Optimara Little Indian series question...

As far as I know, these aren't trailers, so they shouldn't have more than one crown, right? I'm repotting a few AVs tonight and need to know. :o)
Thanks!

No trailers that I know of

OK The sucker is good sized, so I'll remove it and pot it up. Thanks Allison!

Have fun !

I will! But I'm done for tonight. I removed lots of suckers from other AVs and put down quite a few more leaves. I'm pooped! I've still got to repot all my storebought minis, and several of my storebought standards. We're having friends over tomorrow, so I won't do any repotting, but Monday I'll be back at it.

You may be pooped but it is a happy pooped.

We would all agree

Oh yes I agree !

Right..none of them are trailers so they must be suckers :) How lucky for you!

How nice to find out that I actually knew something! LOL I wanted to check to be sure, though. I think it's Little Arapaho that is that way. I didn't inspect the others. Once I saw that, I knew I needed to ask, so just moved on to other things.
My problem is, I can rarely get any roots with the suckers. Is that pretty normal? I've got an Optimara Degas sucker that I potted up a few weeks ago that has put down roots, so I guess it's alright. I'm hoping taking off all these suckers will help them bloom, in addition to putting them on pebble trays. They're all healthy, but the buds dry up. And I have a couple that seem to be reaching up for light, so I have got to get those moved where they'll be happier.
Nanna, it really is a happy pooped! I just wish I didn't make such a mess! LOL

I never get any roots with my suckers. No worry. They will root most times within a week ! I never cover mine some people do.

That is awesome girl :) and they will root for ya..no worries :)

I feel better now knowing that suckers don't usually have roots. After I removed so many, I thought maybe I should have waited and gathered information first, but I had the time to work with them right then, so I just went ahead. I'm hoping to get started on repotting my minis tomorrow.
I am wondering about repotting though. I've been using 3 parts perlite and 1 part MG potting soil. Since it's so dry in my house, would it be good to up the amount of potting soil I'm mixing with the perlite? Maybe 3 parts perlite, 2 parts MG potting soil. I know AVs need light soil, but that would still be pretty light. Any opinions?
I have a lot of fun experimenting with different ways of doing things. AVs are great! :o)

"You may be pooped but it is a happy pooped." Quote from Nanna. Love it. : )

RG, more moisture in your potting mix would not be a good thing, IMO. Suckers start out with no roots to take up moisture, so even a light mix can get too soggy for them and lead to rot. I use barely moistened mix and then cover to provide extra humidity (it's generally pretty dry in my house too). Once they get some nice roots, I uncover them and water them normally.

Linda anyway you want to do it will be fine. You could use 100 perlite if you want. I've been using 60 percent perilte and/ MG/pro-mix..I am finding the lighter the soil
the happier everyone is growing !
I put my suckers down either in thumb print pots or 2 oz. dixies depsnding on the size of the sucker/crown.
I have never had a problem with one. Some root fast some slow but they always stay happy . Mine dry out fast. after potting them up I put the little pots/cups in one of my clear boxes. I pur a couple inches of warm water and I let the soak about 20 minutes. They go on trays or little conatainers under lights. When whey wre light I pour warm water in, I even use food. I let them drink until full 15-20 minutes. I don't need to cover anything.
Before I know it the little port are full with nice plants :))
Have fun and good luck !

Allison,

I cannot remember if it was you or someone else, but someone posted a few different links about suckers. I cannot find where those links are. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Jesse

Sure let me find some ! Their in our sticky !

Sucker removal
http://www.rachelsreflections.com/suckers.htm
Sucker pictures
http://www.rachelsreflections.com/crown.htm
Rooting and starting Suckers
http://www.rachelsreflections.com/violets3.htm#rooting%20and%20starting%20suckers

http://www.rachelsreflections.com/violets3.htm#rooting%20and%20starting%20suckers

Rooting your suckers ; Water thoroughly and keep soil as moist as you would your leaf starts.
It a fast way to get new blooming plant ! To enjoy and share. You can ship a sucker just like a leaf !

Oh Allison,

Thank you so much for sharing all of this information. I hope it will tell me how to tell the difference between a sucker and a new little leaf. That is what I don't understand I think. That is the biggest problem that I have, telling what is a sucker and what are new leaves growing. Hopefully this information that you have listed above will help me.

Thanks,
Jesse

Okay, I read the information but I am still confused. She says that

Jesse, one thing I look for, and this may be the newbie still in me, is a leaf that seems to be growing backwards. The face, or top side, of the leaf is facing down toward the dirt, or toward the outside of the pot, rather than the center. Does that make sense? On mine, if I see a baby leaf that is not facing the same direction as all the others, I look to see if it's a sucker. I'll go take a picture... Be right back.

OK See the little baby leaf in the center of the picture, and how it's facing toward me, and away from the crown of the plant? If I see one like that, it clues me in that that is a sucker forming.
I look for what looks like a second little plant sticking out of the side of the neck of the plant. I don't usually see little baby leaves coming out of the soil, either, unless it's a sucker. You experts put your opinion in here, but as far as I've seen, all the baby leaves of the Mom plant come in the crown, not off the side at the soil level.
Does that help, Jesse?

And see how that sucker seems to be growing at the base of the older, outer leaves, Jesse?

"The crease where the leaf meets the stem" (I can't do that cool quotey-thing you do, Jesse.) It's where the older leaf is attached to the stem, or neck, of the main plant. That's where the sucker will form.

Now, someone with much more experience, check over my term paper here and make sure I'm right! LOL

This message was edited Mar 29, 2006 9:36 AM

You did great on your term paper. I will give you an A+. Thanks so much for the information. It really is helpful. Now, once you see it, how do you remove it? I bet you figured this would be my next question. LOL

Jesse

Good! I'm glad I helped you!
Everyone says to use a sharp knife, exacto knife, or thread scissors to slice it away. I usually do that, but sometimes I very gently tug on the largest leaf of the sucker, and sometimes it just comes right off. If it doesn't pop right off easily, I get the knife or scissors. Actually, I stole my husband's mustache scissors. They're very sharp, pointed, and longer than the thread scissors I've found. He needed a new pair anyway. ;o) I work better with my fingers than with tools, so I'm still having to learn to remember to get my tools together when I go to work with my AVs.

But remember, until someone with more experience tells you differently, the baby leaves in the center, at the crown, are new leaves of the Mom plant.

So what exactly is the crown?

Jesse

Crown: The center of an African Violet formed by its new leaves.
When I take my suckers off they look like little crowns . I have popped them off with tip of penicl or sharp point of scissors. I root them just like my basket bloom stalk babies .

The crown is the rosette of leaves that forms at the top of the plant. Except for trailers, the "rule" for AVs is one crown per plant... but if you've got a multi-crowned plant, and you like its shape, and it's doing well for you, and you're not planning to show it... there's no real reason to mess with it, IMO.

Allison & RG are both right... suckers look like little crowns, like a group of leaves pointing in different directions, coming together at one point on the main stem, generally right in the crook between an older leaf stalk and the main stem. If I can get my fingers down to the base of the sucker, a little wiggle will generally pop it loose the same way a single leaf will pop away from the main stem when you're trimming back your plant.

I think I understand now. I just have one more question. Will a sucker be made up of more than one leaf, or can a single leaf be a sucker?

Jesse

Jesse a sucker is not one leaf. One leaf could be the start of one. Or the one leaf might be an out of place leaf I remove these and throw them away.
A sucker is like a crown it is going to have a group of leaves just like a baby plant . Only it won't have it's own roots but will root very easy just like I do my Bloom Stalk Basket babies. Did you see my thread ? The little basket baby looks like a sucker but only smaller.
Next time I have a plant with a bunch of suckers I will take pictures.
You want to get the whole sucker for me atleast 4 leaves or you might as well root a leaf.

Jesse did you go to the links I posted above showing what a sucker is, how to remove a sucker, and how to plant and root a sucker ! There are pictures too.
Here is a nice picture of a sucker Ryan on another group posted.
But please go to the links and read and look at the pictures it tells all. Our sticky has these links and even more about Suckers !
http://groups.msn.com/TheVioletVoice/gamesandfun.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=26663&LastModified=4675565705221078567&all_topics=1

I did go to the links you posted and thanks for posting those. I think I now understand what a sucker is. Thanks so much for being so patient with me. I am still learning but you all have taught me so much and for that I am very thankful. I would never have started getting so many AVs if I did not have you guys to teach me all that you have. But I love my babies and I'm so proud of them. Here is Little Lyra with all her new babies.

Thanks,
Jesse

Oh Jesse your babies are so cute ! Congratulations !
Is Little Lyra Optimara ? I could not find her in Fisrt Class.

Lyra
Variety Number: 4
Series: Holtkamp (Europe)
Pot Size: 4-inch large standard
Bloom Type: Single
Bloom Color: Blue
Leaf Type: Serrated
Leaf Color: Medium green
Year Introduced: 1995
Year Revised: NA
AVSA Registration Number:
Patent Number:
Additional Comments: Available in the U.S. as 'Carmen.'

Rhapsodie Carmen
Variety Number: 4
Series: Rhapsodie
Pot Size: 4-inch large standard
Bloom Type: Single
Bloom Color: Blue
Leaf Type: Serrated
Leaf Color: Medium green
Year Introduced: 1991
Year Revised: 1995
AVSA Registration Number: 8340
Patent Number: 6148
Additional Comments: Formerly variety number 33

I did not know that she was Rhapsodie Carmen
I will rename her since I am colloecting all of the Rhapsodie series.

Jesse

editted to say that I'm not sure why I called her "Little" Lyra. Her name is just Lyra on the Optimara website.

This message was edited Mar 30, 2006 8:00 PM

Oh Ok Jesse thanks I did not think it looked like a miniature plant . And I grow a Hyla's Little Lira (H. Corbin) Single-semidouble purple two-tone. Dark green, plain. Miniature
and it's foliage is tiny so I was wondering looking for it.
Weird your plant was marked Optimara Lyra / not registered but regsitered in USA as ; (8340) 12/14/1995 (Holtkamp) Single blue. Medium green, pointed, hairy, serrated. Standard
That's why I could not find it. Optimara is good for this. You go look up a plant then go down to the end of the page and it will say " Additional Comments: Available in the U.S. as " a plant looking the same different name in US.
What beautiful babies your Rhapsodie Carmen has !
Happy growing :))

If you go to the Optimara site, and look her up by name, you will find her under Lyra. Then at the bottom it tells you that she is Rhapsodie Carmen in the states. Lyra has so many babies, they are growing all the way around her. She is a fertile mother.

Jesse

Very nice Jesse ! Yes Optimara has re-named many plants in the state and when registering them.
Your going to have many wonderful babies !
Do you have a picture of your Mom plant blooming ?

No, I have never seen this plant blooming. I know it will probably be pretty though. I can hardly wait until the day these babies get all grown up and start to bloom. This is all so exciting.

Jesse