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African Violets

Potting up trailer babies and others?

16 years ago

I have three leaves of standard size Ramblin' Firedance that I started back in February. They have sprouted out nicely and are about 1 1/2" wide with pea sized leaves. At what size do I plant these out and what size pot? Does each individual plant need to be separated from the leaf or since it is a trailer, plant the whole bunch? I haven't had a trailer before, so I don't know what to expect.

I also have mini Baby Moonbeam leaves that have cute little plants about 1" across. When should I plant these out and into what size pot? I have 2 1/2" Omaya pots, but I think these may be too big?

Thanks for the advice. I've received so much help from you-all since I started back with AV's this year. They really are quite addictive!

Elaine

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Comments (3)

irina_co
16 years ago
Elaine - hi and my congrats with your cute new babies.

I think that the leaves on your standard babies should grow a bit more - like up to the nickel size. First pot for the babies should be something like a white Solo cup - 3oz or less and for minis - this is the size they should be potted all their lives. You can start with an 1 oz cup - like what they use in a hospital for dispensing pills - and eventually move to your Oyama 2 1/2 one.

For the trailers - you move it to the bigger pot when it grows. They look better in a shallow bulb pots when mature.

Irina
vall3fam
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks, Irina, for the advice! I'm just impatient to get them out on their own! You know how Mom's are :) I've got some standard leaves someone shared with me and I'm amazed by the size of their babies. Compared to the minis, they are huge!

Everyone is growing really fast, though, so I'm sure it won't be long before I'll be potting up all kinds.

On the littlest cups, how do you keep them moist? Do I need to wick them or just water them frequently when dry? Also, do I separate out each individual plant at this time, or later when I transplant again to a bigger pot?

Elaine
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Just like everything else I grow, some plants have done better than others in them. I had robs boolaroo in one and it just didn't grow at all. I think my biggest problem was watering, they were always too dry....the bottom of the pot arched up so it wouldn't wick and it had to be placed in a deep pan to suck up water. I just have too many violets to have that much trouble with a pot. I actually have some cactus and succluents growing in them successfully though. I do have some violets growing in those old vintage planters that are about 3"x6" or so rectangle shape with no hole in the bottom...I fill in about an inch or so of perlite in the bottom then soil and then plant the trailers those are doing quite well...I have to be careful not to overwater though. My trailers don't all root where they touch the soil. tish
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irina_co
16 years ago
Elaine -

these itti bitti cups - you need to wick them - one ply out of a 3 -4 ply yarn - or keep them under cover - like in an angel cake plastic thingie. You can speed them up by watering with a fish emulsion.

I separate them at once. Since you do not need them all - you can select 2-3 big ones, pot them separately - and either discard the rest of the plug or ot it in a slightly bigger pot with more soil and let the rest of them grow. Sometimes you have 2-3 good size plantlets - and sometimes 25 itti-bitti ones.

I.

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