I have babies still attached to the mother leaf and it is time they get on their own.....would like to change soil from perlite to what i use and put them in what size pot?? Also, how do I unattach the mother leaf? One two of them the babies are in front of the mother leaf and also behind the mother leaf? Thanks
out to the front porch to work......am going to get brave enough to cut back everything the strong winds have damaged....like double impatiens, etc......
will check back
gail
help from the pros, please!!
Wow, it's been quiet. Hopefully someone will chime in with good advice. I just sort of pull them apart.... And the pot size I select based upon the size of the roots on each piece, just as I would for any container plant.
As for switching from perlite, I think it was MsC who said to start with mostly perlite and add a little more potting mix with each pot up. Or something like that - I could be mis-quoting. If there are a lot of roots, another option would be to give the roots a trim before putting it in standard AV mix.
But, you know, I don't grow all that many AVs so....
I did scoop out the perlite around the mama and babies....now it is time to move up to a 21/2" pot...I am just scared to cut the mama leaf loose, but they are not looking so good....babies look great and growing....
Thanks, keyring, you grow everything else !!!!!!!
Lin and I are now looking for Kohlerias!!!!
1.) Remove the leaf clump from the pot, and lay on a work area.
2.) Gently work the soil away from the roots until the small plants can be separated. Usually they will fall away from one another as the soil is removed. Look for each plant to have a small rosette of leaves, often attached to a main stem, with some roots at the bottom. Leaves often produce 5 or more plantlets.
3.) Prepare a small pot (2" diameter or such as a Solo plastic bathroom cup with a hole poked in the bottom) for each small plant. Fill the pot with very light potting mix that has been lightly pre-moistened. If you mix your own (recommended), use one part bagged peat based potting soil, one part vermiculite, and one part perlite. This is not for wick watering. Do not pack the soil down!
4.) Make a small indentation in the surface of the potting mix using a pencil or a finger. Set the plant into the indentation and gently move the potting mix to stabilize the plant.
5.) Water (I use a hair color bottle with a long tip) and allow the excess to drain away. Set the young plants inside a clear plastic bag or plastic container and cover with plastic wrap, or place a baggie over individual pots. Set in a bright location under grow lights or away from direct sunlight. Check now and then to see that they are moist.
6.) In about a month, the plants will be well rooted and beginning to show mature growth. Open the container gradually over a period of two days to allow the plant to adapt to lower humidity. After this transitional period, your violet may be set in any bright location and watered on a regular schedule. Feed small plantlets at the rate of 1/8 t. per gallon of water.
I love those instructions, Snowrose, but I only have one leaf that has produced more than one plantlet....maybe I need to wait a while and see how many babies do appear....I have already moved them scooped out of the perlite into a 2" av pot.....but it does have all that perlite around the roots.....shall i wait until there are more babies or go ahead....why am I making this such a big deal??????? I guess I want to be successful so badly.......I will show you how big they are....at least I will show you the smallest babies and you can help me..
I think I am going to try anyway....only way I learn....I have plenty of other leaves started now anyway.....
I can tell you that now I know I over fertilized....I just fed the leaf the same thing the adult Av's were getting...just learned something new....
Let me show you the three anyway and you can tell that they were overfertilized from the beginning...
second one
this one has babies on both sides everywhere...??? I thought they were still attached to the mother leaf...or do they have their own root system???
Snowrose, that was a very concise and clear explanation -- thank you! I've got it bookmarked for future reference.
:-)
Gail, the answer to your questions above is yes to both... the plantlets at this stage are still attached to the mother leaf, but they are also developing their own root systems. If you knock the leaf and plantlet(s) out of the pot, you'll be able to see this pretty clearly.
You can wait until they are at least twice as big as they are now before separating them from the mother leaf and repotting... everybody develops their own preferred approach, but larger plantlets are a bit easier to handle and generally have better developed root systems.
Sometimes you'll have so many little plantlets developing in one pot that things will start getting pretty crowded (roots crowding pot as well as crowded foliage), and then it might be better to separate them even if they're small.
The mother leaf may continue looking healthy and vigorous, in which case I think it's still doing its thing with providing nutrients to the plantlets... or the mother leaf may start fading and failing after a while, and it can just be trimmed back (might be especially useful to do this if it's shading the plantlets too much).
I think moving the leaves and attached plantlets from the perlite-only to a little pot with mixed perlite and potting medium as you've done was exactly the right thing to do. I use the same light mix for leaf pots as I do for AVs generally (at least 50% perlite)... and a little more perlite in the mix will help keep things from getting too soggy while those roots fill their new pot, so I wouldn't worry a bit about the perlite that clung to the roots when you repotted the leaves.
Gessiegail,
I only want to add to the above that I kind of like it when leaves do not produce so many plantlets. I really don't mind one or two since I'm not doing production and it seems when there are only one or two they are stronger and more shapely. I almost hate it when they produce so many because they usually are more spindly. Many times when separating plantlets, some come away with no roots. That isn't much of a problem. Do the above and they will root just like a sucker.
Here's a pic I just took just now to show you leaves w/plantlets in a plug tray needing division. With yours I would say, no hurry no worry. You are doing wonderfully.
This message was edited Apr 21, 2007 11:52 PM
Forgot the photo....here it is.
I just learned sooooooooooooo much from both of you.......thanks again everyone!!!! I am cutting the mother away.....she is shading all the babies in one of them.....
running late and need to get dressed....but while the pros are around, please tell me what happened to this Av....too much fertilizing or too close to the lights......look at the dark discoloration on the leaves...yuk...another mistake in order to learn.....
Gail,
This discoloration is called "birthmarking" if that is what I am seeing in your photo. I am assuming these are not soft, mushy areas but rather darker discolored areas in the leaf. Nothing major. I don't know for sure what may have caused this in your plant but I have seen this from time to time on rare occasion.
Look at leaf #4 :
http://www.steverd.com/violets/leaves/leaf-id.htm
I am dressed so have a minute......thanks so much and I bookmarked the site you gave......they are not soft at all.....in fact, leaves are very strong and sturdy.....do I just leave those leaves on or do I remove them????
You can if you want to but if you remove them, your plant will look misshapen. I wouldn't. It doesn't affect the plant health wise at all.
thank you so much Snowrose ,i love your instructions far removeing a new baby from a leaf,i have destroyed so many cause i didn,t no how.i have that printed out,any one can do it with your direction. thank you
that must be what my lemon whip is doing,
Snowrose what to do about it
