Elizabeth,

Thanks for sharing your photos. Your Strawberry Wave has lovely foliage.

I suspect part of the lengthy time to have babies appear on your leaves was the size of the pot they were in. If they are in a small pot, they get rootbound faster and then send up babies, so it makes sense to use a smaller container. I use 2 ounce cups and get them in about 8-9 weeks, sometimes sooner.

Nice mammalaria, very symmetrical. And I was glad to see the aloes, as I was given a baby 2 years ago but she didn't know what it was. It hasn't grown a whole lot but it bloomed last month!

Keep up the good work.

Incidentally, there is a way to actually post the pictures within the text, Hummersteve can tell you how. It does make it easier to see if you are posting just a few pictures.

Barbara

Elizabeth

If you just want to take everyone to see your entire album it would be easier if you put your link in the box below message text which says "optional link" and then in the box below that "name of the link" just put my album or av plants etc, anything to describe it, then when You hit preview and submit your message,,, then all we have to do is click on it, it just makes it easier for everyone.

Barbara,
Thank you for viewing my album. I am excited to know other people who share the interest of caring for plants. Thank you for the compliment too. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. I had to pinch the oldest leaves (they were almost all green with a creme lining on the edges) off a couple months ago because they started looking a bit funky lol. I think it looks alot better now.

Oh, that is a good point! This was my first time trying to make babies from an african violet leaf so I didn't know what to do. I will remember that the next time I propagate a leaf, thanks for telling me. =:o)

Thanks for the compliment about the mammillaria. I'm not sure that it is a mammillaria, but that was best guess with all those "nipples" lol.

You are probably doing the right thing with your aloe. I have read that they can be slow growers and apparently from the fact that it is blooming, you are giving it what it wants. I don't think it it's very common for them to bloom unless they have the right conditions (sort of like avs if you ask me).

Do you know what kind of aloe it is? There are sooo many, it gives me a headache sometimes trying to figure it out, so the name of the one is just "aloe" because I can't figure it out lol.

Oh, I will have to ask Steve that next time I need to post a photo or two. That's a great idea to post it within the text, but it didn't occur to me to ask... I tried uploading them at one point, but had to resort to putting them in a photo album online because they are all large photos.

Elizabeth

Steve,
For some reason when I tried to post my album earlier, I didn't see "Optional link URL" at all. I realize how weird that sounds, but I looked all over the page for it and didn't see it anywhere. Maybe my best bet would have been to exit gardenweb and try again. I'm posting the link within the "Optional Link URL" now... now that I can see the space for it.

Elizabeth

Here is a link that might be useful: My African Violets

I bought a new african violet today, it is labeled "african violet 2" in my album. By the way, if anyone feels that I post alot of posts or I talk alot within my posts, my apology, I'm a talkative person.

Elizabeth

Oh, boy, that "Strawberry Sundae" you have is fabulous! Those leaves are beautiful. Although... you might have more abundance on your hands than you believe - it looks like that plant has several plants/suckers in along with it! You can let them go along if you like, or you can try to pop them off and have whole new plants! But to be honest, it's blooming and happy, so I would probably let it go. :o)

And don't worry about being chatty - that's what we're here for, hmm? Nice seeing your plants! :o)

Sara

Just a little note, I love all your pics, but you have one plant in there called philo and cordyline,the "philo" is a marble queen pothos!!

Love your african violets, I love the variegated leaves!!
Tracy

Sara,
Thank you for the compliment. I am beginning to think Strawberry Sundae is a trailing african violet? It is hard to see in the photo, but the flowers that are hanging over the front side of the shelving unit are attached to this small plant that then attaches to this large naked stem... which then attaches to the mother plant. I sure hope that made sense. I read about these in a book I have at home, but I find it difficult based on the description of atrailing av, to tell whether or not mine is one of those.

Tracey,
REALLY?!?! I never knew that. I thought maybe it was a variegated philodendron... how can you tell the difference? I get so confused between philodendrons and pothos. That's really neat, I thought they looked so pretty (I saw one in this book I have at home) but didn't realize that was the same plant!

Elizabeth

Thanks for sharing your photos with us. LOVE your Strawberry Sundae! No worries about chatting too much, that's why we are here to share and enjoy. :)

Belinda

Belinda,
Thank you. =:o)

Elizabeth

The registry lists Strawberry Sundae as a standard but not a trailer, so it looks like you have a sucker. I see it now that you mention it. Since it is large enough to bloom, I would remove it and pot it up if it were my plant. It would help keep the shape of the mother plant, and I would have another plant as a bonus!

AVSA puts out a listing of varieties and their characteristics. If anyone ever needs to know something, such as trailer or not, don't hesitate to ask. Those of us with access to the information are happy to help out.

Too chatty? Nah, but if someone thinks so, they don't have to read on. It's not like you were standing next to me and yakking non-stop, you know. Besides, the forum gets a little dead sometimes, and your enthusiasm is refreshing.

Barbara

Barbara,
*scratches her head* In that case, it must be a standard like you said. I wish I could see what a trailer looked like so I could know if ever I happened to buy one, I could tell it was indeed a trailer. To be honest, I think I am going to keep it with the mother. Despite being unsymetrical, I actually like it's uniqueness lol. Thanks by the way... I just hope I never appear too yak yak lol.

Elizabeth

Barbara,
*scratches her head* In that case, it must be a standard like you said. I wish I could see what a trailer looked like so I could know if ever I happened to buy one, I could tell it was indeed a trailer. To be honest, I think I am going to keep it with the mother. Despite being unsymetrical, I actually like it's uniqueness lol. Thanks by the way... I just hope I never appear too yak yak lol.

Elizabeth

whoops, I think I somehow got that to go in twice...

Elizabeth,

Please take a look at two websites. The Violet Barn has trailers with some pictures, and some cultural information. www.robsviolets.com

Also, Rachel's Reflections has a lot of info about suckers. The one thing that is important to me is that the sucker does take energy from the mother plant, and if you leave it too long, you will be damaging the mother, both in shape and general health. So please reconsider removing the sucker. It really isn't unique, as most violets will produce suckers.

See, we all are personally interested in you and your plants well being. LOL

Barbara

Here is a link that might be useful: rachels reflections

Barbara,
Oh, I meant by the way that it looked as in being unique, you know, with all those babies, tends to create a unique shape lol. I understand. Do you know what causes the suckers to be so harmful to the mother? I remember being told that they were detrimental to the mother, but I never asked how. I looked up your websites, thanks for the information. =:o) I'm beginning to lear that it is difficult to find a specific african violet online.

Elizabeth

Suckers take a lot of energy to produce - I've heard of some accounts where suckers grow faster than the actual mother plant. However, this detriment happens over years - I've seen perfectly respectable members of our violet club bring in plants that had suckered over several years. They let them bloom or otherwise look pretty, despite being "neglected" until they finally cut apart the plant when it started deteriorating. At some point it is less of removing a sucker as it is dividing two heads.

But to be honest, I don't see a problem enjoying your plant as it is until you feel a need to revive it. When the blooms stop, and you'd otherwise be doing maintenance anyway, divide it up then. Though it is good that you're aware of the difference between suckers and trailers now. I guess the rule of thumb is that if you got it as a noid from like the grocery store or somesuch, it is a very very slim chance that it's a trailer. And if you'd gotten a named plant, a description would have told you about its trailing nature - plus many of them have indicative words in the name, like "Trail" or "Rambling."

Your plants still seem healthy to me, so your methods must be doing something good. :o)
Sara

Sara,
Oh, thanks for your advice. =:o) I will probably leave the suckers for a while and then when I feel the need to, cut them off or put them in a new pot.

Elizabeth