Is it normal for my violets to be so droopy after repotting?
by MarieGrace91
Is it normal for my violets to be so droopy after repotting?
by MarieGrace91
6 Comments
I am commenting because im also curious.
So I’m a novice so experts please vet my response.
I think that repots usually destabilize AVs so they need to go in a bag afterwards as it creates the humid environment they need to recover. When I still didn’t know what I was doing and repotted an AV last Christmas, the stem turned into limp noodles just like in your picture.
I also know soil is an important factor to get right, and I don’t think terracotta pots are recommended.
Keeping all of the blooms attached also stresses a newly repotted violet. Blooms should be removed so that the plant can focus on roots and foliage.
Mine are usually pretty dramatic when I repot, but not usually this dramatic. I would say maybe it’s because they’re flowering and that’s already a very energy-intensive effort. Being repotted during that cycle might have stressed them? Unglazed terracotta pots aren’t great for them, I definitely recommend that you put them back in plastic pots
Yes, it is normal. My botanist uncle explained it to me.
Plants don’t really want to waste more energy growing roots than is necessary, so they grow enough to obtain the nutrients and water the rest of the plant (stem, leaves, flowers) needs. In simpler terms the top and bottom of plants are in balance.
So when you repot, due to how most of the roots are very fine, you either intentionally or unintentionally damage some of the roots. To bring the plant back into balance, you can remove some of the older leaves when repotting, or you can bag the plant so the leaves don’t put as much water demand on the remaining roots. The roots will regrow and the the plant will return back to balance.
This also explains why most people have better luck cutting leaves in half when propagating in soil, and why you likely don’t need to do it when doing water propagation.
Cut the blooms off also the plant can put all of its energy into stabilizing itself and not into producing “fruit” aka blooms.