up close.

JesseK

Jesse, that almost looks like sunburn. Was it ever close to the window or did it ever get direct sun?

No, it is not too close to a window but it is directly under my plant lights. I have my AVs on one of the shelf systems that everyone has been purchasing from Sams. I have two fixtures above the AV shelf with 2 bulbs in each. How far from the bulbs should I have the leaves and how far from the bulbs should I have just a normal AV? I think that they are getting way too much light and I have since moved them down. Should I only have one set of lights for to the regularly growing AVs? And 2 sets on the leaves? I really do think this is my problem. So I would appreciate any suggestions on how far away I should keep the bulbs above the regular plants and how far I should keep them from the leaves. Sorry for all of the questions but I really do want to make all of this work. I want to be a good AV gardener. And with help from all of you on the AV forum, I know that I eventually will be. Thanks so much.

JesseK

Too much water??

Jesse, try having a look here and see if anything rings a bell

http://www.steverd.com/violets/leaves/leaf-id.htm

also here, take a look at the fertilizer burn, what are you fertilizing with?
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=4183622&uid=127049

oops sorry, hit the send key before I finished my thought. Duh. What kind of bulbs are you using? Fluorescent dont get too hot to the touch, but some incandescent do. (regular bulbs)
Are your lights like spot lights or long grow lights?

Most of my bulbs are the plain old fluroescent Cool White like most people are using. So they do not get that hot but I really do think that they are too close. How far away should I have them from the bulbs?

JesseK

I'd go to Doctor Optimara
http://www.optimara.com/doctoroptimara/10000-10006/10001.html
Laurie is something worng with the sticky ?

None of the links are showing up or it me ?
http://www.optimara.com/doctoroptimara/10000-10006/10001.html

Leaves Pale: Possible Causes

Below is the complete list of problems which may cause chlorosis of the leaves.

Aphids
Bacterial Leaf Blight
Broad Mites
Chemical Gas Exposure
Cyclamen Mites
Fertilizer - Phosphorus Deficiency
Fertilizer - Potassium Deficiency
Fertilizer - Sulfur Deficiency
Leaf Bleaching
Leaf Mealy Bugs
Leaf Nematodes
Potting Soil - pH Imbalance
Privet Mites
Pythium
Root Burn
Root Nematodes
Root Rot
Scale
Soil Mealy Bugs
Spider Mites
Strawberry Nematodes
Sunlight - Not Enough
Virus
Whiteflies
http://www.optimara.com/doctoroptimara/10100-10108/10101-01.html

I checked out that first link that you left and it says that the "space violets" do not like as much light and I think that is most likely the problem. I will move that plant farther away from the light than the others. Also, I noticed that some of the causes were from all different types of deficiencies and I have good news for that. My free sample of VF-11 just came in the mail not long ago so I think I will mix up a batch and give it some of that. According to what I read, this stuff really does help a lot.

JesseK

Yes I was thinking you need Vf-11. Transplant plant check roots check for any insect.Remove and throw away any damage foliage. Foliage and feed with eleanors VF-11 Try end of light tube or natural light.

Allison,

If it has all of those we better burn it. :)

Dave's is acting fishy. I cant seem to get on at times today, and weird little gremlin things are happening. Links aren't hot and threads don't show that they are read. They show up as new. Weird.
Aly, I dont know why the sticky isn't working, some things are just acting funny today. I went to the DG main thread to see if there was an update. Didn't find anything.
Our links above should be blue and clickable (that's what I meant by hot) but for some reason they are not. I tried to correct it, but the send key wouldn't work.

Also, if you have fertilized recently with something like Miracle grow, you may want to flush the old soil if you can. Which may mean you need to set the root ball on paper towels to wick away excess moisture or it might get unhappy. (trust me I'm the Queen of Over Waterville)

But Eleanor emailed me and told me to try and flush the soil to remove old fertilizers before adding VF11. (of course that's an ideal world and we can't always do that) but if you can, might be worth a try.

Nice thing about VF11 is how mild it is. Wont burn. My babies love it, just bought another gallon the other day. Luckily we only have to pay $10 for the gallon size. Company is just south of her in the SFO area.

Hi Jesse,

Here is a link I found with some photos that might prove helpful for you.

http://www.steverd.com/violets/leaves/leaf-id.htm

Joanne

It's not what the plant has Makshi. lol Dr. Optimara is where you can go DX problems and they give you help what to do also. Thoses are a list of things that it could have that displays those kind off affects on the foliage.

This is the link that says that the "space violets" do not like as much light and I have been giving it the same amount as the rest of them. So I have moved it farther away from the light. Thank you for all of your help. What would I do without all of your help? I would be totally lost.

JesseK

Is anyone else having a tough time with the "skip to new" button? Mine is not working at all. So I have to scroll down to the bottom to see if there is a new post.

JesseK

I'm having the same problems and more with daves today Jesse, they must have some bugs to work out

Now I'm really upset. I just wrote a long post in Dave's Garden forum, telling Dave that my thread watcher is not working, and it has disappeared. It keeps telling me that I have 9 new updated posts to read, but I really don't. What do I do and what happened to my posts?

JesseK

Dave just emailed me to say they are fixed or working on it, but Jesse, I am having the same issues with the new posts that aren't new.

One thing I do when I post a really long winded post is copy it before I hit send. just in case I lose it, I can paste into a doc until later.

Yes, I think the next time I write Dave a post about something not working, I will save a copy of it in Notepad or something like that. Mine just totally disappeared. And nothing has been fixed for me so far.

JesseK

Sorry about your Ever "Guy". I recently spent days getting rind of mites and thrips. Hope your answer is light or soil. Good Luck

I think my problem is that they are too close to the lights. Does anyone know what the safest distance from the light is? I have leaves that are sitting in the soil, waiting to make babies, so how close should they be to the lights? They are under 4 bulbs right now but I can move one of the fixtures and put them under only one set of bulbs. Also, what about my little plants that Lorry sent me. How close should they be to the light bulbs? And the normal size ones, How close for them? Sorry to ask so many questions but I don't want to fry all of my poor AVs.

JesseK

Mine are under 4 bulbs and I keep the tops of the plants about 12 to 14 inches from the light.

Mine are mostly 7 or 8 inches from the lights. I think minis and leaves can be much closer than that, but that's the spacing I've seen recommended for standards. It may help to put plants with lots of variegation or pale flowers (which as said to prefer less light) at the ends of your shelves. Florescent tubes put out less light toward either end, and of course you can also move it further out from beneath the tube.

Have you taken out a magnifying glass and checked the underside of the leaves for pests? The pattern of yellow areas and little brown spots on the closeup shot has me a little concerned that some critter could be doing sucking damage to the leaves. Hopefully, it's just a problem with lighting that'll be easily corrected!

Your right Jill. If you have a 3x power loup Jesse this will help though most bugs hide in the light.
Take it out of the pot and examine the roots and root ball also.
I have my EverFloris Space plants some in natural light some under cool whites very close all doing fine.
My plants are pretty close to light and miniatures and leaves/babies almost touch.
Girl foliage , light green, pink and white blossoms, variegated leaf varieties grow good at the end of tubes
. Now if you have young variegated babies, plants close to light can help them color up if too much white.
Though I do have some Variegated plants like Rob's Slap Happy and few others that give me more color close to light.

Guess it's a trial and error thing.

Thanks everyone. I can see now that my plants are way too close to the lights. I think I need to take out one of my shelves so that they will not all be so close. And I also think that they are too dry. I have the little domes to go on top. Maybe I should add some water to the bottom of the tray and then keep the domes on them. All of these things should really help. Thanks for all of the suggestions. They are going to help my little babies a lot.

JesseK

I have a question. How do you know what size to plant your plants in? I have some really cute 3" and 2" pots with sunflowers painted on them. How do I know what size to use because I do not know how big the plant will wind up being? Is there a place that I can look at up and find out.

And are all of you a member of the AVSA? And do you recommend joining it?

JesseK

If you know whether the plant is a miniature, a semi-miniature, or a standard variety, that gives you an idea of what pot will be appropriate when it's mature... most minis & semis will not need to go beyond a 2 inch pot, small minis may not get to that size even, some semis may go up to a 3 inch pot, standards will eventually need a 4 inch pot and some can be put into 6 inch pots if they're large varieties. However, you don't want to put a little plant into a big pot. The plant's diameter should be at least twice the diameter of the pot (three times is really best). If the pot is much bigger than the root ball, that will leave lots of soggy soil around the roots to cause problems.

I have plantlets of my biggest standard violet that start out in 1 inch thumbprint pots and gradually work their way up to 4 inch pots... the parent plant was put into a 6 inch pot only when it was really big and its roots completely filled its 4 inch pot... and it responded to the extra space by getting enormous (14-18 inches across, depending on how recently it's been trimmed back).

Jesse your Evergrace sure green-up fast ? And blooming WOW a Miracle . They don't look like the same plant. :))

It is amazing how they can change. I can't wait for all the little buds to open. It will be so beautiful.

Jesse