Happy Saturday Everyone ,
I have several leaves that have babies coming and the mom leaf is like new so I want to use the leaf again for more kids but how big should the babies be before I take them and pot them up or can I just cut off the mother leaf and how much above the babies should I make my cut ? My Museum of Art has at least one baby but might be two and Remembering John has three and Spookie has three also and the mom leaves are in perfect shape , they are still usable aren't they ? I hope I am clear in what I am asking , this is my first experience with rooting leaves and would like some help or tips . Thank you all in advance :)
Connie Lynn
rerooting leaves for more babies
Viostrep...no hurry to separate the babies from the mother strep leaf. The longer they stay on the bigger and stronger they get. I have been separating babies today and these are shown in the photo. They are potted in 3oz. Solo cups. One has a bloom stalk already! I break or cut off the mother leaf and keep all the roots intact. These were cuttings that were leaf sections or wedges.
As far as reusing the mother leaf goes, sure if it is still green and crisp, why not? I did reuse one of mine from Jeanette as it looked as good as the day I planted it. I will say most didn't though and I tossed them. I will reuse a good leaf especially if it's one that is scare for me and I want to up the propagation odds.
GL, I see you have the black matting from Cape Cod? Or is that another material? Would love to know. I like to see the babies get that big before separating but sometimes I get anxious and ALWAYS REGRET IT!!
Thank you GL :)
Your info is very helpful and the pic is great , this is all so hit and miss , I had a torn leaf of Silvia , the pieces were so small ( 1 inch each ) that I only planted them as a whim just to see how long they would last or if they would even root and now both pieces have more than one baby ( one has three and the other two ) and I was so amazed that they even rooted :) and then I have planted big whole leaves and they would slowly brown and die , go figure , so unpredictable .
I was also wondering if you mostly root the leaf end or if you also do the deribbing type of planting too , my first ones I did were the deribbing type and I have many babies growing now but it seems from what I have been told and have read that most people tend to just do the leaf base type of rooting , is there a reason why one over the other ? do the deribbed leaves tend to die more than the whole leaf baase type plantings do or do people just not want so many babies of one kind of plant because of a space to grow issue ?
I have noticed that some hybrids have a smaller vein system ie Museum of Art for one and others have veins like men , the huge pipes kind :) do these kinds just not root well or not live long enough to have babies cause the leaf veins are so small ? or doesn't that really matter ? ( I have only done the leaf base type rooting of Museum so far ) and was wondering if I should even try the deribbing kind . Thank you for the info GL , I was going to buy a couple of your babies a few weeks ago but I guess you sold them all cause they were gone .
Gail , my Remembering John that I won from you is much better now , not really actively growing but the leaves are firm and it looks much better , thank you :)
Thank you so much GL , you are very kind to help :)
Connie Lynn
Connie, keep me posted as I do have some baby Remembering Johns and could send you one.......you don't have to be nice............about the other one. Did you repot her?
Off for the morning.......check by later
GL is our best grower........I think that the babies you get from cutting out the midvein are never as strong of plants as those grown from a leaf itself........is that right, GL?
No, that's not matting from Cape Cod. I am way too economical for that ;) and it's not necessary. I use the synthetic cheap stiff blankets from a place like Kmart and cut them for my needs. Works great. Or I have purchased synthetic felt from a fabric store when on sale. Last time it was 50% off.
It feels hit and miss for you now, viostrep, and will till you gain more experience and find the method(s) you prefer. I have done my share of experimenting. That is great about the small leaf pieces of Silvia. Yes, they can work well or sometimes better. I never use a whole big leaf.
Okay, on the midrib removed way of propagating. You will get a baby leaf at almost every vein. If I was a commercial production grower, I would use this method to get lots of plants. Each baby leaf can be pulled off. There will be a few small roots attached. More TLC is required for these till they get established.
The basal end of a leaf is better for rooting than the tip end.
Yes, as you noticed, some varieties have their veins closer together and some farther apart.
Another thing while I think of it. If you have a baby strep with a very long leaf compared to the new leaf emerging, feel free and do cut the long one back. I am going to separate a few more today and if I see some like that, I'll take a picture.
Nice babies goldleaf,I agree dont be in a hurry to put the leaf back down,i am to the point where i almost never seperate the babies
unless its a special varitey that everyone wants,i put a leaf down and when its big enough ill repot it,by that time the momma leaf is mush
and ill cut it off or pull it off
JIM
Good tip on the long leaf trimming GL--I've wondered about doing that. I have had much better luck rooting intact leaves, and then pieces of leaves. I have had very little luck getting babies with removing the mid-rib--the leaf always seems to wither and die w/o producing anything. Must be something I am doing to have that method fail so consistantly, but I don't really care as I can use the other methods.
im told if you use spagnum moss that you can get good results,but you have to almost wring out all the water
JIM
Worth a try on one you don't care about or have lots of and no loss.
i KNOW you can do this gl, im pretty sure there isnt anything you cant do if you put your mind to it
JIM
Thank you everyone for the info , GL now that you mention it the babies on the midrib leaves are whimpier and weaker looking than the ones on the leaf sections so I guess I will stick with that kind of propagation , I just tried the deribbed method just to see if it would work , I was wondering can you root the leaves like you can begonia leaves by laying the leaf on soil and making small cuts in the leaf and anchoring it down with hair pins ? the veins of streps remind me of begonia leaves , i haven't done this with begon ias in sometime but thought about it when I read you can grow streps from each vein , have any of you tried this ?
Thank you for the offer Gail but I think Remembering John will be fine , I did put it in a pot when I got it as it didn't have one , I bought it from you on ebay and you ship potless :)
Thank you all for posting to my thread , it is fun to talk to so many learned , nice people about a fun subject , I am having great fun with a new for me medium , I have had violets , orchids , and succulents for a number of years but streps are new and so much fun and they are simply gorgeous to boot so what more could you ask for :)
Connie Lynn
I too am curious if anyone has ever tried growing Streps. by cutting the veins.It works great for Rex Begonias.
I did cut the mid vein out one time this year, but didn't really think it was worth it to have 15 of the same strep and you have to pamper them for so long....................I also did it last year and gave away Spiritual Corridor until I almost didn't even like the strep anymore ........smiling..............but have one again......
Hi Lynn ,
I am going to try it the begonia way and see if it works and will post the results , if there are any , other than rotting hahahaha , I think all this experimenting is fun so will let you know how it goes :)
Connie Lynn
Connie,
Thanks! If it works like a Rex Begonia leaf,you will get a baby plant from each cut and sometimes when the mama leaf looks rotted is when the babies pop up.I have always used half peat,half perlite or half perlite,half vermiculite,watered it fairly well,but not soaking wet,covered it and forgot about it.Let me know your tricks...LOL.
Lynn
Hi , hope you all had a lovely weekend ,
Thank you Lynn , I will post what happens , I figure trying things doesn't hurt , the leaves die later anyway so it is fun to see what works , I do know that when I plant the leaves without the midrib covering them with plastic wrap or a dome they do much better and root faster whereas the uncovered one just kind of limp out and slowly die , although my tiny Silvia leaf pieces were not covered , I guess cause they were my first tries and I didn't know anything at all about rooting them and now these tiny leaf pieces have babies , I couldn't have been more surprised but since then I cover all the leaves and most do well .
I would also like to ask all you experts about the variegated leaves , are the babies mostly white when they come up or is it like violets ( some are and some not ) and do you treat them with epsom salts and fish emulsion to green them up ? I have some variegated leaves planted but no kids yet and was wondering about this .
This is maybe a bit off the subject but do any of you root violet leaves or strep pieces in plastic bags to save space ? I have done this for a while now and it is great , I don't have a greenhouse or plant room , I just have plants all over the house and to save space but still root leaves I do them in plastic zip bags and hang them up with S hooks , they root faster and once they get babies I can pot them up and give them to people , I try and keep spare plants of my favorites so this works to do that , some of my violets are hard to get hold of unless you like to spend a lot for them so this keeps me in a good supply of them and I love to share :) I get a lot of peace and happiness in taking care of my plants just as I do taking care of my kids and I like others :)
I wish you all a wonderful week ,
Connie Lynn :)
hahahaha my pc freaked and some of my post went to post heaven or something :)
I meat to finish with , I like others to enjoy the same peace and fun with their plants as I do and I am sure all of you do , you are all so nice , thank you :)
Connie Lynn