A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Starting african violets from leaves 101 part B

Robert..Great job! I have copied all of the instructions and photos, I am not going to take leaves from my only plant yet, since I will be going to mom's right after Valentines day and she is giving me plants and leaves...I will do them all when I get back. Besides I will be gone for 5 days and don't want to leave them unattended for that many days.

Thanks Comfrey. My impatient, tortured mind wouldn't be able to stand that either. Please don't forget to post some pics when you do yours.

You two are too funny.

Comfrey, I force myself to only go into my plant room to work with the violets once a week. So, mine go a week without my watching them. Otherwise, I would go crazy looking at them several times a day.

My thoughts about starting leaf cuttings is that right after I get back from my moms I will be setting up my plant/seed starting room and I can use this "perfect" environment to start my new plants and hopefully be more successful. I have limited space in the main part of my house and it is old and drafty...cactus take up most of the window space, LOL I did remove one cactus to be able to place my av on the window sill..So correct me if I am wrong. Mainly I am concerned that DH might do something harmful to my cuttings while I am gone, he all ready says there are toooooo many plants in the house and he is really going to flip when I drag more home from my moms.

My husband only made noise for the first 100 or so...

Oh..that is good to know..That after a certain point they quit making noise. Well I brought home a new cactus today...Yep I heard noise, I just ignored the noise and found a space to place the new cacti And of course I will post pictures when I start mine. I bought perlite today & potting soil and also some of those little Dixie cup things like bathroom cups..I think they are 3 oz...Those will work right? Ok..I am babbling

They most certainly will...are they the plastic ones, or the paper? Paper will degrade rather quickly.

I find it much easier to bring plants home and mix them in while he's at work, or out with friends...

Yes they are the plastic ones, oh and how many holes should I make in the bottoms of those cups. DH works 3 days a week, so I always try to plan things on those days more then any other days

One medium ( the size of a pencil), or two small(the size of a bb)...I like to heat a big needle and then melt the holes.

If I could just jump into this discussion ... the egg cartons work great and the cardboard does just as good a job. I have 9 mini violets growing in teacups. Several in different other planters and I'm gathering the items needed to do a mini in a terrarium. I placed gravel in the bottom of teacups for drainage and left the violets in their original pots. I stuffed green moss in between the tea cup and pot to avoid the empty space look. It also helps with moisture. Unless you use stoneware (as opposed to China) the cup will shatter when you try to drill it. AV's ... aren't they beautiful? My favorite indoor flower. Best of luck! Andi

We finally got a digital camera.. Yayyyyyyy now I can post pics too! As promised here is a picture of my baby violets. I transfered them into these pots a couple of weeks ago. Thye are doing Great! Sorry that the image is a little blurry. I am still trying to learn how to use this thing. It has to many buttons.

Andi, thanks for your input! Welcome to the forum.

Looking good Shirl!

Thanks Triss!

I recently 5/09 started trying to start some leaves, they are getting black-ish spots on some of the leaves. what am I doing wrong. Here is a pic...Please help!

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Tonya, Is that straight soil they are in? No perlite?

I didn't find this thread until after I planted, but...yes. Should I repot with perlite?

I would cuz that looks to be a very thick medium. They can take quite a long time to get babies also.

I know I am in for a wait for the babies...I was wondering about the black spots on the leaves. I will try to get some perlite tomorrow.

The one in the middle front and right front looks like rot starting to me.

I wish I had seen this post earlier. I started my own cutting in a pudding cup, but used regular potting soil with perlite in it. I need to make some kind of green house to help it grow. This is my first attempt, so hopefully it will work.

If you haven't lost your leaves...You can repot the leaves and start over.

Here's a picture of some of my babies

Awesome job! What a beautiful varigated baby.

Thank You...I am kind of fond of the varigated foliage and it doesn't matter what color the flower might be if the foliage is variagated, So far I have only standards, but I am sure I will get some semi mini and mini varities, maybe even the trailers also.

Me too! My last order was all semi's and mini's! I am VERY happy with several of them.