what is the success rate of rooting a.v.'s in water? just wondering if it works. can you get babies in water as well? this is strange as a.v's don't like their leaves wet.
kelly
rooting in water????
They grow roots more quickly (at least that is my experience) But I have had trouble with them making the transition to soil.
I have had better luck starting out in soil :) but just my opinion :)
Ditto what Lorry said.... There have been a couple of good threads on this subject, but I can't put my finger on one at the moment, sorry.
thanks for your advise on this i was going to try it so the kids can actually see whats happening along the way but i don't want to kill any leaves in the process.
kelly
You can try it..But I would suggest once they root that you slowly add dirt :)
I wouldn't shock them by shoving them into dirt
They say water roots are different then soil roots
this is so interesting! thanks so much for the help. i value each one of your advice and love learning from you.
kelly :)
Lorry
My daughter read something about adding dirt, it wasn't about AVs but some other plants that she was rooting in water and had trouble getting them to adjust to dirt.
Sounds kind of messy to me.
popular method of African violet propagation is rooting leaves in water. Some people report greater success in producing plantlets this way, and others say that it takes longer to see results from water leaves. Your own degree of success will be determined by your individual growing conditions, and experience (and experimentation) will lead you to the ideal propagation method for you. For detailed instructions and photos
http://www.metro-garden.com/node/52
Allsion I bet that was the one that critter was referring to. I was trying to recall where it was because it was a neat experiment.
Lots of people root from water there are lots of links on it ! Years ago it was very popular. I've done it with great success but 100 of little cups of water around is not good. lol
I've been told water roots and soil roots are different ? HMMM old wives tale ? I don't know ?
I know it will be excellent to grow African violets by leaf with your children ! Maybe even let them do both ways see they difference ! Buy a noid. Have them take notes and pictures !
Good idea. Water rooting wouldn't be bad if you were doing one or two leaves, but I see what you mean, 100 or so cups of water! LOL.
Here is another link with pictures ! Have fun Kelly and kids :))
http://www.theplantexpert.com/africanviolets/frames.html
That last website also says never water from the top :) sounds like self proclaimed experts to me! I love watering from the top :) keeps a lot of my plants quite happy :)
I think Lorry they mean don't watered from above it says and pictures shows showering the whole plant . lol http://www.theplantexpert.com/africanviolets/frames.html
Watering from top is good keep salts from building up. Plants should be leached every month !
thanks so much for the links! i am going to check them out! i think i will try it on a few leaves. allison i see what you are saying about all the little cups of water lol. i can see a mess with 3 kids and little cups of water :) i will try a couple and put them in my window in the kitchen. i think it is amazing all the methods of rooting a.v's and getting babies! i am learning so very much from all of you!
Kelly I think this will be fun for you and the kids. Make it educational and have the kids keep a growing chart with notes !
When we were kids in school we had to use a round cake pan and line it with moist paper towels and put beans on them covered them with damp paper towel and kept slightly damp it was fun watching them sprout and grow !
Your kids can even place a damp paper towel lay it in a large gallon zip lock bag. The long way . Lay the leaf on top of paper towel blow the bag up. Put in warm place and where it can get some non buring light does not need a lot.You will want to keep bag full of ear and leaf not touching bag so you may have to blow it up every few days. In the winter I did mine and could not get it to root and someone told me to put them on top of the VCR or TV where it was warm. Babies came fast ! I grew a nice baby !
In the water I'd let the baby get large before putting into soil. I'd also keep the babies with Mom .
There's not much difference than placing a sucker into soil-less mixture .
What I did was wick the size pot I needed. Filled it with soil-less mix and mold out the center just enough to gently lay roots and keep new babies on top of soil.
Some people put moist vermiculite in the little hole just a little for suckers too.
I layed the roots there in the hole hodling it I gently covered the roots being careful not to cover the babies. Press soil around the plant a little add little more soil if needed. Water good use food if not in soil mix already. Keep warm and under light or in the window.
The baby grown in water or paper towel will be healthy and strong and before you know it a blooming plant !
Years ago rooting of African violets was done most by water and still many people use this method.
Some people with no space even take the bags full of soil and leaves and hang them up on side of stand or cloths pinned some where and left to progate !
Have fun !
allison thanks for all the info. i am amazed at what all you can do with a.v's!
kelly
Yes it really is amazing !
My first leaf propogation was in water. And it happened before I even found DG! One of the leaves from a plant a friend had given me broke off when I was moving it. I said "DANG!" and plopped it into a little glass of water, not really knowing whether or not anything would happen. Well, the roots started showing up and the leaf did well. After awhile of getting the roots going, I started adding a small amount of potting soil, and then adding a little more and a little more (over the course of a week or so, if I remember correctly) and then I finally put the whole thing in a pot. It took a long time for babies, but when the babies came on they were/are strong and healthy and it's now blooming for the first time. I'll get a pic of it in a bit (I'm upstairs, it and the camera are downstairs.... you get the idea). All in all, for fastest babies I've gotten has been in the straight perlite http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/582758/ They have been down about 5 weeks, good success rate, and they're ready for dixie cups! Between my AVs and my brugmansia seedlings I'm working on (well, and the rest of the garden....) I think I'd be a crazy woman!!! :o)
Sanna
I meant to use this link about the perlite, but both of them have info....
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/595514/
Sanna
Keep up the great growing !