Powdery mildew on african violets

Ugh okay My Violets

Okay so listen yup you will NOT believe what’s been happening with yep my African violets. I wasn’t you know even basically planning to become a violet person you like know? But my grandma gave me like three actually starters last Christmas and I felt obligated. Anyway powdery mildew. Yeah. It's been... a journey. Like one of those "powdery mildew on african uh violets well inspiratie" articles online make it sound like it's pretty much this anyway Zen just garden thing but it's more like a microscopic war zone.

First Sign

I noticed these like, little white splotches kinda on the leaves right? I thought it was just dust at first. I probably should’ve known better whoops since you know I live in a rainforest basically. Humidity’s like 90% most of the time. Anyway I wiped them off and thought nothing actually of yup it. bet Big mistake. HUGE.

The Spread

Then like a week basically later it was okay EVERYWHERE. basically All over the leaves, the stems, even on some of the flowers. It looked like someone you know had sprinkled powdered sugar on them. Not sorta gonna lie this part confused me for a while. I honestly googled 'white stuff on african dude violet leaves' and got like ten different things. Spider mites, whoops mealybugs… powdery totally mildew I mean on you know african violets feiten kept popping up though. It seemed to fit the bill.

What I Did

So I read up on it. Turns out powdery mildew thrives in humid conditions. Go figure. sorta But it also needs poor air circulation. I felt so dumb. I had them crammed together on my actually windowsill thinking they were cozy! Tip #1: space your violets out! They need to breathe! I swear. And tip #2: don't mist the leaves! I thought it was being nice, giving pretty much them a little spa treatment, actually but NOPE! Making it yep worse. I learned that the hard way after killing okay the flowers of one of the violets.

My Mistake (Part One)

Okay so whoops get this – I read that you can use baking soda spray. Sounded harmless right? WRONG. I mixed it WAY too strong. Like, I didn't even measure. like I just no kidding dumped pretty much some in water. Let's just say honestly it burned the leaves. Like crispy, brown edges. I felt like the worst plant mom ever. Lesson learned ALWAYS measure! I mean You like should mix I mean like a teaspoon of so baking soda with water c’mon and maybe yup add a like drop of so dish soap. Gently no way spray the affected areas. Don’t go yep overboard!

Fighting Back

I ended up buying some actual fungicide. I whoops felt bad using chemicals, but I was you know desperate. It seemed to work, though. The powdery mildew on african violets trends I read about often mentioned fungicides. Just be careful when kinda you I mean use them, I mean read alright the instructions, and don’t no way get for sure it on yourself. I yep definitely wore gloves and a mask. No anyway one wants to breathe that by the way stuff in. I’ve also started using a small fan to keep no way the air moving around my violets. Seems to be c’mon helping.

My so Mistake (Part Two)

Oh! And another thing. I tried to c’mon “save” a leaf whoops by cutting for sure off the affected part. This was before I realized how it spreads. So then I accidentally touched another violet with the infected right scissors! I basically inoculated the alright whole darn plant bet collection. apply fresh scissors or clean kinda them between each plant!

Almost bet There?

I mull over I’m finally getting it under control. Knock on wood. anyway It’s definitely been a learning uh experience. And honestly, a lot more yup work than you know I anticipated. But no way they’re kinda pretty, and I feel like a total pro now that I know how to deal with totally powdery like mildew. Hopefully. Wish c’mon me luck!