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Re: [ENABLED] African violets Re: [ENABLED] Test

On Thu, 15 Jan 1998, Anne Penfield wrote:

> At 9:07 AM -0800 1/15/98, Kay Lancaster wrote:
> >What sort of problem with your african violets?
>
>    Hi Kay......Almost always my violets are absolutly beautiful......the
> problem I'm having NOW is that at the crown new baby leaves start to
> grow....but then those leaves get reeeeeeeeeal dwarft, very stunted and
> gnarly hard.
> and the stunted new growth you can snap off like how it feels when you snap
> a piece of celery. I got out a magnifying glass and took a good look...for
> maybe some sort of mite could be the problem....but I didn't see
> anything......any one know what I'm dealing with???

Sounds suspiciously like cyclamen mite, which can be very, very difficult
to control, and spreads from plant to plant.  They used to use Kelthane
to control it... don't know if it's still labeled.  I've also heard
of AVID being used.  However, if the problem is bad, the usual solution
is to pitch the plants and start again.  :-(

Don't forget to wipe down the whole area with disinfectant.
They can be spread by hands or by your clothing.

There's some indication that immersing the plant, pot and all, in 110oF
water for 15-30 minutes will kill cyclamen mites... I guess that's worth
a try if you were going to pitch them anyhow.  The water temp does need
to be held at 110o, and I don't know anyone who's tried it on african
violets.  Pick off the worst infested leaves before submersing them,
however.

(You did share some leaves with friends awhile ago, right?) :-)

Kay Lancaster  kay@fern.com
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