african violet propagation
African Violet Propagation
The following article will take you through the steps of the ways in which African Violet propagation can be carried out and how best to achieve it. Continue reading for more details.
- Choose a leaf that has reached its maturity, but is not completely spent. For this, choose a leaf from the 3rd or 4rth layer and one that has reached its maximum size.
- Pluck the leaf from the plant and get rid of the stub if there is any.
- Make sure the stem is long. Cut the base of the stem so that it is at a slanting angle. This will allow for a greater area of propagation.
- Take a container that is not transparent. A transparent container will make the plant roots curl in the direction of the sunlight and make for an uneven growth style.
- Anything that is opaque or semi-translucent will do. Colored glass jars have been known to work best for this method.
- Take a colored jar and fill it with water. Then cover with an aluminum foil.
- Pierce a small hole in the foil and push the leaf stem through it so that the leaf rests on top of the foil. The stem needs to just about touch the water and not more.
- Check to see the water level everyday. And make sure that the stem base has enough water supply.
- It will take about 6-12weeks for more leaves to show. Once they do, you'll notice a cluster of these at the base stem. That is the time you can transfer them to a different medium.
- Pluck a leaf using the same method as that used in the earlier method.
- Make a medium of soil, and mix vermiculite, fertilizers, perlite, peat or specialized potting mix in it. Water this mixture.
- Plant the leaf stem in this medium and make sure that the leaf is above the surface of this mix.
- One can place a support for the leaf to ensure that it does not slump.
- If the leaves begin to shrivel up, you'll need to mix more perlite in the compost so that the acidity of the soil is reduced.
- Moisten the mix and let the leaf stay.
- Small roots will begin to appear and in a period of 5-12 weeks new plantlets can be seen at the base.
- During this time, make sure that the leaf gets enough sunlight, water, and humidity.
- After the leaves are approximately 2 cm in size, remove and plant separately.