I was wondering how long it takes for a new plant to come up after sticking the leaf in the soil? I have never done it before but I want to give it a try. Thanks.
JesseK
How long to propigate?
Growing African violets by leaves can be so rewarding and Fun ! Lots of things will determine time. Variety of leaf, age, is it kept warm, light , ,,,
Most time they will root in 2-6 weeks , babies any where from 4-16 weeks or longer. Most times it will take 9-12 months for a blooming plant. !!
Here is a great link.
http://www.rachelsreflections.com/violets3.htm#basket
Violet_Treasure
Thanks for the information. I had a lot of AVs and then when we went on vacation they all died. We were supposed to be gone for two weeks but ended up staying a month. I have the pots that you put water in and then put the other pot in and they would have lasted for 2 weeks but not a whole month. So I have plenty of pots. Now I'm sort of starting over and only have two so far, although they do not have names. I would like to buy some online to get some good mother plants to breed from.
JesseK
If you want to buy large adult nice qulity plants on line Bluebird greenhouse, Violet Gallery are Wonderful. You can order from Bluebird now if weather permitting they will ship now. But both have new catalogue 's for 2006 will be out soon !
Rob's violet Barn sells all kinds of plants but Mostly Rob's or Ma's his wife and Bristol Streps that are Rob's ! His plants are nice but smaller
. you can do a search of look at all these Vendors or more here :))
http://home.earthlink.net/~sestes1373/avsearch.html
If you would enjoy some named babies and named leaves I would be happy to send you a large box FRee , just pay the shipping and handling !
That would be great Violet_Treasure. I would love to have them. My husband is legally blind and has never liked my plants. But when I started with the AVs, he really started to take interest. So I am going to make a display for him and sit it close to his desk so he can look at them. I already have the shelving and the plant lights that I need. I think him watching them grow will really get him into it. Thank you.
JesseK
How could someone not like and enjoy African violets. My husband helps me with mine ! My brother-in-law grows them and his wife is not allowed to touch them she'd kill them. lol
Seems like a lot of the large growers/Hybridizers are Men .
You won't be able to grow the babies in the two peice pots as they will be too small. What I do is take the plastic wicked pots with plants in them and sit them in the two piecee decorative pots for displaying !
I have Mini's, Semi-Miniatures, Standards and some trailers !
I'll Dmail you !
Allison
Trust me JesseK, you'll LOVE and CHERISH each baby Allison sends you! I'm so invested in mine, it's become an obsession! And I'm only a few months into it - Hooked!
I am getting really excited over getting them. I have never had one that was named. And I told my husband about it and he is excited about it too. And this makes me very happy that he can finally share in my love of plants.
JesseK
that's awesome JesseK that you and your husband can enjoy them together ! This is great. Lorry is setting up a second secret swap for mid-may for plants and leaves. You will surly have babies and leaves by then to share and to grow your collection some more ! Let your husband know there are about 20 thousand or more named African violets ! And then all their cousin plants ! Anyone can grow African violets ! They are full of joy ! Allison
I have a question to ask. I read the instructions about potting the leaves and it says to use vermiculite. I have not been able to find any of that in my area. I do have some AV soil and perlite though. What would I need to do with this? How would I mix this?
JesseK
Perlite is fine! I prefer it to vermiculite, because some vermiculite can hold too much water to keep AVs happy. I use half perlite and half standard soil-less mix ("Pro Mix" is my favorite brand). The additional perlite is very helpful when putting down leaves, and it's definitely necessary if you use self watering pots or with wick watering. Some people use even more perlite in their mix, and you could probably root leaves in pure perlite if you were so inclined.
JesseK,
you may be interested in a thread I started over in the Hoya forum. I root directly in perlite and have great success. I also use a heating mat.
Here's the link. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/563043/
My african violet leaves are in 100% perlite. I also have some in a 30/30/30 soil-less mix/perlite/vermiculite. I found that at least for my environment it was just a bit too wet. The vermiculite holds a bit too much water for me. In the summer I'll probably go back to using it because we get so hot here I need the extra moisture, but for now, the perlite is magic!
I *knew* somebody was using pure perlite to root leaves, but couldn't remember who! Thanks, begonia! I might have to give it a try, myself.... although my leaves are doing pretty well in their light mix.
I have met some people one lady at an av show she grew in Perilte and vermiculite only everything. Some people with breathing difficulties
the other ingerdients both them .
I use to use vermiculite and got tire of buying it and my av's don't seem to miss it. I like my soil light and airy so I use 3 parts perilite. Mine is mixed in a large covered plastic container at about 20 gallons at a time. ( I go threw it fast and never re-use....old soil is dupm in garden beds outside ) I like pro-mix or MG potting mix and it's mixed with water to slightly moist . Kept covered or keep in large gallon zip lock bags. You will have to have a regular fertilizing program.
I have containers with all perilite for rooting Strep leaves ...other cuttings hybiscus , begonias and others go into pials , buckets of perilite :))
Do you think that I should use 100% perlite for my leaves or 50% perlite and %50 AV soil? The AV soil that I buy is made just for AVs. So what do you all think would be better, 50/50 perlite/Av soil or 100% perlite?
JesseK
I have tried 100% perlite and I find I need to water them too frequently for my schedule.
Mine seem to be doing quite well in a mix of perlite, vermiculite and soil.
That sounds great. So I will grow mine 50/50 perlite/AV soil. I think that this will be so fun. I am going to try to get my husband to help me with this since I know that once he starts working with them he will get the fever like the rest of us already have. It will make me so happy for him to get involved, even if it for only one kind of plant. You guys have no idea what I have been going through the last couple of years with him basically hating my plants for so long. It has been so hard for me to enjoy all of my plants with him griping about them all the time. So this is getting me so excited.
JesseK
I am lucky that my hubby has his own fascination.
Chris is in love with all things palm and all things bamboo! So he is supportive of my habit as long as I support his *Laugh*
I am glad you have found something to get him involved in!
I would say the 50/50 should work well for ya :)
Actually, now that you mention it, the only other thing he has ever really liked is the Sago palm. I'm not sure why but he does. So the next time I can find a nice one I might surpirse him. But for some reason he really likes the AV. So there is some blank space between our desks where I can put up a shelf. I have a 4' shelf and a 6' shelf. I do not know which to use, probably the 6' one. We both face the wall and I can't think of anything better to face is beautiful plants. I can hardly wait to get it all working. I think he will really love it. I have only a few things that I have ever grown from a leaf so I am very excited about it too. I know that we will have a lot of fun doing this. And this time it will not just be me alone. The two of us will actually work together. And this will make me so happy.
JesseK
I am in Fl..I can get you a small sago palm VERY cheaply here and ship it to you.
I don't know how much they cost there but here..they are so common...they give them away!
If I shipped it in a plastic pot it would not cost very much.
I also have cryptanthus..I can send you a pup of one of those *I have more then I know what to do with!* My husband just LOVES them!
Chris,
This would be great. The problem here in NC is that by the time we get them, they have gotten knocked around by people looking to buy one and they do not look very nice at all. I want to get a nice one for him and one from you would probably be wonderful. Just dmail me with the details and I will send you whatever you need for it plus shipping. Thank you.
JesseK
How cold are you getting now? My husband says they can probably survive like 32 degrees but only for a short time
I have one I will give you for shipping cost alone.
I only paid 4.00 for him and would LOVE him to go to someone who will love him more then I do :)
Also...I have a parlor palm you guys can have..
My husband also said if he is interested...he can pop out some babies of the fishtail, cat palm and areca palms to send you.
So we could send a whole box of goodies or just what you want :)
Chris, that would be great. I will dmail you.
JesseK
Chris,
I just checked the weather reports and the predicted low for the next several days is 35, but usually around 38 and higher. It is really odd that the weather is this warm at this time of the year but maybe it is just warmer so I can get my plants. LOL So I think they will be fine for the next for days. Thanks again.
JesseK
Hek by Friday and the Weekend it will be 30's here at night and 60's maybe a 70 during the day. And today the A/C ran. everyday is different.
Yes it is so amazing how fast the weather can change. It is now raining here, which was totally unpredicted. So it is not very cold here at all.
JesseK