Question about a dying plant:
I was very lucky to be given a beautiful pot of African violet in January.  It was flowering well and was looking very healthy. They tell me I cannot kill it because it came with its own watering base and all I have to do is add water to the base. 

I put it inside near the window. Not too much sun. But now it is dying. The leaves just wilted. The stem shrivelled up at the base. I move it to different spot but it was no better. There are only two little leaves left.

What should or can I do to save it? Help!

Answer:
Sadly it is still possible to kill your African violet even if it is in an automatic watering pot.

There are a number of possibilities, and I am afraid I cannot tell which is the culprit without actually seeing the plant.

Let me explain: If the leaves have wilted off and died this is because the roots are in trouble and are not able to access water. This can be because:

a) They are too dry - Have you been keeping up a constant supply of water? Is the automatic watering system actually drawing water? Feel the surface of the mix to detirmine whether it is wet or dry. If there is not enough moisture, the outside leaves will be the first to suffer, and then on up the plant.

b) The roots are too wet - If the watering system is working all too well, or you have added copious amounts of water to the pot the roots will likely rot away. If this happens the plant cannot take up sufficient moisture because of loss of fine roots and the effects in the top of the plant are the same as in a) above.

c) Pest infestation or disease. The worst pest in this regard is soil mealy bug. These are small white insects that crawl around in the root system and suck the plant juices from the roots. Although their presence can be tolerated by the plant for some time eventually the leaves will shrivel because the moisture and nutrients are not available to them since the roots are being damaged. Some fungal infections can have similar results.

I suggest you slip the plant out of its pot and check what is happening with the roots. The plant may be better if it is repotted, as it will now have a much smaller root system. Should it have an infestation or infection I strongly recommend discarding and replacing the plant.

Another question about an unhealthy plant:

I have an African Violet that I have had for over ten years, it was my Grandmother's and I'm not sure how long she had it before it came to my house.  This summer (July/August) I split the very large plant and gave half to my mother.  The violet thrived all fall.  Over the past few months it has started to look very bad.  The leaves are wilting away and there is very little new growth.  I have tried moving it to various parts of my house thinking it was too hot, too cold, getting too much sun, not enough sun, etc.  Nothing has seemed to work.  I am wondering if this plant is too far gone or if it would benefit from re-potting?  By the way, the plant that I gave to my mother is doing wonderfully.  That plant is in the same pot, and was potted with the same "African Violet" soil.
I am open to any suggestions, I would hate to lose this very special plant.

Answer:

One of the first things I would do is take the strongest and most healthy leaf and plant it so that it will propagate new plantlets in case the original plant does not survive.

Another thing to do is to gently slip the plant out of the pot and look at the roots. The health of the roots most important and a quick look there will help detirmine what is the cause of the problem.

Healthy roots are strong and abundant throughout the potting mix, and are either white or semi-transparent looking.

Problems that you may find are:

Root rot - caused by fungal organisms, and exacerbated by keeping the potting mix too wet. The roots will be dark and very fragile. The potting mix will fall into crumbles rather than being held together by the roots. In the absence of healthy roots the plant cannot take up moisture and nutrients, thus it will wilt even though it may be wet.

Soil Mealy Bugs - tiny white/greyish insects that can be seen among the roots. They are sucking insects and will detract from the health of the plant as nutrients are not reaching the plant. The plant will eventually wilt and will appear unhealthy.

In both these cases I believe the best remedy is to entirely cut off the roots and take the healthy top of the plant to regrow. It should be planted in a small pot of high quality African violet mix  and kept gently moist and in a good light.

Chapters 6, 9, 12, 14 & 15 of "African Violets for Everyone" deal with these matters in greater depth.