Three Different Methods Of Propagating African Violets
There are three different methods of propagating African violets – by offsets or divisions, by leaf cuttings, and by seed. The division method is generally practiced when plants become crowded through the development of many crowns.
Young plants usually develop only one crown, which gives them a symmetrical arrangement of the leaves and the greatest overall display of beauty. When two or three years old, however, they develop many crowns and so take on a rather asymmetrical and crowded appearance. It is then time to divide these crowns, each with its own root system, and to plant each in a new container.
Some growers claim that African violets cannot be successfully divided. Many others, however, will testify that they have had excellent results, and, as a matter of fact, a good many very successful growers divide their plants every year or two so as to keep them to a single crown. Probably most growers’ troubles with this method are due to the fact that too many roots are broken off in the dividing process, leaving the new plant with an insufficient root system. Newly divided plants, too, should not be watered as heavily as established ones.
By far the most common method of propagation, however, is by leaf cuttings. Because the saintpaulia is a non-branching plant, this is the only vegetative means of propagation besides division of the crowns.
There are many different techniques of rooting leaf cuttings, all of them satisfactory, though some are quicker than others. One method is by using a rooting mixture consisting of half good mellow soil and half sand; another is by using pure sand. In either of these methods the leaf stems or petioles are inserted at a slightly slanting angle.
Many growers have excellent results rooting cuttings in plain water. An ordinary water glass or jar is covered with a piece of cardboard or wax paper, and a hole is punched through this cover for each leaf petiole; the average size drinking glass accommodates about four cuttings. The petioles are thus kept constantly in the water while the leaf blades are kept dry. The water may need replenishing as it is used up or evaporates. This is considered the quickest method of rooting suintpaulia cuttings.
I have known some growers to root cuttings successfully by cutting off all but about 1/4 inch of the petiole and placing this and part of the leaf blade in an ordinary coaster filled with water. The part of the leaf lying in water will not rot as long as the cutting is not placed in direct sunlight.
Lots of topics and articles can be found at plant-care.com
This entry was posted on Saturday, February 26th, 2011 at 2:36 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.