African Violets and Gesneriads: Stop watching the pot boil and you'll get roots. (I think), 1 by begoniacrazii

begoniacrazii wrote:
Both Lorry, I pot up to the dixies when I see roots. It's kind of a 'peace of mind' thing. I know that they are 'rooted' when i see them in their cups. Otherwise I obsessively check for roots all the time. I found it's easier to check them in the perlite as a whole group than dig in the soil. I use a bamboo shish kabob skewer to dig holes to burry them back in once I lift them. I also find that I can lay down a lot more leaves in a smaller space with the perlite trays. Of course once I pot each leaf up, I quickly run out of room LOL. I also use plastic tooth pick (party picks) to hold any leaves up that want to lay down. (you can see a few orange and green ones in the photo)

It just happened that while I was in FL. these guys took off and developed babies. If you look up at 'Spring Dancer' above, that's about how many roots I see before I go to the dixies. That one is more typical.

The exception to this rule is Little Clown, the most vigorous AV I've rooted so far. One developed babies in about 2.5 weeks from the time I laid down the leaf. That was the first batch of Little Clown. This is the second. And I have something like 6 or 8 leaves down (everyone gets one even if you dont want it! LOL)

I don't let my perlite go dry. BUT the good thing too is that I can't overwater. Drain holes in the trays let off excess water. So far this works great for me. But may not for you - all depends on your environment.

I had a similar thread in Hoyas, others didn't have as good luck as me. ALSO bottom heat is the trick too.