I was given this African violet to "save". It was sitting in a water logged bottom pot (top pot drains into it) so I don't think the roots were ever dry. Not sure. I have cut off all the yellow and am left w this woody root. What do you think is the best approach to try to save this? Thank you so much for the advice. I am not a huge plant person though I do pretty well in my gardens and e my other dozen or so houseplants.
by Unlikely-Pin-8201
2 Comments
First you should either repot it into a much smaller pot after cutting off the bottom level of roots and lightly scrape the side of the stem so it will be able to grow new roots once under the soil, and so it fits into that smaller width pot so the long stem is covered by the soil…Or you could cut the top of the African violet off while potentially keeping some of the roots at the bottom if possible, or cut it above the current soil line to keep up to 1.5 inches of the stem to go below the soil line, then lightly scrape the cut stem again to promote new root growth, and then repot into a small propagation pot/cup that is kept in a plastic bag or with its own dome covering it to keep the moisture and humidity inside while the plant grows new health roots. Either way, you’ll end up repotting it into a smaller pot with a self watering wick watered reservoir underneath the pot, either right away or after the plant grows new roots if you cut the top off (that takes about 1.5-2 months in total for it to grow new roots). Hope that was helpful, and good luck!
This pot is a self watering pot, so it was supposed to have water in it and the soil was supposed to be constantly moist, but the soil used should have been amended with a lot of perlite. I agree with the other poster about the repot process, burying the stem and potting down significantly.