Gail sent me 2 beautiful plants today purchased on the DG Marketplace. One is an adorable strep called "Thumbelina"....the sweetest. The other is a variegated african violet chimera with the prettiest ruffled leaves. Very symmetrical plant called "Mac's Crystal Cupid" She packed it so well and it arrived without 1 leaf broken. I was so impressed. I will post a photo of it straight from the box.
Now comes the part she might kill me for. I'm glad we live so far apart! LOL!
I kept looking at that plant and just couldn't resist propagating it, soooo I removed the center crown. This is how it's done or a least the way I do it.
Eyeball the plant and select the center crown you want to remove. Then remove the leaves just under so as to give you some space to work.
Then I took my old serrated steak knife and gently cut around at the base of the center crown with the knife andled down slightly and not straight across. Here is the crown removed intact.
I know what's left of the plant looks so awful, but before long, new crowns/suckers will form and they can be removed for even more plants.
Getting ready to pot up the removed crown. I have my clean pot ready with the wick in place...
I fill with some wick mix and gently push the crown right into the center and water with a haircolor squeeze bottle.
Then set the pot on the water reservoir and cover with a clear baggie. This crown will be rooted in no time and grow on to maturity. Thanks again Gail for your lovely plant. I love it!
Wow Goldleaf, you made that look easy! I think the part about removing the row of leaves from under the crown to give you some working room is the step I would have missed and that makes sense now that I see it done.
I will have to look for a hair color bottle for a nice pointy end to water with. I have tried the mustard and ketchup bottles from Wal Mart but they leak so badly where the top screws on that they are just about worthless. Does the hair color bottle stay sealed tightly so the water just comes out the tip??
Thanks for the lesson!
~Brenda
i use a turkey baster,works good too
JIM
Goldleaf: Wow, Great Tutorial!
... And, I know Gail .. she will not get mad at you or kill you! ^_^ She will understand completely because she is THE gessie propagator! LOL. She loves propagating!
That is a beautiful AV and it looks like you are going to have more with your propagating skills!
Excellent Tutorial GoldLeaf..you just made that look wayyyy easy..I have ruined so many chimeras trying to remove the crown..lol..now I will try again..following your instructions I feel I just might finally get it right..Thank You!
It's actually pretty easy, Brenda. And, yes, the haircolor bottles are great and don't leak. I get them at a beauty supply. They last forever.
Nancy, the key is removing the row of leaves under the crown you want. Gives you space. Go nice and slow and easy angling the blade somewhat downward so you get into the main stem and not cutting off leaves from the crown. I hold the leaves together in my left hand of the crown I want and cut gently with my right hand. Obviously, it would be the reverse if you were left handed. One could always practice on something...any violet...just to get the hang of it.
Gail must not have read this yet, Lin!
I just got a good lesson myself. I can do it but I never thought of removing that lower layer of leaves. Give us some more tutorials, Goldleaf!
I just purchased a baby dose dropper and it works great on my new 2.5" AVs.
I've done this many times and it usually works out very well. I didn't think about removing leaves first...thats a great tip. I alwys end up pealing off ones half cut anyway, your way is a cleaner cut. The last one I cut was Harmony's Little Stinker...and it is...those striped leaves went green on me, so I cut it off (chucked the top green instead of re-rooting it)....AND I'm happy to say that the new plant suckers are striped again! This plant is such a pain, I wish I'd never bought it! tish
I love Harmony's Little Stinker and is a top favorite.
Sister Sylvia is another favorite chimera and I'm getting ready to propagate it.
Sister Sylvia (9027) 04/07/2001 (F. Wagman) Single chimera red sticktite pansy/white stripe. Medium green, plain. Semiminiature
You are too good! I have no african violets right now.......but that is the way I want it for the time being........I loved Harmony's Little Stinker that you gave to me .............
here is my harmony's little stinker, it's been bloomin it's head off. lol
bonnie
What a cutie! It has great variegation Bonnie.
Sister Sylvia is quite a standout Goldleaf.
Lynn
I sure miss Harmony's Little Stinker and I will replace it this year. Thanks for posting it, mrsbonnie.
I want to say for those who are not familiar with it is it's uniqueness as a foliage chimera and not a blossom chimera and can only be propagated by suckers or crown cuttings. If you plant a leaf, the resulting plantlet's leaves will be solid green.
That is indeed a gorgeous plant-- will have to add it to my list too.
Great tutorial! I have learned sooo much from all of you! My Grams grew 20+ kinds of violets when I was a little kid and I have always loved them. Unfortunately for me, she used practices that only worked for her - wheeled the rack outside and hosed the plants down to water, used dirt, rock and bark as a potting medium - things like that. I ahve still tied to grow them thru the years, but always lost them to rot eventually.
A big thanks for the tutoral!
That's funny JuneyBug! Things have changed a lot since then. I can remember my grandmother using something called PlantTabs as a fertilizer. They were little tablets and she put one in her watering can to dissolve and fed her violets with that. I have no idea what she used for soil. Probably something she got at the dime store. The dime store? Don't you mean the dollar store? No, there really were stores called Five & Dimes!
It's ok GoldLeaf.....I remember dime stores! Dollar stores don't hold a candle to them! Dime stores had great treasures!
I was soo sad when the 5 & 10 store in my little village closed down. That was the one place in town that a kid could buy good things with only the money a kid could earn back then. I don't remember any potting soils at the stores, we would get leaf mould from the forest floor, sand from the river banks and bark from the lumber mill. As a kid that had bought saddlebags and racks for my bike, I earned money bringing these things into town for the gardeners. If I'd only known about bike trailers back then...
The dime store here I remember when I was little had chocolate Easter eggs and they would put my name on them. The store is still here, but it's closed. The owner now is feeble and they want too much money for it.
awwww! I guess time marches on for all of us--scary sometimes! Sad sometimes--happy sometimes----ugh! enough philosophy! LOL
let me check I might have sucker of harmonys little stinker
JIM
The only sucker my harmony produced was all green, but the bloom is purple with white variation and it blooms quite often so I kept it. The Mama, blooming when I bought it was the only time it bloomed. oh it is a stinker to me.
I had sister sylvia too, but the center kept gettng smaller and smaller and I tossed it for fear other plants might catch something. Now I think it was over fertilized.
Also this week my Sora Patty Ann blooms opened for me to find out it has lost it's white...its still fantasy only pinkish purple and a darker purple stripe with purple fantasy. Oh well...just not a good year for my chimera....maybe I should wack its top off too?...maybe it will come back white?
Hi JIm!
Lilypad...chimeras can be difficult at times as they unstable, some more than others but it keeps things interesting I suppose.
The 5&10 when I was a kid had some plant supplies, pets like fish and little painted turtles. Oh, and brightly colored chicks for Easter. Live ones! I think it's good that practice stopped.
Wasn't that a horrible thing!!! I can't believe we used to buy colored chicks and painted turtles, but I do remember it.
Can still get colored chicks here-- last one we had we inherited from GS-- he was green--named him John Deere and was the meanest rooster i ever had. Used to laugh for hours when he chased all the gkids around and around the house.
A video of that would be priceless! ^_^
That is funny, Gran!
Thats funny about the rooster. My girlfriend had gotten a little chick at Easter time. I remember being a little jealous cause my mom didn't let me buy one too...but that grew up to the meanest rooster and used to chase us around the yard...I'd forgotten about that until you brought it up.
I remember buying the tiny little turtles in the pet corner of the the 5 and 10, I'd go look at the turtles and fish while my mom shopped for fabric. I also used to love those little plastic dolls with their hair in a pony tail...did they come in a plastic purse or was the purse separate with the little pretend powder compac, the pretend lipstick, etc. Paper dolls and Barbies. I loved the 5 and dime.
How old do you have to be to remember the Five and Dimes? I lived back in the Kentucky mountains where the crows carried their lunches. But I remember Ben Franklin stores from my Chicago years. I grow a few violets on the window sill in my laundry room. The love to grow and are very old fashioned when blooming. I don't know their names. I call them Julia, Samantha and Dolly.
This message was edited Apr 23, 2009 12:03 PM
My 5 & 10 is still here, but the owners retired and it's closed. But if someone really wants something they will open it for them.
Wonderful! Any chance you can post pictures of them?
We have an Irish Days parade every Mar 17th or thereabouts. A guy paints his samoyed green every year. It hasn't worn off yet!
