thanks RainGazer for the trailer leaves

Rain, you were the first to send trailer leaves.......I only had 'Dresden Doll' at the time. I have now fallen in love with them.........so easy to separate because it doesn't matter how many crowns I get.......the ones on the back are Russian ones i started.

Just ordered 20 sets of leaves for trailers............promise I will share..........

***This is my first time to divide plantlets......i think I have two plantlets in one Russian pot but will have to separate later..........they would not divide........

I marked the one on the back right as 'South Shore' but didn't mark the other ones as they were the first and I thought I would remember......obviously they haven't been separated yet.....

I am ashamed that i thought i could remember who gave me what.......This is 'Steel Blue' and hasn't been separated yet...........new world for me............Ki, Snowrose and jannich, you are leaps and bounds ahead of me...........but i am learning.....(that probably includes a lot more people like Rain, critter,etc.)

Gail ... I am so bad about remembering so I use the tradetracker. Makes it a lot easier because you can go back and see who you've made trades with and what you sent and what you received!

I am horrified that i didn't keep records, Lin.........I even think you might have sent the 'Steel Blue'.................I am not a record keeper........and I don't even know how to do this........this is the first time I have tried.........

Nope .......... wasn't me! I was given a little teeny 'Steel Blue' by Starfly/Eunice in one of the boxes she sent me about 6 months ago, but it didn't survive! You must have gotten yours from someone else! I have a couple of trailers that I got from her that are alive, but have not bloomed and aren't growing much.

I didn't even mark half the leaves I started.........didn't even think about that.......my leaves have taken a long time to grow, but none has died.........I think the trailers are the best as the more crowns they have, the better they look................

she isn't even blooming and she is pretty.........I am going to send you some 'special' food to make them bloom......i bought it in Boerne at the great AV nursery......he makes it himself........

Oh my ... That is one Very Lovely Plant! And, it's a Trailer?? I love the color in those leaves!

You say the nursery guy makes his own "special" food?? Does he sell it?

Our local AV club just placed an order for supplies for members recently ... I am going by the Pres. house tomorrow afternoon to pick up the couple of things I ordered. I told her I was out of AV food that I wanted to order whatever brand she could get as long as it didn't have urea in it. She sent me an e-mail this evening saying she got Dyna Grow Fertilizer. I've never heard of it, so until I get it and read the ingredients I'm not even sure if I will use it.

This is only 2.50 for 10 ounces...........only 1/4 tsp per gallon...........12-36-14...........really makes them bloom..................once they have bloomed I lay off this high second number to give it a rest.......all it says it that it has essential micronutriets and lists them.......The nitrogen of 12 is made up of 7.1 Ammoniacal Nitrogen and 4.9 Nitrate Nitrogen'

All I know is he uses it on everything in his nursery along with Schutlz 20-20-20.......which is what I use when the gesneriads are taking a break........

I still use Eleanors every 3rd time I water............I think I overfertilize my plants.........but try not to..............I have heard good things about Dyna Grow..........and I have noticed that it is often sold by African Violet suppliers of pots, etc..........

I am really getting on a trailer kick along with the minis.........they are soooo beautiful and you can keep potting them up as big as you heart desires.........

Gail your babies are beautiful, so plentiful and healthy looking!! South Shore with its cupped leaves is a stand out! And that trailer in your fourth picture...awesome!!! Blooms will be a bonus on that beauty!

I did a trade with Rain recently and she sent me such beautiful things, most new to me and most in the gessie family, I hope I can do them justice, as you have with her leaves!!

~Brenda

She has some really good trailers.........the others are not quite ready yet........

Gail,
I'm glad you are enjoying the trailers, they are a favorite of mine,too...
I have a few you may like ... one is kinda an oldie but a pretty deep blue bloomer...it gets pretty large so I don't know if you'd be interested???

It's fun to see you are having so much fun... I don't think I labled any of my first babies either...actually my first 2 trays of babies I had the silly dogs ate..lol

MsC

I don't even remember what I sent you, Gail, but you're welcome! LOL The only thing is can ever remember is what I didn't send, because it's something I don't have. ;o) Whatever I sent, I hope they're growing beautifully for you. :o) Trailers are lovely. I've never grown one to maturity, but I've got high hopes for Cherokee Trail. I think it will be beautiful. :o)

Her is Persian Prince........all behind the leaf.......must have cut on the slant the wrong way

I think i can read the name on the cup.....something Amethyst

I believe this is Snuggles Little Dream or something like that

Ramblin' Amethyst. I don't have that one, so it came from someone else. I might have sent you Ramblin' Ruby, though.

You've got some of those cute all-white babies coming up! Leave them with the mom leaf as long as you can. They won't survive on their own not having any green in the leaves. Give 'em some fish emulsion, too.

Thanks for the information............won't pot these up until they get really big and overflowing the cup.............

I ordered some seaweed Kelp from Violetshowcase after you told me about the fish emulsion..........I have been using it ever since.......he also said to use and drench the cup with the mixture when you first plant the leaves............I need to do it again........the directions recommend every 3 weeks......do you do it every time you add water to the baby leaves ?????????????

I do if I remember to, which actually means that I don't every time. I try to at least use the fish emulsion every other time. You need to flush them with plain water now and again, just like you would your plants, so don't forget to do that. What I intend to do is one thing, but what I usually end up actually doing is alternating fish emulsion and plain water.

sounds like a winner to me...........I didn't know you were supposed to flush baby leaves growing????? learned something new........

I flush them...It seems to me that they wouldn't like the fertilizer build-up any more than mature plants would. I could be wrong, though, so don't take my word for it. I just make up the rules as I go! LOL

Anyone else have an opinion of flushing babies with plain water?

Flushing with plain water (top watering enough that water runs out the bottom of the pot) every so often is a good idea because fertilizer salts can build up in the potting mix.

I love trailers too! Just so you know, if you ever want to enter a trailer in a show, it has to be started from one plant(let) that develops multiple crowns (at least 3 crowns for showing)... it can't be a plant that was started by putting 3 or more plantlets together in a pot. But one of my favorite pots has two mini trailers, one white and one blue, both from leaves of 'Rob's Humpty Dumpty' (a blue and white chimera). There are some great tips on growing and training trailers in the new issue of the AVSA magazine... I've just been paging through it (again).

I'm glad somebody has 'Persian Prince', as I lost my little plantlet of that one, and it's on my "must grow" list. I'm going to try to be really selective as I refill my shelves this fall and next spring... I don't think I lost that many favorites, and I need to remember to save room for all the plants from the leaves I'm putting down. :-)

I still owe you some stuff, critter. I haven't forgotten! So, I can send either leaves or a plantlet of Persian Prince come fall.

That's why we've gotta share all these plants! You never know when a catastrophe will hit and we need to have backups. I lost one I had never seen for sale, either before or after I got it, and was so worried. But, it's on eBay now, so I'm not so concerned. I'll just buy it one day. LOL

Speaking of leaf propogation... how long does that usually take? I have two leaves that have been down for more than 30 days (since the 2nd of June)... nothin' yet. The leaves themselves still look good, and the mix is still moist, etc.

Just wonderin'....

Karen

Usually it's 4 to 8 weeks before you see little mouse ears. Closer to 8 weeks for me most of the time, and some varieties take even longer. You're doing good! :o)

Rarely, I've had leaves pop up in as little as 3 weeks... and I've had some that took 4 months! I'd have given up, except that it was one I really wanted, and the leaf still looked crisp and well rooted. Hmm, come to think of it that one is still coming along extremely slowly... plantlet might have 6 leaves by now! Fortunately, it's among a few pots that have been isolated under a cake dome, so no worries about it having "the dreaded mite."

RG, that wasn't meant to be a reminder... LOL, I'd lost track of which of us owed what at this point... but I'll be glad to hit you up for a few leaves this fall. I'd love 'Persian Prince' and 'Ramblin' Ruby', and I'll bet you have a couple other varieties I just can't resist!

You're right about sharing plants and the comfort of knowing somebody might then have a special plant that you've lost! Besides, it's just so fun to know others are enjoying some of your favorite plants and to look around the garden and see special plants from DG friends!

Critter,
Although I appreciate show plants.............following rules for show plants doesn't interest me in the least.............just love watching growing...........I guess because i grew up on a farm where people knew, without a doubt, that people just do the sowing and God grows the plants, gives me a totally different perspective about growing for show.
To others who do grow for show, I am grateful because i get to have some of their beautiful plants...........i will alway just grow for the thrill of watching the power of nature take over.........

I checked my leaves a bit ago and Rob's Bo Peep has put up a baby! I'm pretty sure I put those leaves down on June 1st, so that is right at 5 weeks. Funny how some grow so quickly and some barely creep along.

I know you weren't reminding me, critter, but I was reminding you that I haven't forgotten. :o) You don't owe me anything. :o) I can certainly send you leaves of those, and with any luck, I'll have several others you'd like, too. Most of the AVs I've got left are doing really well, but I'm still watching them like a hawk. I think in a couple more months, I'll be comfortable that they're all safe to send. :o) I lost so many that you sent me, too, but I'm still nursing Deer Trail, and I have down leaves of Cambridge Missy and Biscayne Trail from your plants, as well as leaves of your Big Blue Noid. Please tell me you didn't lose Big Blue!

And you should see that Agastache you sent me!! Oh my goodness! It's huge and smells heavenly! You created an obsession when you sent me that. LOL I'll have to go get a picture for you.

For now, here's a Rob's Bo Peep baby.

Oh my, I didn't realize how much the dog hair would show up in that picture. LOL This one is on the bottom shelf and everything down there collects dust and dog hair. I'll just say I'm using dog hair as mulch and leave it at that. :oP

Ha!!! Now I don't feel so bad! Every one of my photos has cat hair in it, and I had wondered what people must think!

Rain, I am trying all the leaves in the past two weeks with a mixture of vermiculite and perlite as opposed to all vermiculite..........they take at least 21/2 months to put out babies that way...........we will see what happens with this new way.........

Cute baby plantlet!

No worries, I didn't lose Big Blue! :-) Actually, I don't think I've lost many varieties, but there are a lot that I'll just have as leaves/plantlets for a while... and I'm trying to be selective about which ones I restart, but I just have so many favorites, LOL!

hee hee .... Rain: That photo could be one of mine with cat hair ... with 4 cats running around and shedding, I could make little coats for all my plants!

Just for anyone information:

I just read in my AVSA magazine that when some trailers don't like to put on multiple crowns and just refuse to sucker........take the top of the crown out and it will sucker into many crowns.........After it suckers with many crowns, take off the big remaining 4 leaves to the original crown.......................so I am not sure what Critter was talking about when she said you have to start with one crown.........
This is an article written by nancy Manozzi who grows over 75 different trailers............

Here is a picture of 'Ramblin Spots' which is not wanting to sucker for more crowns......as soon as she quits blooming, I am going to cut out the top of the crown,forcing her to sucker and thus put on multiple crowns........

What I was talking about is that *if* you are growing trailers to show, you can't put multiple plants into one pot to fill it out, you have to start with a single plant and encourage it to produce multiple crowns as you described. If you are not growing to show, then an easy way to get a full look is to put several plantlets together when you're up-potting leaf babies.

Your 'Ramblin Spots' is lovely! Be sure to root the crown when you remove it. :-)

Thanks.........I wouldn't have thought of that........rooting the top of the crown.......thanks again........now I understand..........

That way, you'll have a backup plant "just in case" -- or a nice little extra plant when your first plant grows out all gorgeous!

'Ramblin Spots' is so pretty! Oh I would love to see a photo of a Trailer with multiple crowns!

So, am I understanding correctly that if you cut off the main crown it will force it to grow more branches or crowns and get bushier? I'm trying to picture what one would look like!