Apr 27 2018

Violets diseases and their treatment

Indoor violets, so popular with many flower growers in our country, unfortunately, often suffer from improper care and are quite difficult to tolerate various kinds of diseases. You should carefully look at your pets, pay attention to the slightest deviations in growth, development, and the appearance of violets for the worse. Then you will not miss the problem that has arisen and will start correcting the situation as soon as possible. In this article, we will introduce you to common problems in the life of indoor Saintpaulias, their diseases, preventive measures and methods of treatment.

Once again, we draw your attention to the fact that the main way to protect indoor plants from diseases is proper care and timely preventive measures.

If everything is fine with the purchased violet and she does not need a transplant, take it to a prepared place in the apartment and start caring according to all the rules. After all, it is precisely the numerous violations of the rules for caring for indoor violets that become the causes of problems. Let's start dealing with them in order.

Common Problems

Why did violets become small and dull?

If the flower lacks natural light, then new generations of leaves, compared to the old ones, grow smaller and look more dull. Their petioles are elongated, the edges of the leaf plates are bent upwards. You should rearrange the flower pot on a window sill illuminated by diffused sunlight. In the autumn-winter period, additional artificial lighting will not interfere until 12 - 14 hours. Just keep it away from direct sunlight and drafts. You will see that the violet will soon recover and return to normal.

Why do violet leaves rise up?

Ideally, violet leaves are horizontal relative to the stem. True, some varieties of violets, for example, King's Ransom, Neptune's Jewels, Happy Feet, are prone to some raising of the leaves up. If you have a violet of a different variety, and its leaves suddenly began to rise and twist, there may be several reasons:

• Wrong lighting. It should not be weak or excessive. On the southern sunny windowsill, there must be a light shelter in the form of curtains or blinds, otherwise the sun's rays will burn the tender violet leaves and, in order to protect themselves from the sun, it lifts the leaves up. Western and eastern directions are the most preferable, and violets will not have enough light on the northern windows. The cuttings will begin to lengthen, the leaves will stretch towards the light and reach up. The rosette becomes like a large spider with disproportionately tall and thin peduncles.
  

  Move the violet pot to a suitable, well-lit place with scattered rays of the sun. With a short daylight hours, organize additional lighting up to 12 hours a day. Then the new cuttings will be of normal size, the leaves will spread out on the sides, as they should, and the outlet will gradually become beautiful and compact again. Just remember to remove the old leaves.

• Leaf rosette too thick. Many leaves suffer from a lack of light, reach for it and stretch out.
  Violet should be thinned out, and excess leaves removed.
• Lack of humidity in the room. If the air in your room is too dry, violet leaves will rise up and begin to curl. Try by all means to increase the humidity of the surrounding air.
• Heat from heaters. The leaves of violets rise when the pot stands on the windowsill, directly below which there is a battery, from which powerful streams of heat emanate upward. Violet tries to protect itself from the heat and lifts up the leaves. It will be worse if the leaves begin to turn yellow, and yellow-brown spots appear on them. It should be remembered that violets love a stable air temperature (18 - 26 gr.). Close the batteries, ventilate the room, but do not allow drafts.

If you analyze possible errors and correct them, your violets will return to normal.

Why do violet leaves curl inward?

If the leaves of a beautiful violet suddenly begin to wither, and the whole rosette is about to wither, you should hurry up and find out the reason for this disgrace. And there may be several:

• Banal violation of the content of the flower. Low or too high temperature, weak or too intense lighting, excess moisture, stagnant water in the pan, hard or cold water, burns of the root system due to exceeding the dose of top dressing, and others.
• insect pests, which settled on the underside of the leaves and suck the juices out of them. Special preparations - acaricides can help. (About pest control).
• Fungal diseases. The fungus can appear in the soil or enter the tissues of the violet through wounds in the stem or leaves, which appear mechanically during pruning, propagation or transplanting of the violet. Below we will describe the diseases of violets, which lead to the fact that its leaves wither and disappear.

Why do violet leaves turn yellow?

Perhaps you are not watering it carefully - water gets on the velvet leaves of the violet and spoils them. Yellow spots also appear from sunburn if the violet is in the sun. Ring spots can be from cold drafts in the winter season.

Why do violet leaves turn black around the edges?

If the edges of the leaves of the violet began to turn black, it is necessary to find the cause of this phenomenon and eliminate it. Let's take it in order:

• The main reason for the blackening of the leaves at the edges is excessive wetting of the substrate. Stop watering the plant temporarily, let the soil dry out. Feel the damaged areas - if they are soft, the root system may have begun to rot. Then we recommend removing the affected leaves, peduncles and stepchildren. Remove the violet bush from the pot, inspect the roots. Remove the brown ones. Treat slices with crushed activated charcoal. Transplant the violet into a new substrate in accordance with all the rules, water and spray with phytosporin, and do not continue to violate watering.
• Delicate violet leaves are intolerant drafts. At any time of the year, drafts can cause light or brown spots to appear on the leaves. But a few seconds in the cold air when airing the room in winter is enough for the green velvet leaves of the flower to begin to darken around the edges. Gradually, spots from the edges spread to the entire surface of the leaves. Violet in this case does not require treatment. Just remove damaged leaves so they don't ruin the look of the flower.
• Lack of nutrients in the soil causes brown spots to appear on violet leaves. In the process of growth and flowering, violet actively selects all the nutrients from the soil. They should be regularly renewed by feeding the plant twice a month with special liquid fertilizers for violets (saintpaulia). Do not neglect also the annual transplantation of the plant into a fresh substrate. If the flower is not transplanted for a long time, harmful salts accumulate in the soil, interfering with the absorption of nutrients. Top dressing in this case will not be effective.
• The appearance of white bloom or white or gray spots on the leaves of Saintpaulia can mean some kind of disease - fungal, bacterial or viral. We will talk about diseases of this nature later.

Why do violets wither flowers and buds?

If the buds do not fully open, and violet flowers dry prematurely, you can sin for the following reasons:

• The room is too dry. It is necessary to increase the humidity of the air - the flower suffocates.
• The room is too hot. In summer, the sun fries through the window glass, in winter - they fry batteries under the windowsill. There is no flowering here.
• Lack of natural light. In winter, due to the short daylight hours, artificial lighting is required.
• Soil not suitable for violets, too acidic, with a pH below 4.5
• Excess nitrogen in the soil.
• drafts. During airing, take the violet away from the cold air currents.

Why won't the violet bloom?

If the violet has lost its turgor, its color has become duller, most likely you have flooded it. The root system began to rot and stopped supplying the stems and leaves with moisture and nutrients. This disease is called root rot. The flower needs urgent treatment. Take it out of the pot, free the root system from the substrate, inspect. Most likely, you will find softened brownish roots affected by spores of a harmful fungus, which quickly multiplied in a humid environment and dispersed throughout the pot. Low acidity of the soil could also contribute to this disease.

What to do in this case? Remove rotten and damaged roots. Treat the plant with Fitosporin and transplant into a new soil. If you use an old pot, wash it well and disinfect it (calcine, steam, treat with copper sulphate). However, if the disease is advanced and the infection is too severe, the mother plant will have to be destroyed. Try first to select healthy leaves on a diseased violet and root them, having previously treated them with phytosporin or another fungicide to prevent and treat rot.

Violet stalks are also prone to rotting. Most often this happens in the following cases:

1. during the division of an adult bush into parts during reproduction;
2. when pruning leaves or cutting the top of a flower for rooting;
3. during the separation of children.

The causes of infection can be different:

• a dirty tool was used;
• big wounds were inflicted on the violet, and they were not allowed to heal;
• sections were not treated with antifungal agents (crushed charcoal or cinnamon powder);
• carried out excessive watering after transplantation, and weak roots did not have time to absorb all the moisture;
• missed the attack of insect pests on a fragile plant.

If your indoor violet lives in conditions of high humidity and reduced to 15–20 gr. temperatures, she might get sick leaf rust. The reason is the appearance of rust fungi on the plant. When the disease occurs on the leaves, orange tubercles are observed on their upper part and brown pads below. As a result, they crack, spores of rusty fungi are released and spread to healthy parts of the plant. Violets rarely get this disease. If your beauty is still infected, treat her with some fungicide or a one percent solution of Bordeaux liquid. Powdering with sulfuric dust will also help.

brown rot

Very young rosettes, rooted leaves and babies are often affected by a disease such as brown rot. You will recognize this disease by the brown-brown base of the stem, which thins and softens. On the ground under the outlet you can find whitish threads of mycelium. Urgent measures are needed to prevent the spread of the disease to neighboring plants.

To prevent this, for prevention purposes, treat rooted leaves, cuttings or babies with a contact fungicide. Don't deepen them. Irrigate the area under the stem with phytosporin or similar chemicals. Soil use loose, not too retaining moisture. Water infrequently, but plentifully.

Gray rot (Botrytis)

If you notice a softening and weakening of the green parts of the violet, and a gray fluffy coating began to appear on the surface of the leaves, most likely the plant fell ill with gray rot. The correct name for this disease is botrytis. A gray coating will gradually cover all parts of the plant, they will rot. Urgently remove diseased leaves and other parts of the flower, preventing them from getting into the substrate. The fungus enters the flower through the soil. The old soil stored on your balcony and possibly already infected earlier should be well disinfected before use (freeze, ignite, treat with manganese or fungicide). You should also treat the violet with one of the fungicides (Skor or Fundazol according to the instructions). If you delay treatment, the affected violet will die.

As a preventive measure for this disease, it is extremely important not to spray the plants in the cool season, to prevent too high air humidity, sudden changes in temperature, not to flood flowers, to prevent stagnation of water in the pan and the formation of condensate in the greenhouse during reproduction (rooting).

powdery mildew

If you find something that looks like flour on violet leaves and corollas, powdery mildew most likely attacked the flower. This is one of the most common fungal diseases of indoor violets. Usually, infection of Saintpaulia occurs with the help of spores of the fungus in the soil.

Powdery mildew most often affects weakened plants:

• who have recently transplanted;
• that have just taken root;
• if they lack natural sunlight;
• if they are constantly in a room with high (above 60%) humidity;
• if they grow in a dirty pot and are covered with dust;
• if the soil in which they grow contains an excess of nitrogen and a deficiency of other elements, such as phosphorus and potassium;
• if the violets have just faded;
• if they are forced to live in cool, below 18 gr. heat, room;
• if they are too old.

For prevention purposes, protect such plants from sudden temperature fluctuations, water them properly, use top dressing on time. Wipe the flower leaves occasionally with a slightly damp cloth, wash the pot and the pan underneath. Ventilate the room.

If you still find traces of powdery mildew on the violet, treat it with benlat or foundationol fungicide.

late blight

If you notice brown, drying spots on the leaves, which, as the disease develops, begin to spread to all parts of the plant, most likely your violet fell ill with late blight. The reason is fungi that penetrate the violet body through microcracks in the leaves and roots. As a result, the root neck begins to rot, the leaves become covered with brown spots. Affected tissues undergo necrosis, the rosette wilts. Even after watering and fertilizing, the elasticity of the foliage is not restored.

Save such a flower will not succeed. If the apical part of the outlet is not yet damaged, try to cut it off with a clean tool and root it, just be sure to treat the cut with an antifungal drug, removing all the tissues affected by the disease. A healthy cut should have a light green tint. You can also choose healthy violet leaves for rooting, and destroy the rest of the outlet along with the soil. After each cut, lower the tool into a glass with potassium permanganate or alcohol. For prevention, treat all plants adjacent to the diseased violet with phytosporin. Fungal spores can live in the soil for quite some time, so be sure to treat the flower pot well with blue vitriol or another fungicide.

Fusarium

If you notice that the roots of the violet began to rot and soften, and then the disease spread to the stem and petioles of the leaves, then most likely you cannot save the violet - it fell ill with the most dangerous Saintpaulia disease - Fusarium. From the roots infected with the Fusarium fungus, the infection quickly spreads through the vessels to all parts of the plant. Most of the old foliage in the lower level quickly fades, the stems and edges of the leaf plates become watery, and then die off altogether. Most often weakened plants get sick - after flowering, with a lack of nutrients in the soil, as well as at temperatures below 16 ° C.

Most likely, it will not be possible to cure a plant affected by Fusarium - it will have to be urgently thrown away along with the soil. If the pot is dear to you, disinfect it with copper sulphate or an available fungicide. As a preventive measure of the disease, follow the watering regimen, and also water the violet with a solution of phytosporin once a month. Do not plant the violet in a larger pot than it needs in heavy, moisture-retaining soil. She is contraindicated in sudden changes in temperature, drafts and watering with cold water.

Vascular bacteriosis

If in the hot season, usually in summer, the lower leaves of your violets become covered with mucus and begin to die off, most likely, the plant was struck by vascular bacteriosis. Immediately cool the surrounding air, ventilate the room, establish constant ventilation. For treatment, use chemicals - fungicides: fundazol, previkur and immunocytophyte.

Help! In September, I bought a violet, which bloomed safely with me until January, but in early February, the young leaves of the violet were covered with strange spots. At the same time, the leaves did not lose their elasticity. What it is? How to treat?

As a rule, spots on violet leaves are not a disease, but a flower's reaction to environmental influences.

THE MAIN CAUSES OF THE APPEARANCE OF SPOT ON VIOLET LEAVES:

1. Leaf sunburn
2. The negative impact on the sheet plates of cold air flows
3. Cold water is used for irrigation
4. Chemical burn of the roots

Daylight hours in February increased markedly, and the leaves, not accustomed to such bright light, received a sunburn. No wonder the author of the question writes that only young leaves that have grown just in December-January are affected by spots. The appearance, of course, suffered, but this does not affect the health of the plant.

In order to avoid the appearance of sun marks in the future, we recommend gradually accustoming the Saintpaulia to sunlight.

In winter, such spots appear on violets for another reason. For example, if a window was opened in a room where it was dry and hot enough. A jet of cold air sometimes leaves similar marks on the leaves.

Often, when watering violets with cold water, the leaves become covered with brown spots.

And finally, this may be due to the grower's excessive fertilization. We recommend that for some time to refuse any fertilizers, water the flower from above with a syringe. If the number of marks increases, replace the soil in the pot.

Noticing that the leaves of your beloved are covered with spots, you should not be too upset and worry that the flower will disappear, most likely, they appeared due to the usual negligence in care.

Brown spots on violet leaves

Irregularly shaped spots without clear outlines usually appear on the leaves after the violet sissy is supercooled or has been in a draft. Hence their name - drafty. The color of such spots ranges from yellow to brown and, although they do not harm the plant, they significantly spoil the appearance. There is no way to cure such leaves, and this is not required, therefore, after the rosette grows, such leaves are simply removed. Most of all, violets of red and white varieties are prone to the appearance of drafty spots, so in winter and autumn you should try to protect them from hypothermia.

Dark brown spots along the edges of the leaves occur when the plant evaporates more moisture than it can receive. Most often this happens with increased dryness of the air in the room, especially at the beginning of the heating season. You can help the violet by removing the old lower leaves and transplanting it into a pot with new soil and normalizing watering.

yellow spots on violet leaves

Violet leaves react with yellow spots to sunburn. Most often, the cause of their appearance is water droplets that fall on the leaves and play the role of a kind of lens when sunlight passes through them. Leaves with yellow spots are no different from ordinary ones - they also take root and multiply.

White spots on violet leaves

White watery spots appear on violet leaves when two factors coincide: abundant watering and sudden changes in temperature. Most often, violets that are on wick watering during the onset of cold weather are susceptible to this misfortune.

- I have an adult violet, but it does not bloom. Why?
There may be several reasons:
- pot too big
- insufficient lighting,
- prolonged heat above 30 degrees,
- instead of flower stalks, stepchildren grow in the axils of the leaves, they must be removed and the violet placed in a cool place, then the buds will begin to form.
- low humidity (peduncles dry up before they develop).

- My violet has a lot of leaves. Can they be cut off?
With age, the lower row of leaves ages, turns yellow. They can be cut off. You can remove individual damaged leaves or those that break the symmetry of the outlet. The rest of the leaves the plant needs, they are the process of photosynthesis. But stepchildren are better to pluck.

- The violet has a long bare stem. What to do?
This happens if the violet has not been transplanted for a long time. You need to take it out of the pot, remove part of the earth from below, carefully scrape off the stem until a green juicy tissue appears, wrap it with sphagnum moss and bury it in the ground to the leaves. The trunk will grow roots in the ground. If the bare part of the stem is more than 2.5 - 3 cm, you will have to cut off the top with leaves, root it in water and then plant it.

- The stem has many stepchildren. What to do with them?
- pinch off and discard (so as not to distract forces from flowering),
- pinch off and root (if additional plants are needed).

- Violet leaves began to stretch upwards.
-insufficient lighting
The plant is too hot.

- Brown spots appeared on the violet leaves. What is this?
If the spots on the leaves are light, these are most likely sunburns, dark spots are from drafts.

- When is the best time to transplant violets and how often?
Usually they are transplanted in February or November (even twice a year is possible). If necessary, a mandatory annual transplant of violets can be done at any time of the year.

- How to achieve the flowering of violets by a certain date?
2.5 months before the desired date, cut off all flower stalks, even the smallest ones. Then the next flowering will be just in time for the specified date.

- What does "violet-sport" mean?
Sport is a genetic mutation of the violet. Sometimes monochromatic violets grow from a leaf taken from a fantasy (spotted) variety, this happens spontaneously, without the desire and influence of a person. It also happens that the sport is better than the original. In general, varietal violets consistently transmit their characteristics when propagated by leaves, and the appearance of sports is an exception to the rule, which is quite rare.

- Is it necessary to cover the planted leaf with a bag or jar?
If a leaf without roots is immediately planted in the ground, it must be covered, so it will take root better and faster. When planting a leaf already with roots, a “greenhouse” can be omitted.

- Which pots are better: plastic or ceramic?
The most important thing is the small size of the pot, not its material. Plastic pots are easier to clean and cheaper. The rest is a matter of taste.

- Do you need stimulants for rooting leaves?
For successful rooting, you can soak leaf cuttings in a solution of "Epin" or "Zircon", and also sprinkle slices with "Kornevin". However, a good healthy leaf takes root quickly without it. If you want to experiment, you can use a special accelerator solution: 2 teaspoons of hydrogen peroxide, ¼ heteroauxin tablets per 4 liters. water. Using a syringe, this solution is injected directly into the tissue of the planted leaf, trying to get into the midrib at the top of the leaf. Maintaining such a stimulant significantly accelerates rooting, the leaf gives more strong children.

- What to do if the leaf does not give children for a long time?
Method 1 - re-rooting: cut off the lower part of the petiole, leaving 0.5 - 1 cm and root it in a container with moss or perlite (vermiculite).
2 way - cutting off the upper part of the leaf plate by 1/3 along the veins; the cut part of the leaf, after drying for half an hour or sprinkled with activated carbon powder, can also be rooted in sphagnum or vermiculite.

-The baby has bloomed, should I cut off the flower stalks or let it bloom completely?
After you have made sure that the Saintpaulia baby has bloomed according to the variety, it is better to remove the flower stalks. Early flowering weakens the plant, stops development. In order for Saintpaulia to bloom profusely, it is necessary to increase the leaf mass and form a beautiful rosette. Only an adult healthy plant is able to reveal its full potential.

- Is it worth transplanting a baby after purchase?
As a rule, small children are recently planted from a leaf and they do not need a transplant. An indicator for transplantation is an earthen clod heavily braided with roots.

In variegated varieties, spots disappear. Why?
Variegated violet babies may not have spots at first, or have few of them. This is due to the fact that discolored places do not participate in the synthesis of chlorophyll, and it is especially necessary for the development of young plants. When the outlet gains sufficient green mass, spots will begin to appear.
Few spots occur with excessive nitrogen fertilization and keeping plants in too warm a room.

In violets, the leaves stretch upward, turn pale, the petioles become thin and brittle. What is the reason?
The plant is kept with a lack of light. Move closer to the light source or light up.

The leaves of violets have become brownish, the peduncles are short, the flowers are smaller.
The plant is kept with an excess of light. You need to shade the plant. Newly emerging leaves will acquire a normal color. Old leaves, for aesthetic purposes, can be removed over time, because. they will never regain their color.

The stem of the violet stretched out and was bare. How to proceed?
If the stem does not exceed 2.5 cm, it is best to do the following: carefully scrape it off until a green juicy tissue appears, wrap it with sphagnum moss and bury it in the ground to the leaves. This stimulates the formation of roots in the wrapped part.
If the stem is more than 2.5 cm (which indicates the "advanced" age of the violet), then such a plant needs to be rejuvenated - either cut off the top and root it in water, or propagate it with leaves. In general, it is best not to keep the violet for more than 3 years, because. with age, it loses its decorative qualities and becomes more susceptible to disease. If you still want to leave such a plant, then you need to periodically rejuvenate it.

Is it possible to cut off the leaves of an adult violet and how much?
You need to cut off the very first, juvenile leaves that do not have a species characteristic of this variety. You can remove damaged or deformed leaves. You can adjust the shape of the rosette by cutting off individual leaves. You can leave the bottom row of old leaves and the top of the youngest ones. This will greatly affect the appearance, it will not bloom for 5-6 months, but in this way you can get a large amount of planting material both in the form of leaves and in the form of stepchildren.

Is it possible to separate stepchildren all at once, if there are many of them?
If the violet has many large stepchildren (as a rule, this happens in Dutch chimeras), then it is better to separate them not immediately, but at intervals of several days. Then there is less chance of infection and death of the whole plant. If the stepchildren are small, then they can be separated all at once. In any case, it is necessary to sprinkle the wounds with activated carbon powder.

So that there are no harmful bacteria in the soil for Saintpaulia, it must be sterilized.
Rather, it is necessary to sterilize, as a rule, the nutritious parts of the substrate. Substrate components such as perlite or vermiculite do not need to be sterilized.
1. Steamed - the substrate is placed in a canvas or cloth bag, which is placed over
pot or bucket of boiling water, so that it does not touch the surface of the water.
Let stand for about an hour, then cool and can be used.
2. Warm up in the oven - pour on a baking sheet with high sides, pre-water and heat at a temperature of 80 degrees for 30 minutes. You can use a saucepan, but then increase the time to 45 minutes.
3. Microwave - at the rate of 1 kg of the mixture - 5 minutes for a maximum.
It is better not to use the sterilized earth immediately - but by adding a handful of unsterilized soil, mix and hold for 2-3 days, so that after-steaming toxicosis passes.
You can also use special preparations such as Baikal, Vozrozhdenie, Himola, Fitoflavin-300, Trichodermin 0.2%, etc. to populate the substrate with beneficial microorganisms.
The frequency of transplanting also affects the development of the plant.
After separating the babies and placing them in individual pots, they are transferred to a larger container, usually after 3-4 months (for standard varieties). There they grow until the first flowering, after which they are transferred to a pot of a constant size.
Subsequently, we are talking about transplanting saintpaulia without increasing the size of the pot
It is advisable to transplant an adult plant every 6-8 months. With regular feeding
maybe once a year.

To grow a healthy plant from a leaf, you need to know the following:
If the plant is grown with additional illumination, then the rooting leaf can be taken at any time of the year. If there is no additional lighting, then it is better to harvest leaf cuttings in the spring, during the period of active growth.
You can take a leaf stalk from a flowering plant, but keep in mind that if you break the stalk from under the peduncle, the peduncle will surely die.
To root, break the leaf off the mother plant by pressing on the base of the petiole at the stem. You can cut the leaf, but be sure to break out the rest of the petiole, because. he can rot.
For rooting leaves, it is better to use distilled or boiled water without any additives. But stepchildren respond very well to stimulants and fertilizers.

Very often the stalk does not give children for a long time. No need to worry! There are two options:
1. Wait.
2. Without removing the leaf from the ground, cut off half of the leaf blade (horizontal to the ground).
Sometimes, having a limited number of cuttings, you want to get as many children as possible. You can root the cutting again!

If the children are carefully separated without damaging the roots of the mother leaf, then it can be planted again in the ground and it will give more children. This is especially recommended for fantasy varieties - then the second wave of children is much more likely to repeat the original colors. You can, of course, not separate it, but simply cut it off, but then the leaf will spend energy on re-rooting and there will be much less children.

So that violets always look beautiful and do not suffer from dust
violet leaves can and should be washed occasionally to remove dust. I do this in the cold season once or twice a month, and in the warm season every week. The socket is washed under a gentle stream of tepid water under the tap, tilting the pot so that the earth does not blur. After that, leave the plants in a warm place to dry. If wet sockets are placed in a cool place, then light spots may appear on the leaves.

The apartment is +27 degrees and dry air. To help the violet you need:
It is best not to exhaust the Saintpaulias with flowering - the flowers are deformed or with an atypical color. Cut off the flower stalks, water the plants in the evening; increase the humidity of the air near them by placing containers of water. In the evening, you can spray sockets with water from a spray bottle.

Increased dryness of the air due to central heating. What can be done.
If your violets are on a windowsill, you need to prevent hot air from getting on them. To do this, make wide window sills or cover the batteries with plywood, cloth, etc. Water containers are placed next to the plants. You can put pots on pallets with expanded clay or sphagnum, filling them 2/3 with water.

A white-yellow crust appears on the top layer of soil in a pot and on the lower leaf petioles...
The white-yellow crust on the surface of the earth is nothing but salts that enter the substrate along with water and fertilizers. To prevent soil salinization, it is recommended to soften irrigation water by boiling or adding a small amount of citric acid (a few crystals, with a total volume of about 2-3 millet grains per liter of water), and preferably oxalic acid, which precipitates salts. The addition of acid also helps convert poorly soluble fertilizers into an easily digestible form. If the water is hard, acidified water can be used with every watering.

How to choose the right water for irrigation, and is it possible to water violets with distilled water?
Distilled water is completely devoid of salts and has the ability to actively adsorb them onto itself. With regular watering with distilled water, all salts are washed out of the earth - both "harmful", forming a crust on the surface, and "useful" - fertilizers. Over time, the flowers begin starvation, they grow and bloom worse.

Properly watering violets is also very important. After all, they can be both flooded and dried ... And this causes a lot of diseases!
Violets like some drying of the soil between waterings. If the earth has dried well to a depth of 2-3 cm, the pot has become light, then you can safely water the plant. Water should not pour into the pan and stand there. For a medium-sized violet that is not too dry, in a plastic pot with a diameter of 7 cm, 3 tablespoons of water is enough. It is very clear whether watering is required and how much water is needed when violets are kept in transparent plastic cups.

What should be the correct pot size for violets?
Standard ratio - rosette diameter to pot diameter 3:1

What to do if a lot of water is poured into a violet pot?
This sometimes happens if the plants are on the upper inaccessible shelves. Drain if possible the water from the pot by tilting it, and then place the pot (without a tray!) On several layers of absorbent material or toilet paper. Through holes in the bottom of the pot, water will soak into the paper. Change the absorbent material as it gets wet. If everything is done on time, then the violet is saved. Do not water it for several days and sprinkle with epin.

Is it possible to plant a leaf with roots immediately in a large pot?
Not recommended - the probability of flooding it is too high, since the earthen ball will not be completely braided with roots. For leaves, the optimal amount of soil is about the amount that fits in a standard yogurt cup.

What to do if babies and small sockets have stopped growing?
First check the ground - is it compacted? If so, it is best to transplant the sockets into light, loose soil. It is possible that violets have not been fertilized for a long time.
Another possible reason is poor development of the root system or rot of the roots and stem. If the violet is "sad" - the leaves are dull, lethargic, small, then cut it off at the base of the outlet, remove the rotten parts and re-root the outlet in water.

What to do if a violet has a lot of leaves and few peduncles?
Most likely this is overfeeding with nitrogen fertilizers. Wait a month and a half and feed the plant with a fertilizer with a high content of phosphorus. If there are a lot of leaves, remove 1 - 2 lower tiers of leaves (do not forget to sprinkle the wounds with charcoal powder).

Is it possible to transplant flowering rosettes?
Better not to risk - wait for the end of flowering. If the transplant is forced, then do not transplant, but transfer the outlet to a larger pot with the addition of earth around the edges and cut off all the flower stalks so as not to deplete the plant.

The leaf gave roots not from below, but in the middle of the petiole. Remove them?
It is not necessary to remove either the roots or the lower tip of the petiole. When planting, place the petiole gently horizontally and sprinkle with earth to the very top roots.

The leaf gave babies on the petiole, what should I do?
If the children were formed directly on the handle of the mother leaf, then they will grow much more slowly than usual. Children can be removed and wait for the formation of normal children from the base of the cutting. Or wait until the tiny plant grows a little and gently deepen the petiole of the mother leaf to the base of the baby. It is better to deepen either in pure sphagnum or in a very light earth mixture. With high humidity, the baby will quickly give roots and begin to develop as usual.

When is the best time to separate the babies from the leaf?
When the children have formed 2 pairs of leaves somewhere around 2-4 cm for standard Saintpaulia - as a rule this happens 3-4 months after the rooting of the cutting. Children of miniature saintpaulias are planted later, if there is no danger of deformation of a small plant due to a large number of children, then it can be kept for up to six months.

What is the difference between a baby and a starter?
Baby - a plant separated from the mother leaf at the age of about 5-6 months, at 7-8 months in many varieties you can expect the first flowering - and so - a young plant that will soon bloom and is called a starter.

Uzumbar violet is loved by many flower growers. This charming, fragile plant brightens the house in summer and winter. The health of violets largely depends on proper care. A delicate flower often suffers from pests, is susceptible to diseases of viral, bacterial, fungal origin. Descriptions of diseases and pests of violets with informative photographs will help to come to the rescue in time. With properly organized care, violet will delight flowering all year round.

Types of powdery mildew prevention and treatment

A common cause of the death of indoor violets is downy and powdery mildew. Both diseases are fungal in nature. In the case of powdery mildew, the causative agent of the disease is powdery mildew (Erysiphales). Downy mildew is caused by the fungus Peronosporaceae, a family of peronosporaceae.

It is possible to understand that the violet is sick with powdery mildew at the initial stage of the disease. Should alert a slight white coating on the leaves and petioles. It looks like the plant has been lightly dusted with flour. The progression of the disease is accompanied by damage to all parts of the plant with ulcers. The leaf surface becomes uneven.

At the final stage, a general oppression of the violet is noted: it stops growing, weakens, and dies. There are many causes of powdery mildew infection. Most often, the fungus multiplies on flower plants weakened due to poor care. Excess nitrogen in the soil provokes powdery mildew. Possible routes of infection:

• from another diseased plant;
• fungus-infected soil;
• dirty, contaminated tool used in transplanting, breeding.

Treatment

At the first sign of the disease, start treating the diseased violet. First, inspect the flower, pinch off all the damaged leaves. Treat the soil and leaves with a fungicide. For processing violets, "Fundozol", "Topaz" are suitable. These fungicides do not damage tender leaves, the spray solution should be slightly warm. Put the violet in a warm dark place. Keep it in the dark until completely dry. This measure will prevent sunburn on the leaves.

Prevention

Monitor the balance of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in the soil. Use fertilizers with a high percentage of potassium and phosphorus to feed the flower. Before transplanting (planting) violets, treat the soil with a fungicide:

• Previcour;
• Infinito;
• Thanos.

Treatment and preventive measures should be the same as for powdery mildew. Symptoms of the disease are different:

• the first stage is a silvery or white coating on the lower part of the leaf plate;
• the second stage - spots on the upper surface of the leaves, the color of the spots is light green, brown, reddish;
• the third stage - in the absence of treatment, the flower dies.

Important to remember! High humidity accelerates the course of the disease and promotes the spread of downy mildew.

You can lose your favorite violet because of the Phragmidium fungus, which causes rust, a dangerous disease of indoor plants. This disease should be recognized and treated in the early stages. Violets are more likely to become infected with rust during the winter-spring transition period. Lack of sunlight, reduced immunity for this reason, the presence of fungus in the apartment are the main causes of rust.

Signs of rust are clearly visible in the photo. Yellowish spots appear on the outer surface. Turning the leaf over, you can see yellow pustules - colonies of the fungus. When the pustules rupture, the spores of the fungus are carried around the room, infecting other plants. Having found signs of rust on your violet, you need to proceed with emergency treatment of the flower:

• remove and destroy leaves affected by the fungus;
• isolate the flower from other indoor plants;
• treat the leaves with a fungicide.

From rust help: "Fitosporin-M", "Baktofit", "Topaz". When the form is advanced, treatment may not help. In this case, destroy the plant, dispose of the flower pot.

root rot

An alarm signal - the violet does not bloom. It can be assumed that violets have root rot if, with a wet substrate, the lower leaves of the flower, which have lost their elasticity, are sluggish, and the petioles are soft to the touch. The cause of violet root rot is fungi (phytopthora, pythium), and the incorrect content of the flower provokes their active reproduction, to be more precise:

• lack of a drainage hole in the pot, excessive watering;
• poor quality soil (taken from the garden);
• cooling the soil in a pot;
• abundant watering on dry soil.

According to statistics, 75% of all violet diseases are root rot. To avoid this unpleasant disease, take as a rule the advice of experienced flower growers - water in small portions in case of transplanting violets and after a forced long drought. Water once every few days until the plant adapts from the stress.

If you suspect root rot in a violet, do not hesitate, proceed to the resuscitation of your favorite flower. First of all, take it out of the pot, inspect the roots. The absence of white roots confirms the diagnosis. The next step is to remove the lower leaves, cut off the root part. If there are brown spots on the cut of the stem, cut the stem higher. In a stem that is not damaged by rot, the color has a purple tint. If the entire stem is damaged by rot, the plant should be destroyed.

We reached the healthy part of the stem - peel the lower 1-1.5 cm from the leaves, spray with fungicide, leave to lie down for 30 minutes and place in the substrate (vermiculite, water, soil) to form new roots. It is better to use moistened vermiculite, put a transparent bag on top of the flower. Take the container with the flower to a cool room, use a fluorescent lamp for illumination. After the appearance of new roots, plant the violet in a new pot filled with soil.

In the midst of the summer heat, many flower growers begin to die from bacteriosis violets. It is almost impossible to save flowers. Signs of bacteriosis violets:

• the appearance of brown spots on the stems, petioles, leaves;
• leaves, starting from the bottom, change color, becoming dark;
• leaf tissue softens, the flower dies.

Sick flowers die quickly (from 2 to 30 days), the disease can spread to other plants. Violets are more often affected by bacteriosis in negligent flower growers, who either dry out or flood poor plants. The most critical month for bacteriosis is July. In the heat, violets need to be shaded from the sun, leaving to rest, organize wick watering. In the spring, transplant violets into pots with a new soil mixture. At the beginning of summer, treat violets with Epin.

Violets disease - vascular bacteriosis: video

Violets pests

Inspect the leaves, buds, petioles of violets should be regularly. Especially in spring and summer, when the windows are open for ventilation. Be mindful of insect pests when buying a new potted plant from a flower shop and decorating your home with cut flowers. It does not matter if they are cut in their garden or in an industrial greenhouse. With flowers, with soil for air transplanting, there is a possibility of pests getting on your blooming violets. The most common aphid pests:

1. Ticks (flatworm, cyclamen, spider).
2. Shield (false shield).

Ticks

Ticks feed on violet sap. The size of the mites is so small that it is difficult to see them with the naked eye.

The most common type of mite that settles on the petioles and leaves of room violets is the spider mite. We saw the thinnest white cobweb on petioles, buds, leaves - this is a spider mite wound up on a violet. A poor plant loses its decorative effect from the loss of juice. Deformed brown leaves appear on the bushes. They dry up and fall off.

If the violet does not grow, it has stopped blooming, the young leaves are covered with yellow spots and compacted - a cyclamen mite has settled on the flower. It populates at the top of the outlet.

Flower growers rarely meet this mite on their violets. Signs of the presence of a flatworm mite on a violet are leaves twisted inward. The leaves gradually wither, dry and fall off. Violet may die.

Folk recipes for ticks on violets

We saw the first signs of a tick on a violet, do not pull, use a simple folk trick to start. You can take vodka or alcohol. Use a cotton swab moistened with alcohol to wipe petioles and violet leaves.

After a few days, spray the violet with an infusion of onion peel. Pour 80 g of onion peel into a 3-liter jar, pour boiling water over it. After a couple of days, the infusion can be filtered and used for spraying. Treat all flower plants in the room for prevention.

Folk recipes are effective at the initial stage. When the concentration of insects is threshold, the flower is threatened with death, the only way out is chemistry. Use acaricides - special preparations for combating ticks:

1. Apollo- intestinal contact drug. Apollo destroys the eggs of the tick, kills the larvae, inhibits the sexual activity of adults.
2. Neoron- a new remedy that acts on adult ticks from the inside. The duration of exposure is 10-40 days.
3. Fitoverm– effective insectoacaricide of intestinal-contact action. Valid up to 20 days from the date of processing.

Processing violets from ticks: video

It is difficult to get rid of scale insects and false scales on violets. One female scale insect, caught on a flower, lays many eggs in a few days. Larvae (tramps), emerging into the world, feed on violet juice. The lower surface of the leaves of an infected violet is covered with red-brown shields. Yellow spots are visible on the upper surface of the leaf plate. Adults secrete a sticky mass in which soot fungus multiplies. Sometimes it's easier to destroy the violet.

Adults are not afraid of insecticides, so they must be removed mechanically. To do this, you need a cotton swab moistened with the drug: "Aktellik", "Aktar", "Karbofos". You can treat the leaves with soapy water by dropping kerosene into it, it’s even easier to take 1 liter of water, pour 2 tbsp. l olive oil. With the resulting oily solution, treat all the leaves and petioles of the violet.

The first sign of thrips on violets is pollen scattering, the second is yellow paths on the leaves. Get rid of thrips on violets will help the recipe of an experienced violet lover. Take any flea shampoo (25 ml) and 1 Fitoverm-M ampoule. Dilute them in 5-6 liters of water.

Wrap the violet (pot) so that the earth does not fall out, in a plastic bag. Wash the violet leaves in running warm water. Dip the socket for 10 seconds in a basin with soapy water. After the procedure, pour the soil in the pot with a solution of 2 preparations: Fitoverm-M, Aktara, prepared according to the instructions.

- filiform, transparent worms (up to 2 mm). They live in the soil, affect the root system. Signs of a nematode-affected violet:

• elongated, thickened stem;
• shortened petioles, petioles are completely absent in the upper leaves;
• leaves acquire an unnaturally dark green color, become dense;
• the edges of the leaves are folded inward;
• flowers are small, ugly;
• on the roots of thickening (galls);
• roots brown, black.

It is impossible to get rid of nematodes, prevention saves. When planting, crushed dry marigold petals and peat can be added to the soil when planting. Nematodes do not like peat. Water violets with infusion of marigolds or water infused with peat. Nematodes do not like biohumus. Biohumus-based substrate (Terra-Vita) is ideal for violets. Use new pots for transplanting, treat old ones with a strong disinfectant.

Mealybugs can be seen with the naked eye, the size of the insect depends on the variety (3-6 mm). Violets are harmed by adults and their larvae. Habitats:

• buds;
• young leaves;
• young shoots.

An infected violet is stunted. On damaged surfaces, you can see a white coating that looks like cotton wool. In the later stages, the fungus multiplies on the sweet secretions of the insects.

You can get rid of the worm on violets. Moisten the brush in soapy water, clean all parts of the plant from insects and plaque. Prepare a green soap solution. Grate 10 g per liter of water and stir. Spray violet. It is necessary to process 3 times with an interval of 7 days.

Aphids on violets are visible to the naked eye, form their colonies on the inner surface of the leaves, in buds. Adults and larvae suck juice, inhibiting the plant. On the sticky secretions of aphids, the fungus multiplies. Aphid carrier of viruses. Signs of violets affected by aphids:

• the crown part of the flower is deformed;
• ugly flowers;
• buds do not develop;
• twisted leaves.

It is not difficult to deal with aphids, especially at the very beginning. When small green or black insects appear (the color depends on the type of aphid), wash the violet with soapy water. Cut off loose leaves. Repeat the treatment after a few days. In advanced cases, use chemistry:

• Actellik;
• Fitoverm;
• Intavir.

Growing problems

Beginners who start growing violets often have problems caused by improper care. The most common complaints:

• spots appeared on the leaves;
• leaves wither and dry;
• the root of the violet rots.

Why do yellow or brown spots appear on violet leaves? Most likely, direct sunlight falls on the violet, and the spots are a sunburn. They save the violet in different ways: they stick a stained glass film on the glass, shade it with translucent roller blinds, transfer it to the windowsill of the north window. Ideally, violet loves diffused, not bright light. Spots on the leaves may occur:

• due to dry (too humid) air;
• insufficient (excessive) watering;
• due to excess fertilizer, especially nitrogen;
• use of cold water for irrigation.

Elite varieties of violets should be grown on a rack equipped with an artificial lighting system.

The edges of the leaves dry and darken for four reasons. The first reason is overflow. The second possible reason is the lack of nutrients in the soil. Reduce watering, water only when the top layer dries. If the matter is in poor soil, feed with any fertilizer for ornamental plants. The third reason why the edges of the leaves may dry is poor soil: dense, heavy, or when transplanting a flower, it was too compacted around the roots. The violet leaves are still drying from the draft, she categorically does not like him.

Usually in violets, the root rots due to overflows or acidic soil. Provide the plant with bottom watering. To do this, use pots with holes in the bottom, put them in a pan. Pour water only into the pan, after 30 minutes the water must be drained from the pan. Use the soil purchased for Saintpaulia. Try to save the transfused violet by re-rooting.

Most violet diseases are from improper care. If the violet is given optimal conditions, it will bloom most of the year. Violet loves eastern windows, artificial lighting in winter (10-12 hours), moderately humid air with a temperature of 18 to 24 ° C, a small pot (5-7 cm in diameter), light and nutritious soil.