Leaf starting questions

Hi Everyone,
I have a couple of questions about starting leaves. I have about 30 or so in an aquarium. They are planted in half perlite and half av soil mix. They ave been in there for about a month.
I have taken a few out of the pots and they seem to have roots starting. So when do they get mouse ears? I always hear everyone talking about mouse ears. What are they and should I just leave the plants alone untill they get them?
I'm excited that they have roots but I don't know what to do next. I expect everyone is going to tell me to be patient, lol. I hate being patient :)

Sue

Hiya Sue,
Congrats on those roots...
Mouse ears are the baby plantlets sprouting up out of the soil...and they do indeed look like lil tiny mouse ears. Cute as they can be.
The general consensus is that it varies from leaf to leaf & variety to variety as to when you will see the babies. It even depends on the time of year & conditions...winter leaves are slooooow..


If you have roots they aren't too far behind.

You know the drill form here...patience. :-)

MsC

I agree with everything MsC said. :o) You'll know mouse ears when you see them, as that's really what they look like. My average is 6-8 weeks from when I put the leaves down, but I've had a very few pop up as early as 4 weeks, and some have taken longer than 8. I recommend leaving them alone until you see ears, and even then leave them alone. The babies can be quite fragile, and you wouldn't want to break one off the mom leaf. I know you hate to hear it, but my best advice really is just be patient. :o)

Ok Here are my Mouse ears they are small but that was taken last week they are bigger now should I leave them alone till they get much bigger they are growing fast My thought till they get much bigger what are yours
Kim

Yep, just leave them be. If you mess with them too much, they'll pop right off the mom leaf and won't be big enough to survive on their own. Don't ask me how I know. ;o) They need to be considerably larger. Seems like I read once, at least 4 leaves on the baby and one or two of those should be at least a half in wide or larger. The mom leaf will feed the babies as long as they're attached, so the longer you leave them together, the better. To an extent, of course. Eventually, the pot will get entirely too crowded if you never separate them, but you get my point. :o) They look good!

Oh what cute mouse ears. I waaant mouse ears. O.k. thanks everyone, I will try to leave them alone and I won't the rip leaves out of the pots anymore to look for roots. I know I'm baad, lol.

Sue

Sue I do the same darn thing I just can't wait also I just posted pic in Hyrdoponic garden