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African Violets

Leaf Propagation Question

18 years ago

Hi Guys,

As you may know from my earlier post, I had to take apart an ailing AV. I was left with a lot of leaves. I planted them in small condiment "pots" and covered them with plastic.

My question is this, two weeks ago--when I didn't have the best mix on hand--I planted a few AV leaves as my first propagation experiment. Some of them rotted. A couple remained. Should I re-pot these leaves into a better mixture or vermiculite? Once you put down a leaf, is it bad to move it again? What have been your experiences with this?

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Wish

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Comments (8)

Ron_in_BC
18 years ago
I use pure vermiculite for rooting and growing. I would move them to the vermiculite.

Ron
minibot
18 years ago
I've also had good luck with vermiculite. In the FAQ it says to use soil or they grow water roots first and then when you transplant to "soil" you have to give them time to readjust. I'm not greedy with my time, so I've started in Vermiculite and moved to soil when I felt like it. Apparently Ron has has success giving them all they need in a vermiculite only medium! I think that's cool!

minibot
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I've found that my leaves don't do nearly as well if I baby them. I use regular potting mix, *BARELY* damp, like a wrung out sponge, bag 'em, and when they're well rooted (2-6 weeks depending on the variety) I wean them from the bag and put them with my plants; they do fine and throw up tons of babies, with maybe 98% success. If you have large leaves, you can even cut a wedge from the top of the leaf (with the central vein as the tip) and plant that too. Never, ever, use rooting hormone; the type of hormone they use encourages roots, but discourages suckers. You *want* suckers; those are your babies. The damp soil method above also works for all kinds of AV rooting, such as suckers and de-rooted crowns. They take surprisingly little water to root, but you *must* bag them. As for rooted leaves taking too long to make babies, try disturbing the roots; either bang it on the table or squish the sides of the pot a bit. That seems to give them a bit of a wake-up call. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Korina
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You'll have better luck if you use a stem cutting to start a new plant, these usually root out within 3 to 4 weeks this time of year for me. I wasn't aware that you could start new plants from a leaf with this species, but can state with assurance that cuttings with stems and at least a few nodes of leaves root easily.
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I would leave the old leaf in place. It will eventually die away. While it's there, it's providing food for the baby plant. Usually, the mother leaf dies off and can be pulled away by the time it's no longer needed by the baby plant. It's doubtful that, if it were removed and replanted, it would grow another plant. It's already used up a lot of energy growing the first one.
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Many of the newer variegated and novelty leaf patterned sans ow appearing on the market is from such activity with the propagation materials. If a stolon is just left alone to produce a new plant from its true growing point, mutation is a slow and lifetime process. Many new sports are usually found accidentally from damage done to a plant and the plant makes up the new space and area with fast producing propagates. Since sansevierias are such a forgiving plant, you can grow them from leaf cuttings (try them lengthwise instead of just at tips) and rooting them sideways. While the trifasciata variegated forms do not propagate with variegated offspring, some of the rounded leaf types do. Patens, cylindrica and other rounded leaf types propagates from variegated leaves. You will get some albino ones, but don't be alarmed, they can also develop chlorophyll ports while attached to the mother leaf/nurse leaves. You can always get variegated mutations from splicing green true species in vitro and growing them out.
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romando
18 years ago
I'm certainly no expert, but I personally would leave it alone. In my experience with propogating av's, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You know what I mean. You know it's not going to make it when the leaf gets all limp and falls over. The ones which are 'still standing' after several days are on the right track, and I personally wouldn't tempt fate, lol! If you'd rather go vermiculite next time, so be it (and you may find you have even better luck) but I wouldn't disturb those you've already started.
Amanda 'romando'
birdinthepalm
18 years ago
I vote vermiculite, but have found any sterilized seed starting mix to work equally well!! Seems to me I've not always covered mine in most cases , since with high enough humidity you can dispense with the cover, and then have less liklihood of having rot!! They may wilt slightly at first , but usually as soon as they get the earliest roots the leaves will pick up and they're off and running. The average dry winter home though in the north might be a bit too dry, so the cover might be advisable.
haxuan
18 years ago
I placed some of the leaves in potting mix and some other in a small glass of water for new plants. Both cases seem successful, i.e. the leaves in the potting mix remain green and those in the glass have roots sprouting at the end of the stem. However, I don't know if they really are coming to life. I'd appreciate if someone can post a photo of their leaves so I can compare.
Many thanks.
Brambles
18 years ago
Haxuan,

Since the leaves haven't died and are producing roots, you are probably fine.

Have you encountered a post that gives the Rachel's Reflections website? It is a favored information source around here because Rachel has posted many pictures of how to do things.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rachel's Reflections
Vera_EWASH
18 years ago
I've started all my AV leaves in regular potting mix...
mix moistened and allowed to thoroughly drain, then I insert the leaf petiole but leave the leaf off the surface and it's back is against the side. Slip all into ziplock and blow air in so that the sides do not touch the leaves..keep in indirect light...every two days or so open to let the old air out and bring new air in.
{{gwi:379784}}
I've started lots of other plant cuttings in straight perlite too, but haven't tried vermiculite...will have to try this :)
haxuan
18 years ago
Thank you Brambles, I checked out Rachelsreflection and like it a lot. I have found many good answers to my questions already.
I know this weekend will be a busy one for me to experiment with my AVs. I'm so glad I've found this site on Gardenweb and can have good advice from all you guys.

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