Beautiful Anne! It's a lot like my setup except I put my black trays on top of my suspended lights so that the warmth of the light bulbs evaporates the water more speedily. I've seen those trays but budget didn't allow it. I get my bonus this week....hmmm. Was just thinking of asking for people to send photos of their setups for some ideas. Thanks!

It appears that you use one two bulb fixture per shelf. Is that correct?

Rosie, you have eyes like a hawk - LOL! that's LE Diehard that you see in bloom there. It's almost the only plant that I didn't have to strip the flowers from as it was recently re-potted and skipped this round. I'm sure there will be a leaf coming your way one of these days. And wait until I get done with the leaf cup separating that I'm working on right now. I kept the best two or three plantlets of each new variety - need I say more? Watch for that photo to follow. ;-)

Yes, Ken - those are 2 bulb fixtures. And they do put off some heat for the shelf above even though they are hanging with an inch or so gap between the fixture and the wire shelf. To compensate for the bottom shelf having no light fixture to warm it from beneath, I sometimes use an electric warmer seed starting mat in the dead of winter to keep things from getting too chilled down there.

And what you can't see in the photo is that I still have a couple of those 10x20 black trays in use on the very top shelf with clear domes over them and extra lights. It's warmest up there at the ceiling and this time of year it's the perfect place for leaf starting. Having to drag out my little ladder to see what's what up there keeps me from agonizing how long it takes to see mouse ears pop up, LOL. I just leave them alone to do their thing, checking every couple weeks to make sure all the k-cups are still damp under the closed domes.

Nice set-up! I enjoy seeing other peoples' growing areas. What type of bulbs do you use?

Thanks, Terrilou - they're T8's and I currently have one warm and one cool white in each fixture.

hahahahahaha oh Anne you know me!!!!! Ok I will hold you to the leaves! Thanks!!! Rosie

Upgrade update: Just finished late last night the separating and potting of the leaf pots - there are now 78 solo cups of baby plants in this new 2'x4' boot/plant tray! Whew!! That was a lot of work! :-) Only a couple of varieties are one of's; the rest have multiple cups. There are 2, 3 or 4, depending on the (hopeful) fantasy to be proved (or not) when they bloom. Just so you aren't thinking I have 78 new varieties, LOL. The herd will be culled someday...

BTW, that curtain valance which hides the suspended T5 light fixture was the brain child of our very own Rosie. [And Rosie, every time I see it, I thank you for such a great idea!] :-)

Anne

I'm so sorry Anne. You have my sympathy. ;) Looks great! Very satisfying work! Ken

Awwww, shucks it popped into my head as soon as I saw the set up!!! But thanks anyway! New set up looks great!

Now let me see,,,,,hmmmm, I don't have that one, and the one 4 over from it,,,,and the one 2 rows down, 1 row to the left and 6 over from that,,,,lol now,,,,,,WHERE IS THAT INFERNAL WISH LIST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rosie

Hmm - a valance looks very practical. Being hopeless in crafts... I am thinking - Goodwill...

Irina----Goodwill, Salvation Army, Dollar type Stores! All will help out immensely for not much money!!!!! AND I am sure whatever you do,,,it will look wonderful!!!!!! But make sure we see pix! Rosie

The valance looks a heck of a lot better than my aluminum foil reflectors!

hmmm, ok Anne, just took another look at the new set up. Do you realize that IF you should get a few more leaves you could "baggie" them and if you move your trays apart just a bit,,,,,,you have enough room to slide the baggies in between them and the trays will hold them upright while they root! There is just enough room! WOW,,,do ya see it ?????? Think about it! Ok so it won't "look" as pretty, cause baggies AREN'T pretty, but anything for a leaf right?????? Rosie

LOL, well that's a thought, Rosie, and I know you hate to see any space go unfilled - but leaf starting is what the three 10x20 covered trays on the very top are for, remember? And they're currently occupied. I sure don't need more leaves than that - cause as we all know, leaves multiply into plantlets, which turn into full sized plants, which would have to go, um....where?

No, I am NOT, NOT, NOT giving up any of my furniture to add another stand. ;-)

So Rosie, when you are talking bagging are you rooting the leaves in dirt in the bag without the pot or are you rooting them in a pot and slipping them in the bag for humidity? Is the bag the holder of the dirt? I'll bet if the bag is what contained the dirt that the bags could be suspended with pins on the wall or the like. Is that what people do?

On a happy note, my friend that I give violets to had her parrot knock one off of her windowsill into her hot dishwater and killed it. Does that make me sad? NO! It's another plant that I can give away off of my stand! Yay! Ken

Well,,,,,yeah Anne, I know that is what the 3 covered trays are for. BUT one never knows when they will meet that next violet person who is willing to share! Just something to keep in mind if that person would have,,,hm,,,,say VINTAGE leaves??? (to die for!) Just supposin' !!!!!! lol Just wanted to let you know you DO have room for bagged leaves!!!!! roflmbo Just in case!!!!! <:)

Ken yes, that is what a lot of people do. I have put the dirt in the SIDE of snack size baggies after I zip it up about 2 inches, and stuck the leaf in. That works. OR I have filled a little Kcup with soil, again put it in the snack baggie on the short side and then zipped it up. (And I do not water the soil at all. I lost a LOT of leaves trying to give them a little drink in the baggie.) Either baggie method works for me. I know about the hanging part, just don't have a place to hang them. Yet. But I am working on that.

Awwww Ken, come on. You didn't feel a little sad for that poor violet????? I did. But then the saving grace IS another violet off your shelf! Room for one more!!!!!!! YAY!!!! Awwww, Just messin' with ya !!!! Rosie

OK, Rosie..."just in case," I'll remember. ;-)

Ken, I've seen photo's of baggies full of leaves clothes pinned to the shelf edge. I've also seen strings tied across windows (again) with clothes pins holding the baggies for leaf starting. Where there's a will, there's a way - just ask Rosie! LOL!

Ok,,,,ok,,,,ok. Anne,,,,,,I'll stick with just in case. LOL

And Ken I forgot to say there were a couple threads on this forum where folks showed how they pinned up or cascaded the baggies in windows. Heck,,,one even looked sort of like a valance! Rosie

So far all these approaches work. In my experience the fastest way to get babies is to put them in solo cups with soil, on a tray with a barely wet mat on a bottom, cover with a plastic dome - and stick them under a couple of T8s lights. Works like a charm, you start getting mouse ears poking in no time. Just keep a mat barely wet - this way the soil is not soggy, but the humidity is high. T8s can be a bit too high for light green leaves - so you will see some discoloration on mama leaves - but who cares. This way - they all hatch, the loss of the leaves is minimal. Of course if you start your own leaves - they come fast.

If you ordered leaves from a vendor - some will come a bit wilted, some will come bruised.Do not blame the vendor - this is the damage from being tossed in a mail. Sometimes the parcel looks like an elephant stepped on it.

If the leaf is wilted - recut it and wrap it up in a wet paper towel. It is better to rehydrate it slowly than soak in a water. If the leaf is bruised - it is better to cut the damaged area off - otherwise it will rot. If the bruised area is too large, sometimes it makes sense to sprinkle the bruise with cinnamon - and root the leaf without a dome. It will take longer - but with a lower humidity the bruise will dry out and the leaf will heal itself around the bruise.

That's a great tip about the bruised leaves, Irina, that I had not read before. Thank you!

You are welcome. Sometimes it helps to try to feel like a plant, think about what it likes and what it doesn't like. Sometimes a scratch needs a Band-Aid, and sometimes it heals better in the open...

Irina, half-broccoli.

Nice comments everybody. I appreciate them and am learning a lot. We had our first skiff of snow last night so I am getting ready to start enjoying my violets a little more. Just wish they'd grow faster so I had more to do with them to keep me busy. A watched pot never boils. And Rosie, I felt know qualms about the drowned violet - am happy to replace it! It wasn't my fault! :)

Think I'll try the soil in the baggie thing and see what happens.

About rooting leaves. Back in the 70's when I was rooting leaves by the millions (ok, ok it was only 1/2 million), I would use any container I could, mostly margarine, cottage cheese and other containers. Anything I could get my hands on that would hold soil and leaves. I did not dome them, they were under lights and next to my laundry area in the basement. I never had a leaf rot, die or anything else. I had babies and blooming plants in record time. I sold them to anyone who wanted them. Now the point of this is,,,,that is how I learned to do it and it worked very well.

Fast forward to present time. I started leaves the way I remembered doing it. This time no light set up, but I did everything else the same. And they died by the handfuls. I used a fan, I did everything others in this forum did (not the baggie thing though). I could not figure out WHY they kept dying. I finally decided to try the baggie thing. They kept dying. Rotting would be a better word. Then it occured to me I should not dampen the soil in the baggie. I started putting dry soil in the baggie and guess what???? Babies everywhere!!!! Leaves rooted beautifully. Now, I root EVERYTHING in baggies with dry soil. Works like a charm. I don't know what the difference is. I don't know why I have to use dry soil to be successful. OH, and figure this. I have a bunch of strep leaves in dry baggie soil and they are rooting beautifully also. Funny thing about the streps though, I have to open the baggies and literally wipe the sides of the baggie because they are soooooo incredibly moist! They are so wet that the baggie drips moisture down the inside like a rain forest! Where the heck does that come from? The strep leaf????? Remember I use dry soil !!! Where ever it comes from though, the point is,,,,they are rooting and every one of them has produced a baby plantlet. Now I am not taking the streps out of their little womb until they out grow the baggie! Then I will start leaving it open a little to acclimate the baby to the outside temp.

I have to say, I am more successful with the dry baggie method than doing it any other way. And yet years ago I would have never thought of doing it that way. hmmm, were baggies around in the 70's????

I also have a goldfish plant cutting rooting the same way, dry baggie method and it is rooting nicely!

I really don't know why I went into such detail,,,I guess the moral of the story is there are so many ways to do something that "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" You will find a method that works for your particular needs!

Good luck Ken, let us know how the baggies work for you! Rosie

I will Rosie! I'll try the dry method although I wonder if the climate makes any difference. We live in a desert with low humidity but I would imagine if they were sealed in a baggie that wouldn't affect things much. Is their no added moisture to your soil? As in bone dry? I moistened my last batch of leaves and domed them. They've done well although now that I have acclimated them to more air they seem to be at a standstill. Maybe adjusting. I used cinnamon on all the cut parts and have no rotting. I will try the dry soil next time I put down some extra leaves.

OH NO - Dry Soil in MI and Dry Soil in a desert - it is not the same. Air humidity in SE Michigan is between 50-70% year around. So - what Rosie thinks about as a dry soil is not really that dry. The humidity in her baggies comes from the moisture eavporating from the leaves and getting captured by the baggie. There is always a moisture loss - but it is much faster when it is super dry outside.

You can try Rosie's method - but you need to do some minimal premoisting of the soil. At least several drops of water per baggie.

That's what I thought. Thanks Irina. It's a dry 16 degrees here this am! Ken

Ken, when I said dry,,,,,I meant bone dry! I mixed my soil with perlite in an open pan and left it that way. I no longer bag the mix. It just sits in the pan in the house getting as dry as it can get. And when I need it, I use it right out of the pan. No I don't cover the pan either. If it got any drier it would be the Sahara Desert ! And I did try the couple drops of water per baggie at first. Yep they rotted !!! That is how I got to the idea of bone dry.

Maybe in your area you will need those drops. Try 2 of the same leaves, one with water drops and one bone dry like mine ! See what happens or see how fast they both root.

All of the methods are nothing but experimentation. And of course different parts of the country do need different methods. Just happens that bone dry works for me at this present time. I don't understand it. But it is the hand I have been dealt. Glad I found it though !

Good luck Ken, and let us know what happens ! Rosie

Fascinating Rosie! I will try a side by side experiment and see what happens.

Rosie ... did you run/work in a nursery in the 70's ???

Ahhhh, Aegis take a walk with me down Memory Lane a bit. I worked in several greenhouses and nurserys from the early 70's thru 1986. My last job from 1980 to 1987 was in a florist. No growing there. Really missed it, but learned a lot about everything they did for florals! Loved all those jobs!

Most favorite one was in Marsh Greenhouses as he was strictly african violets, streps, miniature begonias and stuff like that. But oh,,,,,those rows and rows of violets! If I found or had a violet he didn't, he would trade me one of his for it. Even swap ! He would propagate from his and get it going for sale and I had my choice of a new violet I didn't have yet !!!! And yes. He and I traded a lot ! Course that was when violets were sold for $1 in dime stores AND every violet had a tag, even the Rhapsodies !!!! ((nuff said moving on) Sadly as the violet craze started to vanish, Mr. Marsh struggled to keep his beloved violets going. He started raising spring bedding plants to offset the lack of money coming in from violets. Eventually he had to close. sigh. I loved those days. Rosie

Ken, interested to hear the end result of your experiment. Rosie

Speaking of dry soil, I noticed last night that several smaller pots were pretty dry and not taking up water from the new mat trays. One would think that a mat at the bottom of a tray and a mat laying over a plastic platform, both wet to the touch, would make no difference to a pot sitting on top. But apparently that is not so. I will have to watch over these shelves carefully to make sure none of the plants dries out too much. Perhaps it is just the result of having re-potted at the same time as placing them on the wicking trays - maybe they weren't wet enough to start the wicking process? (Although I had the wicks soaking in water while I was re-potting so those were wet to start.) Well, I've top watered the ones that seem to need it and we'll see what happens from here. Hoping this is just a hiccup.

But at the same time there were absolutely no dried out solo cups on the boot/plant tray mat - which is my old style of mat watering.

And to add to the potting leaves/soil moisture discussion, I am in Michigan like Rosie but I always use dampened soil in my k-cups for leaf starting. And then I dome the cups in a community tray under a light. There is often some condensation on the inside of the dome, which I wipe off if it gets too heavy. A little moisture on the plastic dome doesn't seem to hurt anything. I rarely have any leaf losses - unless they were mishandled before I got them planted (like the time I wrapped them in paper napkins because that was all I had when I was given them - and they were in that dry environment overnight. I lost most of those.)

Anne

Anne, because your new system is,,,,well,,,,new, do you think it would help to add one drop of dishwashing liquid to your water and mix very well to break any tension there may be with the mats? Or maybe even rinse all the mats in soapy water and then rinse well. Maybe there is just some coating on them that happened during manufacturing that isn't off yet?

I do know domed works for a lot of people. I guess it doesn't make a bit of difference in the method as long as it works, huh? All I know is I am finally able to grow babies from leaves! Yay!

Yeah, Anne,,,,,sadly I remember the paper napkin thing,,,sigh. BUT there is always the spring show!!!!! lol Rosie

Well, the new fabric could be a factor, Rosie - thanks for the thought. But I suspect because it was the random pot here and there that it was more my uneven watering efforts after re-potting. We'll see now that I've topped those off if they dry out again.

Anne, I re-read and looked at your photos again. What do you mean by "random pot here and there"? Did I miss something? Were you to mean that your pots should have been closer together? How can that happen? Or did I grossly not understand???? OH and another question. Did you leave wicks hanging out of the pot with this new system? Rosie

Anne -

I prewash mats. A friend of mine always presoaks wicks with drop of a dishwashing soap to break the wax used in twine or thread manufacturing process. I am too lazy - I just water the tray fll of freshly potted starters or leaves - and let them soak the water - after that I move them to the mats. Sometimes dry pots happen - I just take the to the sink and run some water through.

Thank you both, Rosie and Irina. To clarify: I did add a drop of dish soap to the wicks' soaking water while I was potting. And yes, Rosie - I did leave the wicks hanging out of the pot and in contact with the mats. No, I did not wash the mats on these new fangled trays before I used them. But it isn't that they are not taking up water; the mats are indeed evenly wet to the touch all over. It was only a pot here and there on different trays that was dry, not all pots or even most pots on any one tray. I really think I just did not water some of them quite enough after I re-potted in order to "start" the wicking process. I'm watching for more dry pots, but so far everything seems to be transferring moisture OK. I'll let you know if there are further problems.

I think it is an initial hassle. After you restart them - they will behave.

Anne,

Are you fertilizing the plants through the mats by adding fertilizer to the tray water? Just wondered how that worked. Thanks. Ken

Ahhhh, sounds like that may be the culprit Anne !!! Well, let us know how it works after you "restart" them. Good luck,,,,,,,,oh and I think I see another one I don't have! (teehee) Rosie

Ken, yes - I have been adding my fertilizer to the water I put in the trays and it has worked just fine (but I'll be watering with plain water for a couple months now after re-potting because of the fert in the potting mix.) I did find that washing the mat material a couple of times a year was a good idea to keep them free of any accumulated fertilizer salts. I just threw the mats in the washer with regular laundry detergent, then spread them back out (wet) in the trays.

Hello all!

I found "mysensation" av plant and bought 2 for $3.99 each. Anyone know how to care them? Is blooming right now with green flowers and would love for them to continue blooming for awhile.

Thank you.

Great score!!! Grow it like any other violet. And we have had some discussion on MySensation so if you go to the top of the page, click on african violets, and go to the search box, you may come up with lots more info! Good luck! Rosie

From my understanding, My Sensation is a typical Optimara African Violet.

The most basic care elements are water and light.

You must take great care with watering ... because it is very easy to over-water African Violets, which can lead to a quick death. Get a couple of plastic plant saucers (I get these at LOWES/Home Depot in the houseplant dept. for about 50 cents or so). Only water your African Violet when the soil is close to dry. You can either water from the top into the soil of the plants ... or you can put water into the plant saucer for the plant to absorb. In either case, give the plant about 1/2 hour to absorb as much water as it can hold, ... then DISCARD the extra water from the plant saucer. Letting the plant's soil become too wet will cause the plant roots to suffocate, and lead to the quick death of the plants.

Also, at first, water your plants with jugged Spring water or rain water. In the meantime, find out whether your local water supplier uses CHLORAMINE in their water processing. If they do, using tap water can kill your plant, as AV's are damaged by CHLORAMINE.

And ... to keep your AV's blooming, you will have to provide them with adequate LIGHT from a window (from about a foot away) ... or from an indoor lamp/fixture with a fluorescent bulb. When I first started successfully growing (and blooming) African Violets, I hung shop lights from the ceiling of what became my plant room. What I do now is to put a CFL bulbs in an inexpensive desk lamp ... and then focus the light on the plants (from around a foot away).

If you master the WATERING, you will keep your plants alive.

If you master the LIGHTING, you can keep your plants blooming for a while.

Eventually the blooming will die down, ... and the plants will take some time to regain their strength (blooming takes energy) for their next blooming cycle.

When you get to that point, ... come back to the forum and get some more assistance.

Thank you Rosie& aegis for the reply. Here they are purchased yesterday.

Sweetheart2015 ...

I have copied my response above to the latest MySensation thread in African Violets (and added photos) for better thread continuity ...

Good thinking Aegis! Boy we do get off on tangents, don't we????

Wow Sweetheart2015,,,,mine didn't look THAT good when I bought them! Nice! Rosie

The blossoms last forever. The plant on the top just started showing some browning - but the fowers probably would stay presentable for another month.

Thanks Irina. I'm Glad to know av flowers last that long.