Three Ways to Propagate African Violets
by
Jeanne Grunert
(IC: blogger)
African violets are easy-care, low maintenance house plants that rewards their owners with bountiful blooms. Using these three propagation methods, you can grow new plants from your existing African violets quickly and easily.
Start with healthy plants. Healthy African violets have dark green, blemish-free leaves and a robust, symmetrical appearance.
The easiest method of propagating African violets is to immerse a leaf cutting in water. Select a healthy leaf with a long stem. With a sharp pair of scissors, snip the leaf at an angle. Take a clean glass, fill it with water, and place a piece of aluminum foil over the top. Cut a small slit and insert the leaf into the water. The glass enables you to see the roots developing. Roots look like small, translucent threads. When the cutting has several roots, you can transplant it into a pot with soil.
The second method of propagating African violets also uses a leaf cutting, but it is inserted into soil rather than water. Fill a small, clean pot with sterile potting soil. Snip the leaf cutting. Roll the edge of the cut stem in rooting hormone, a powder that encourages the cutting to root. Insert the powdered end into the soil. Water it well. Insert the pot into a clear plastic bag and place it on a windowsill. Water as needed. In a few weeks, little leaves will develop as shown in my photo above. This tells you that your cutting has rooted properly.
Some African violets, especially bicolored flower colors, do not produce the same flower color from leaf cuttings. To propagate new plants with the same flower color as on the bicolored parent plant, you will need to wait until a second crown, also called a daughter plant, had developed. This looks like a second side plant growing in the pot. Remove the entire plant from the pot and gently separate the daughter plant from the parent. Replant both in fresh sterile potting soil and clean pots; water well.
African violets can also be grown from seeds, but in order to propagate them from seeds, you will need a lot of patience. It can take up to a month for African violet seeds to germinate!
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Published March 2nd, 2015 1:36 PM
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3 of 4 comments
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Douglas Hunt on Mar 03, 2015Great advice.
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Caroline on Mar 03, 2015I love African Violets but I can never get them to re-bloom! Do you have any tips?
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