African Violet

African violet leaf splotches?

Several of the leaves on my mature African violet plants have tannish-colored splotches on them. The plants are watered from the top once weekly using a well-known brand of African violet liquid fertilizer diluted 14 drops per 1/2 gallon of water.
None of the plants is in direct sunlight. They all bloom well; the leaves are not limp. My city water is chlorinated; is this the problem? Should I let the tap water sit for a day or two before using it to water the violets, or should I decrease the amount of fertilizer?

I have had African Violets for many years and have always set the pots into containers of water to let the water be absorbed up from the bottom. I remember reading a time or two that the leaves can be damaged by getting water on them. I don’t usually let the water sit for a day or two before setting them into it for watering and they are always happy and healthy and bloom quite nicely. I do water other house plants from a watering can with water which I try to allow to sit for at least a day. I also almost never fertilize my African Violets. My feeling is that 14 drops of fertilizer per 1/2 gallon of water sounds like an awful lot. Unless, as you wrote, the fertilizer is VERY diluted first. Also, I let my African Violets get totally dry before soaking them…maybe about once every three or four weeks. They are African plants, I guess, so they like to have a dry period. Good luck.

How to start an African Violet from a leaf