Propagating African Violets Through Leaf Cuttings
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By Agnes Farside
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Over the years, I have grown many different species of African violets. These lovely plants produce beautiful flowers and are not very hard to care for. Most people new to gardening, shy-off from growing them as they may have tried in the past and failed, but with a little patience and the right care, anyone can successfully grow African violets. Once you have one successful plant, it is easy to get more by simply propagating the plant through leaf cuttings. Below are some instructions on how to propagate cut leaves from African violets.
First, you will need an African violet plant, a water glass or small water can, sphagnum moss, a container two to four inches deep with holes drilled in the bottom, a five-gallon bucket, and a growing medium (mixture of peat moss and perlite, or you can use clean, coarse sand). In order to insure success, the peat moss and perlite should be the finest grades available. The container can be wood, metal, or plastic. I find the oblong plastic growing trays (with a cover), that a person can purchase at gardening shops work the best.
In the five-gallon bucket mix water with the growing medium so that the medium is thoroughly wet. Cover the holes in the growing container with sphagnum moss and pour the medium into it, allowing the excess water to drain through the holes. If you have the growing tray with the cover, use the cover as a receptacle to catch the run-off water.
Remove five or six healthy leaves, with petioles, from the African violet plant by snapping them off at the stem. Place the cut leaves, petioles side down, in the tray of growing medium. The base of each leaf blade should just be touching the growing medium. To ensure that the leaves have good contact with the growing medium, water again and water as needed to keep medium moist. For propagation to be successful, the temperature should be kept at 70 degrees Fahrenheit, there should be high humidity, and low or medium light.
You should start seeing roots and small leaves after three to four weeks, and when there is about three of four leaves, four to six months, the plants can be put in their own pots. To do this first loosen the medium around the plant with a toothpick or a swizzle stick, which is what I like to use and gently use the stick to lift the plant from the medium. Carefully put the small plant in its new pot in prepared soil.
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Author Bio Box: Agnes Farside
 Please visit the link below and read some of my other articles. Thank you.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/110407/agnes_farside.html
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