How to divide plants questions

Hi Everyone,
It's me again, the girl with all the questions. I have some more! When you are dividing avs is it o..k. to divide plants that are in bloom or shoud I wait? Some of my my pots are just overflowing with what I think are several plants and I'm going to try to divide and repot some of them.

I did my optimara chico this morning and that turned out just fine to make it into two plants.

Thanks for the help,
Sue

Sue, If and when I want to divide a plant and it happens to be in bloom, I remove the blossoms first, then divide. Plants recover faster, put out new roots,etc. when they do not have to expend energy supporting blossoms.

Sounds like good advice!

And if you end up with a division with very few roots (or a sucker with none), it can help to put a baggie or a dome over the plant for a few weeks to keep the humidity levels up a little until it has lots of good roots. Just make sure the plastic or glass doesn't touch the leaves (a couple of chopsticks and a baggie can work for this)... and a couple of little holes for ventilation can help keep things from getting too soggy... remember that potting mix should be barely moist, not soaking wet.

Check the sticky for the culture info pages at Rob's (www.robsviolet.com)... there's a lesson on re-rooting a crown from a plant with an extremely long neck, and that same procedure is useful for any sucker cuttings or divisions I think.

I just did my very first surgery on some minis.....I was scared but I carried on.....didn't know about taking the blooms off...but they are all still blooming and that was two weeks ago..????? When I got to the standards I sliced with a razor blade a lot of roots off the rootball and washed some soil off with soft running water to see where I was cutting...there was no ability to pull apart gently, so I just sliced into several plants...wherever I could see a new crown forming....They all are thriving so a little beginner's luck took place.
gail

critter, I followed your advice about taking a giant plant someone gave me (they were going to throw it away)....I cut the big stems into 3 plants and put in baggie with perlite and soil less mix....that was a month ago and they look great....I need to check to see how solid a root system they have in the baggies by now....the leaves are green....

Gail, I think removing the blossoms is probably an especially good idea if the plant needs to put energy into vegetative growth (additional roots or more leaves)... sounds like you had some vigorous divisions with good roots, so they should be fine... but if you notice the new leaves in the center looking smaller than usual, that means the plant is putting a lot of its energy into blooms, and then disbudding might be a good idea.

Jill....I got so excited i ran to take a picture of one of the three I rooted from cutting the main stem right below what I planted...look, it is still growing in the baggie....need to pot up..way too much fun!!! These were from that standard my friend was going to throw away, but I wouldn't let her as it had 3 crowns...

I can't show you the minis as my batteries just said "batteries exhausted"....got to charge

I think I'm going to wait to divide the ones that are in bloom right now some of them are doing spectacular right now. I'd feel bad taking all those flowers off.

I don't blame you!!!! I like flowers, too!!!!!

Glampuss, I think I'd do the same thing!

Gail, that's pretty cool... have to admit, I've never thought of just putting them in a baggie like that, I generally put a baggie over the top of the pot! But I do put small suckers and small leaves down in little salad containers with holes in top & bottom (for venting and for drainage/watering)... and that works similarly well!

Good growing!

These are pictures I took at the time I did the minis.....they are so tiny that I put them in 2" pots in plastic tupper ware thing...put the plastic directly on the warm shelf (from the lights attached below)...they are doing great...I take the top off during the day under lights and put the top back on at night when the gro lights are not on....
I can't take pics tonight as batteries are dead in my camera

these are two little pots of one plant....they have lost all their blooms now...but it had to be done while i could as they needed to be potted up with new soil

this is the mama plant that gave me those two tiny baby plants in the first picture....protecting her for a while since I clobbered her root system, too.

this is the way they sleep at night when the lights go off....still doing that to them 2 weeks later....want to be sure they get a good root system going....
remember that I know nothing.....just got my first Av's in Janurary at wally world.....but I have been propagating and growing plants all my life...

Gail you have a wonderful sytem there,I am taking notes,I need all the help I can get in this department.I need to separate some of my plants badly but always put it off because I suffer from *Severe Separation Anxiety* I am always afraid I will hack them all to death.

I have hacked them to the point of not even having any roots at all.....did this a week or so ago when I knew I had several plants in a standard....so I turned the faucet on in the kitchen sink thinking that i could wash all the soil off and know where to put the razor blade to cut....all the roots washed off and made it easy to cut in two pieces....then you just treat it like a baby above with the same instructions....i promise you two healthy rooted plants before long....the one thing I learned from Allison that was so hard to implement was the willingness to take a pic or a sharp knife and slice off the sides and bottoms of the roots ball (especially knocking all that old soil around the crown of the plant)....once i got brave enough to do that, the plant did exactly what she said it would do......give it permission to let the roots fill up the new pot and not be knotted in that old root ball going in circles.....

Well Gail,You just gave me the courage I needed to try it.Thanks : ) I am going to separate my 1st one tomorrow with the instructions you gave and see how it goes..My palms are already getting sweaty..lol. I better get rested up for the big day.I will let you know how it goes.

I usually slice some off the bottom of the rootball when repotting too (just like Rob says), so I can bury any "neck" that has developed on the plant.

Thanks Critter.I have a few with longer necks too.So..When I repot them should I totally bury the neck up to the first leaves?

Yep! scraping the neck lightly with your fingernail can help stimulate root developement also... check out the info at Rob's, because he does a great job of explaining it.

Well I learned something new again Critter.Amazing,.Thanks a Bunch : ))

I have a couple with long necks. I'll have to try that and bury the necks when I repot them. Thanks!

I don't know as I am a beginner but I was told to only take less than 1/2" of the neck when I started mine....the picture of one is posted above in a baggie growing away and so healthy....??????
gail

You can bury as much of the neck as will fit into the pot... if that means you have just a few roots on the bottom, you just need to go easy on the watering (barely moist, not soggy) and maybe provide extra humidity until new roots form. If your AV neck is super long, you might have to re-pot a couple of times, burying more of the neck each time, or you can cut off the crown and re-root it.

Here is the step-by-step lesson from Rob, with photos: http://www.robsviolet.com/repotting_violets.htm

This is the plant in my terrarium that has gotten huge and has another plant growing off the side that is as tall but not as full. It looks like the little ones in the middle might be another plant. The leaves have always pointed up, but the AV next to it doesn't do that (see picture #2). How do I divide this plant, or do I?

Picture #2--AV from above posting is to the left. Both are NOIDs.

I don't know.....waiting for the pros, gardengram......I just love Av's when they grow in all directions with more than one crown....you can tell I know nothing!!! (LOL)

Well, that makes two of us, Gail. I'd rather have it growing all over the place than ruin it.

that is my philosophy!!!!!

Have you all ever heard of a tool called a "sucker plucker"? Some growers swear by it for removing suckers. The curved part is really handy.

How fabulous.....I have been using the tip of the plastic 4" marker to work on my Av's.....where do you order these??? does anyone know......my razor blades are getting a little rusty, too....(LOL)

I've never heard of that tool. Are you saying that my AV is suckering?

I've had my sucker plucker for ages. Let me see where they are avaiable for the best price.

1gardengram, you could make two plants very easily by rooting each of the two crowns.

I can't go to sleep...so got out of bed......I can divide them where you easily have 2 crowns....but I never know what to do unless there is a clear crown for me to work with......

That "sucker plucker" looks like something they use for ceramics. You use it to clean the mold lines off of your greenware before you paint or fire it. If so, check out a cermaic shop. They should be real cheap.

Darin

thanks, Darin....you are right.....my mom used to have a kiln.......i bet Hobby Lobby has one....

I bet so. My mom use to own a ceramic shop, so I really got good at using one of those.

You are talking to an old lady who can't go to sleep (LOL)....it is only 2 hours past my bedtime......gonna be lazy in the morning???????

I'm always lazy in the morning. I do my best work after 3pm...LOL

I usually stay up till 4am doing research on one plant or another.