Stupid question?

I am almost embarrassed to ask this question, but I gotta learn so...

I am starting some AV leaves for the first time.

I followed the instructions in the link provided at the top of the forum and have them trimed and placed in small plastic pots in 1 part ProMix and 3 parts vermiculite, wet but not mushy. Then it instructs to place in Ziplock bags and place in bright light. The bags have already got mist on the inside. My question is, how long to you leave these little guys in the plastic bag? In the link, they jump from that point to 12 weeks old plantlets. Do they stay in there for that long?

Thanks,

Don

Don not sure what you read ?
I use Pro-mix, or MG, or African violet mix with 50-60 percent perilite. Mixed well with water slightly moist. Hubby makes a gallons at a time and it is kept in a covered eubbermaid type conatainer. gallon zip-lock bags are good too.
I set my leaves in 2,3 or 5 oz. cups what ever I have and have fount no difference in the length of time I get babies. My leaf stems are sut short. Oh yes don't forget the whole for drainage and to label cups with plant names. I water threw good , drain and place cups in plastic boxes and under light or non-buring window they go.
I do not need to cover and if I do they get too humid and turn to mush.
It you are getting too much moisture best take them out of the bags. Also using all that vermiculite will hold too much moisture only to rot your leaves. I don't use it anymore.
Hope this helps. Good Luck, Allison

Thanks Allison, I guess I need to make some adjustments. :-%

Don

I think if you take them out of the bags they maybe ok.

Allison, this is what I read in the link from Rob's Violets.

I don't use any enclosed containers or baggies for my leaves but many do. Our air is about as dry as it can be and so far so good without extra humidity on the leaves. I think it's just important not to keep them too wet, nor let them dry too much. It took me a while to find a good balance with my soil mix. First batch of leaves I tried were the ones Allison sent to me. I have only a few left but I found that my soil was too heavy. Can't stress the perlite enough from my perspective! I think the other important thing is a 1" or so petiole. Less wait time.

Either way, this group is like having your own personal cheerleading squad. All of us trying our best to offer words of encouragement and advise about what works best for us. Once you find your recipe, you'll be off and running (or sprinting in my case)

So Rah Rah Rah!! Gooooo Don! (shaking my pom poms! )

LOL, thanks begoniacrazii.

Don Ü

I agree w/ the recommendation for the 1" or so petiole! It really made a difference for me when I realized that!

Well, poop. I didn't know that about cutting the stem to 1 inch:( I wish I would read the sticky ~lol~ Maybe that's why it seems to be taking f o r e v e r to get babies...

Thanks for asking the question, Don! Helped me, too...
Jacki

the vermiculite-heavy mix will work as well, but be careful when you prep the mixture with water to add only enough that the mix is moist - too much water and everything will rot. Adding more perlite takes the guess-work out of the water ratio.

In the winter, I seal all my leaves in bags or domes, but in the summer I only partially enclose them. Depending on your heating system, the air inside can be drier than a desert!

And NOW I understand that vermiculite and perlite are DIFFERENT! Yes, ALL my leaves are in a vermiculite based mix. *sigh*... Honestly, Don, what would I have done without you asking!!

ok, tip on de-water-logging mix. If you are super-lazy like me, stick an end of some super-absorbent kitchen paper into the pot and watch it drain the mix !!!!

A vermiculite mix works better in sealed containers rather than in the open. Why ? Because if it's in a sealed container, you don't have to water them for a few months. If they are out in the open, you'll have to water them and it's very difficult to water a pot of vermiculite without it getting very soggy.

oh, and I should note: iIf you can get COARSE vermiculite, there will be more air in the pot and less water. (Rob's instructions say "coarse verm.") Unfortunately, retail bags of verm. tend to be medium or fine grade, so we have to think more about water.

Don't worry, PlantiMcplanter. I even had to look up "petiole"...sigh... I can only get smarter. :(

Thanks for all your comments people. I sure appreciate the help.

Don Ü

I use to use both but now just use 60 percent periliteand works great for me. Have to find your own way so experimenting is good and help from other's mistakes saves time too :))
coarse vermiculite would make a difference and in New York maybe it works but in Florida it would not work.
First time I read anyone using 3 parts coarse vermiculite ?

I use 3 parts perlite to 1 part Miracle Gro potting mix. Seems to be working well for me. I don't cover mine, either. Tried that and the one leaf I experimented with rotted. :o(

I was just reading Rob's rooting mix..again ~
~ Fill a small pot with your rooting medium. This mix should be very light and porous. Our rooting mix is 1 part Pro-Mix (a soil-less peat an perlite mix) and 3 parts coarse vermiculite ~
He is usign Perilite not just straight Pro-mix and vermiculite. I thought that would be heavy ?
He says fill small pot with rooting medium. Then he goes on to say the mix should be very light and porous. Then in ( ) he says his rooting media is a pro-mix ( which is a soil-less peat an perilite mix) which I bet is light to begin with ! Then he adds the " Course"
Vermiculite to his mix which is light already.
This might make a difference also !

Must work good Amy for you ! You have a lot of good healthy cute babies growing !
I use the same thing about. And Hubby makes it and he adds little bat poop and mixes well all together with water !

Well, I have them potted up now, so as I said before, I have my fingers (and toes) crossed. Ü

Don

I am so happy you are growing so many cute babies Amy !

many of the long time gessie people use 100% coarse vermiculite, but you do have to find your own mix as well as a growing space that works for them! once you have it down, you can root leaves in your sleep.

Oh, and promix has perlite in it already. It is a very light mix for the north, but heavy for DC and south, I think. It's all about relative humiditty....

:P

I didn't have any bat poop, and didn't really want to go on a quest for any. LOL I keep my potting mix and perlite for my AVs in the house, actually anything that will be for my AVs stays in the house, and I didn't think my husband would very much like having a bag o' poop in the house! LOL The dogs might get into it, too, and I don't even wanna THINK about having to clean that up! ;o)

I love Pro-Mix :)) I use to use it all the time. And got it in large like 4 ft. tall bag wholsale a guy from Local group would go buy it for me and others ! It was my favorite. Then when we had a hard time find Pro-mix local we started using other medias. But with Pro-mix we added more ingredients .
I use too much to order it but it is my first choice .

Oh Amy no poop is needed. lol I use to spend big money on Pro-mix, bat poop, worm castings , kelp meal and more. It was an excellent mix. And worked well. And I sold it by the gallons this helped pay for what I used. Mine is also kept inside in large rubbermaid container. I use a lot. I am always putting down leaves, trans-planting from Mom, or trans-planting plants, suckers...
When I would buy Bat Poop I'd buy 3-4 containers at one time as I was selling like 50 gallons of soil each month. So I have some left and Hubby is using it up. It does not really smell bad .
But to be honest with you African violets are so easy, simple to progate that with the plain soil-less mixture of Pro-mix 50 -60 percent perilite, or any other soil-less mix with perilite is working just as great for me.
Gosh this winter and past years I rooted so many hundreds of leaves and so many babies, and babies grew fast and plant blooming happy and healthy . Cheaper and easier to keep it simple. I need both so I'll just stick to it as it works !
If it works good for you keep working it :))

I am using ⅓ AV potting mix and ⅔ Perlite and it seems to be working great for me. I started out using Vermiculite but that made it too wet because all I could find here was finely ground Vermiculite. So now I just use the AV potting mix and the Perlite.

Allison, do you keep your mixture wet all the time? The stuff that you keep in the rubbermaid tub? I was afraid to keep mine wet so I keep it dry until I'm ready to use it and then I spray a little water on it. It works much better for me if it is damp when I put my leaves down.

What I do is use whatever amount that I need and then when I finish I sprinkle the Diatamaceous Earth on the top to make sure that I don't get bugs like fungus gnats in my soil.

Jesse

When my hubby makes the soil-less mix it's not wet just mixed real well together with a slight amount of water. If not used right away good idea i would think to give it a stir couple times a week. My local group use to make it and bag it into gallon zip-lock bags to keep it moist. I us to buy it from them loved it. But then I used so much even at my discount of $ 1.50 a gallon it was less to make. I liked it as they added lot's of special ingredients into it ! Then one of the guys and his wife picked me a large like 4 ft bag of Pro-mix, large perlite, vermic and more fancy ingredients and showed me how to make it :))
Now I am cheap and lazy and just use Pro-mix ( or something close) and Perlite ! I have had the same growing results.

So far my mixture of AV soil and Perlite seem to be working well. So I'll stick to that although I have one container of leaves in nothing but Perlite, just to see how it does. I had plenty of leaves one day and decided to try an experiment. So we'll see how that works. But I think I'll stick to my mix that I make.

Jesse

I know people with alergys that grow all their Av plants everything just in Perlite and Vermiculite and live in Florida and do great growing :))

I just got my order from Rob's and had to repot everyone. The mix they use must work great for them, but I cant have such a moisture retaining mix here. I repotted into my regular mix, which I try to repot all my plants when I get them so that everyone can be on a similar watering schedule and 'dry out' rate. I've become accustomed to the 'pick the pot up and feel the weight' method of watering and so far it's working well to keep me from killing everyone with too much water.

Trial and error is the name of the game until we find what works for our own homes.

ha ha... just wanna point out that this was obviously FAR from a stupid question. There are just no such things ;-)

Robs and Kartuz' mixes - I find they are always either too wet (after watering) or bone dry (in no time). I always repot as well.