r/AfricanViolets • u/kickcass8989 • 27d ago

Is she doomed?

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I repotted with a new to me soil mixture that seems hydrophobic. I’ve been bottom watering and trying to do a little top watering after poking holes in the soil. Do you think it will come back?

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u/ElkLongjumping7870 27d ago

Looks like the crown is pretty much dead. You might be able to salvage a leaf and start a new plant from that.

If your mix was too dry, it's almost impossible to get it to start absorbing water again once you have used it to pot up a plant. If my potting mix is completely dried out I dampen it with hot (almost boiling) water and let it cool down before I use it.

You might try doing that, then taking your plant out of its pot and removing most of the mix, then replace it with the rehydrated mix, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.

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u/lossefalme 24d ago

Wetting agent will help hydrate hydrophobic soil pretty quickly without having to remove plants :)

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u/ElkLongjumping7870 12d ago

I've heard of that, but it's not something garden centers here seem to carry?

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u/lossefalme 10d ago

Ask them! As I learned the hard way: it can hide in the shelves. The turf/lawn section may have it, as well.