to cover or not?

Do my leaves i put down need to be covered? Will they do okay uncovered? How many of you cover and how many don't?

Kelly

As I don't know the answer as well, i am doing an experiment. some are covered some are not.

don't thing it helps you at all, does it? :o(

well spider let me know how yours do. i had some covered but the ones i put down yesterday i haven't covered. there are a lot of them and they look bad covered on the plant stand as everyone sees it since its in my kitchen at the french doors. i will cover them if i hear enough people say they need to be covered and i want to do whats best for them. i am not going to if they will do well without it.

I don't cover my leaves..I find the humidity here in FL more then adequate for them :)
So I am sure they will do fine without a cover :) IF you do cover..make sure they don't get too wet....

I do not cover anything ! You should be fine in GA not covering. If your leaves can get good air circlation they will grow faster and more healthy

thanks for the feedback and since they do okay for all of you uncovered i am not going to cover mine.
Kelly

Kelly just keep them warm, light, not too wet, not dry they will be fine. They don't need much water to grow .
You can feed them also this is good for them !

okay i hate to bug yall but how much fertilizer to a gallon? i just have regular fertilizer it is 15-30-15.

Kelly

I say use 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of thatfood for leavs or plants
Make sure itdoes not have Ureain it orit will brun African violets tender roots

i will check to make sure it doesn't have that in it. i am glad you told me that!

Kelly

If you find the leaves look like they're wilting, cover them for a bit and they should be fine. As for fertilizing, I don't think you need to do it until the leaves have rooted. My first feeding is usually in the neighborhood of 4-2-2.

Yep -- I was just going to add what Keyring said. Sometimes the leaves need a little extra humidity around them until they develop roots. My own solution is sort of halfway in between... My covers have a bunch of little holes poked into them! I do the same thing when I cover seedling trays, and it works well for my conditions (less humid than GA, although that's debatable in full summer).

I cover for the first week just in case there might be a wilter or two in the bunch. If to much condensation occures I lift the lid or unzip the bag for a day and then close up again and repeat as necessary for the week. By then the shock is over and the leaves seem to settle in.

Update:
some are doing well so far not covered a few are looking like they are trying to wilt so i covered them all for now. i will see how they are doing tomorrow. the first sets i put down i left covered for about a week then uncovered and they are doing great. i believe for my home i need to cover for a week then uncover for awhile. i guess trail and error is the key. find what works for your area i guess.

Kelly

Kelly did you water them good ? I always water them real good in the begining /

LOL... different strokes! I have a better rooting rate if I put leaves down in barely moist potting mix and then cover them to increase humidity around the leaf... If I water the mix real good, the leaf tends to rot on me before it roots (whether or not I cover it).

Kelly, sounds like you're figuring out what works for you -- best of luck with your new leaves!

Yes it's funny I grew around ine thousand leaves this year/last year lol half the amount from the year before.
Im kept it as simple as possible. And except for when I was doing so bad and ones dried out they all did well !
And yes Kelly, sounds like you're figuring out what works for you -- best of luck with your new leaves ~~

i watered them just a little and since they were wilting watered good today and let drain very well then put baggies on them. i was afraid i would overwater so i didn't water well when i planted them. how often do you need to water leaves?

Well when you first get leaves they maybe lacking moisture wilty.
Sometimes needing to be soaked over night in water,
Your not going to over water them when their new /no
roots yet but too much moisture from cover could,
So when I sent mine up in cups I water threw real good . let drain and put into boxes. I never let them dry .But when they get roots and babies then I water less,

Hi lovesdaylilies, are you near Atlanta? I live in Lilburn.

Spider we live in West Ga. i am about 15 minutes from Carrollton. My husband works in Atlanta. He works for a company in Alpharetta.

I keep mine under domes as my basement is very dry in the winter with forced air heat. I might change things in the summer when the humidity pours in.

lovesdaylilies, there is a great AV club that meets in Tucker once a month. Is it too far for you to come?

I don't cover, tried but it encouraged rot.

I don't cover mine. The humidity in my house drops to the mid 30% range sometimes when we're having to run the gas heat a lot. I have mine in plastic tubs which are taller than the cups the leaves are in, so I think that helps to hold a little humidity in around them and I try to keep just a bit of water in the bottom of the tubs - not so much that the cups are sitting in water, but the little indentions around the bottom of the tub has water in it. I hope that makes sense. I do have to water them pretty frequently, but the first leaf I tried I had covered and it rotted most quickly. Hope that helps!

Spider I could probably stay with hubby in Alpharetta the night before meeting and come if they are on the weekend. During the week probably impossible until this summer when kids are out of school.

Kelly

lovesday lilies, the meetings are on Saturdays at 1pm. they last about 2h. Last time we had a class about leaf cuttings. They are a great bunch. You can come and stay with us, if you like.

Next meeting is on April 1st. this coming Saturday.

spider sending u d-mail

Hope you two can go to the meeting togther so much fun !
Amy I have had friends that keep a half/or inch of water in the bottom of the pans until the leaves are well rooted and they say this helps a lot !

I was worried that they'd be too soggy if I keep water standing in them. After I rotted that first leaf, I'm a bit gun-shy when it comes to too much water. They have ears sticking up all over the place, so something must be working! I'll post pics later, if my camera battery is charged.

Oh yes if they have ears too much water would be bad. She did it only before ears when newly rooting.
Great growing !

How you doing Kelly ?

thanks so much for asking about me! i am doing well just haven't been on much since friday. my dh has a kidney stone and it is causing him grief. he went to hospital with it friday but still hasn't passed it. i sure hope he does soon. as for my leaves...they are all doing well except for 3 single leaves. i am not sure why these 3 are doing poorly. i am so thankful lorry sent 2 of each because i am not sure these 3 will make it. 3 out of the bunch is really good though! i am pleased with their progress so far. it has gotten cooler here again so i am not sure if that has anything to do with it or not. it may since we are having to use the heat again. we have natural gas and i know it has a terrible drying effect on my skin and hair. Did everyone have a good weekend?

Kelly

Nice to see you Kelly ! Sorry about Hubby hope je's feeling better soon. Don't worry about a few leaves some just die for no reason nothing you can do about . Keep up the good work !