The Cyclamen Mite: African Violet’s Worst Enemy

The African violets worst enemy is the cyclamen mite, which can hardly be seen with the naked eye. Their presence can be suspected if the plants are dwarfed, or if the leaves are small and cupped upward or rolled downward, with areas of the leaf surface covered with dense white hairs. Flowers are deformed, buds fail to open; finally flowering ceases. Start with clean plants. Then once or twice a week, spray them with nicotine sulphate, 1 ounce to a quart of water. Using a good hand sprayer, throw a fine mistlike spray into the air over the plant, so that the spray settles on the foliage.

If you want to increase African violets by leaf propagation, there are several methods to follow. Start with mature leaves of healthy plants. Perhaps the simplest way is to cover a glass of water with waxed paper held on by a rubber band; insert the leaf stem through holes punched in the paper so that the end of the stem reaches into the water. Keep the glass in a warm light place.

The tip of a petiole (leaf stem ) of a healthy leaf may also be inserted in damp sand or vermiculite until a small plant forms. The leaf stem may then be cut off above the new plant and rooted again.

Another method is to take a leaf with one inch of stem and insert both stem and leaf base in pure sand or a coarse grade of vermiculite. Water thoroughly to compact the medium around the cutting.

When the cuttings sprout from below the surface, transfer them to flats filled with soil and leafmold. Do not use fertilizer. When the young plants have formed, pot them individually in small pots in a mixture of 2 parts soil, 1 part leafmold. 1 part well-rotted manure and 1 part sand. If the rotted manure is not available, use a 3-inch potful of shredded cattle manure to a peck of soil, with a little peatmoss added.

Discover 100’s of Topics – 1000’s of Articles at Plant-Care.com for example:

• Dealing With Frozen Houseplants
• Ligustrum Lucidum Bonsai
• Variegated Yucca Plant Care