AV in glass

This is a AV in a glass that Kim (dimmer) sent me many months ago... I has started to grow leaves, there are two in the glass and both have started... It is also starting to bloom. Is this normal? Thanks for any help.
Susan

another picture.
Susan

last one...LOL
Susan

Well, Susan!!! How cool is that??!! Be interesting to see what the experts have to say.
If it were me, I would have to be a little proud of myself!
D

Diane,
These are the very first Av leaves I ever had to live...LOL I am thinking I will have to take them out of this jar but I am really afraid they will kick the bucket..LOL my luck and all....
Hugs,
Susan

Looking good and next time, remember that you are so good at this that you only need one leaf to a pot. When the babies start growing you will have so many plants you won't know what to do! Great problem to have!

Really? This is not just two mommies and two plants?
Susan

I get anywhere from 5 to 8 new plants a leaf........but I usually just keep 2 or 3 of each......no room to grow so many............

Well, Gail- since you're mentioning leaves........ Some of my Chirita leaves didn't make it. I've always gone by the theory that it's nature I'm dealing with and I might get 2% success or I might get 98% success. What kind of percentage do you usually get? Was there something I should have done different? I still have no babies on them but more than half are still green...

If they have any green on them, leave them and they will have babies...........I don't want to hurt your feelings but all of mine live and make babies............did you dome them until the leaf was rooted????????

I don't take the dome off for about 3 weeks at least..........I use perlite, vermiculite and just a little bit of peat or African Violet soillless mix.........not much peat or av mix.........

I sent yours along at the same time I sent out to Kimskreations and she just planted up all her babies.........tell us what you did and maybe we can help..............

WELL POO!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok I used a good soil-less mix and added perlite. And they have been domed the whole time- still are. Some of them do look to be rooted. They are sitting close to a south facing window with sheer curtains. SO bright indirect light all day. How moist should I be keeping them? I was keeping them drier at first now a little more moist......
Some of the ones that died were kind of translucent looking when I potted them up so I kind of thought they wouldn't make it -but Kim already has babies from hers??!!! SO not fair! LOL

Gail, the babies I just took from leaves were from leaves that I started back in December, not the ones you sent me in January when you sent to Diane. So Diane, don't worry....mine are rooted and throwing up babies but the babies are still real small so you aren't that far behind :)
So far (knocking on wood) I have had better luck with chirita leaves than I did with my first attempt at strep leaves so don't give up :)
I am finding that the less I fuss with the buggers the better they do. I am truly starting to believe the addage of "ignore them" and they will grow :)
I am TRYING desperately to only check once a week that way there is always a "surprise" rather than discouragement of checking daily.
I keep mine domed for most of their baby life *lol* as humidity has been an issue but am starting to be able to "un-dome" them now that I have been able to provide better humidity during the day. I keep them just barely moist....not wet but barely moist. I have learned that watering with a medicine dropper helps me to prevent over watering and use the dropper now along with a "ketchup" squirt bottle and I am seeing that just a little water goes a LONG way :)

If you don't have a medicine dropper.....the next time you go to Wal-Mart do like it did........

Walk up to the pharmacy and say something like "can you tell me where I can find one of those small droppers that you include when you give babies their liquid medicine as I seemed to have misplaced mine" and our pharmacist just handed me one and said "here ya go" and I said "thank you VERY much".......gotta LOVE free supplies :)

The next GREAT thing (once you do have babies and if you decide to bottom water) is a $1.19 turkey baster (thank you Gail for this genious idea).......works like a charm. I bottom water......leave them for about 10 or 15 minutes and then "suck all the rest up".........glorious!

It's truly a learn as you go thing and I am learning more everyday but there WILL be some casualties which is always hard but focus on the successes :)

I hope this has helped and encouraged you in some way. I get discouraged too but luckily we all have eachother to lean on to find encouragement :)

Good luck to you Diane :)

Kimber

Thanks Kim. Actually I do use a turkey baster to remove water from a few things I have. I hope I haven't ignored my poor leaves too much. Like I said, I think they're rooted no no signs of babies yet. And I'm not gonna be stupid like I was with the first episcia leaf I rooted and tugged it to see...rip! And then it croaked. Yea...

Well if that don't beat all Susan! I have a hard enough time getting my full grown av's to bloom and here you get blooms from babies! Just not fair!! LOL

I know Cedar! Isn't that so cool?! I know I'm impressed!

Why thank you ladies... I am thrilled... This is it today. still don't know how I am going to get these out of this glass?
Hugs,
Susan

the other

Gail, Where are you? I have a question!
My Chirita leaves- I was taking out the ones that looked dead and found one that when I pulled it out of the soil the stem at the bottom cut end was still green. I stuck it back in- Any hope for it to go ahead and root then make babies? And one of the dead leaves I took out looked like it had rooted.... Guess I screwed that one up somewhere. I'm thinking maybe my mix was TOO draining. Too much perlite etc. WHat do you think.....Come on, I need to know!LOL

I root chirita leaves in a mix of perlite, vermiculite and a little soil less mix of some kind. They usually do rot on the top of the mother leaf, but that is not important...............leave those mother leaves alone even when they look dead, they often still produce a lot of babies as the mother leaf has already rooted....................

I stick av leaves in straight perlite and vermiculite........but strep leaves, chirita leaves I use just a little soil less av mix with the perlite and vermiculite........but not much soil less mix or they will rot worse..............

The ones I took out were completely gone- nothing- no hope! LOL But good to know the other one with the green stem should reproduce- YEA! Your mix for Chiritas sound like mine...
I don't usually use vermiculite in stuff though so didn't use that

Forgot to say-
Thank you Gail!

Wow Susan! Look at that! That is SO neat! GREAT growing!

Kim

Susan that's both beautiful and amazing! I couldn't pay my mature AVs to bloom, so I don't know how in the world you're getting those little babies to bloom. LOL Great job!!

Diane, unless you propagate in just wet perlite, you almost have to use vermiculite in your mix if you want to root something.

Susan, that's cool! I don't think I've ever had a baby bloom while still in the pot with its mama leaf... wow!

Thanks everyone for the help in learning how to even root one of these :-) She is putting out two more buds... Kinda cool I think.... I have to say that all my av's are blooming now... That is so odd as I have always killed them before... I did not want to say anything as to maybe jinx's it but I have two chiritas getting ready to open that Gail sent to me and I grew from leaves and then I split them and shared with Kim... NOW THAT is so awsome for me...LOLOL I will take pictures when they bloom...
Ok big storm here and I want to try to answer two other posts so see ya all tomorrow after work...
Hugs,
Susan

Susan, were you speaking of Dimmer when you said Kim? Just making sure I'm keeping my records accurate *lol* If I don't write it down, I don't remember *lol*