so i repotted my african violet on april 28 it is now may 6. I may have overwatered it but i bought a self watering pot and i thought it was what i needed. i also bought this fertilizer and only added a few drops. the leaves have started to curl up and i have kept it near a window where sunlight hits the most. i have heard it need indirect sunlight. this is my first plant and i got for my grandmas passing i want to make sure i can keep it alive 😭😭. but my mom had a majestic palm near it that had spider mites on it. we have now since then thrown away the palm and i moved the plant to another location but i dont think it got enough sunlight. i also checked to see if it got infected by the spider mites but i didnt see any. what i did see is that the soil has like little hairs growing from it idk if thats bad or good (the current picture is the second picture). but i really want my plant to stay alive and grow flowers so please help 🙏🙏
by CelebrationPutrid684
5 Comments
I can’t tell from the pictures-by self watering, do you mean ceramic, or a wick that is in water? Also, I think it needs a bit of shade. That seems like a lot of sun.
If you have a ceramic pot, the very bottom of the dirt might be too wet. When I’m using a ceramic pot, I put a half inch of perlite in the bottom before soil. Helps minimize root rot.
When you say added a few drops, you mean: making the very small amount added to water as on the package, not directly to the plant, right?
In self wick ceramic, I have the bottom inch filled with chunky perlite then I add more perlite to av soil, 1:1 ratio. When I water, I make sure the water level only reaches up to the perlite only or the plant can get over watered.
I’m concerned about the crown in the second pic; it is not looking very good. That plus the wilted leaves is no bueno.
If any of the leaves are firm, I strongly recommend clipping them (or at least one of them) and propagating it just in case you lose the mother plant. If I were you (and I have been in this position before, believe me) I would remove it from the pot, clip as much of the likely rotted root system as possible, and then repot it in very light soil (AV soild mix plus 30% extra perlite, assuming you don’t want to wick water it). Put it in a plastic bag and keep it out of direct sun/heat for at least two weeks. You should not need to water it during this time and do not fertilize it. Probably would be a good idea to clip the outermost layer of leaves, too, if they are getting mushy.
I actually got into AVs because of my grandma, too, and she made it look a lot easier than it is. They can be troublesome plants and they are not hard to kill.
Download the Planta app. There is a free version and it will tell you how often to water and fertilize. You only fertilize every few waterings.