Having even one indoor violet plant, over time the grower asks the question: how to propagate it, because breeding is so interesting. Any plant loses its former beauty with age, but it is so pleasant every year to admire the delicate flowers of a favorite variety. Knowing how violets propagate, it is not difficult to get a new outlet.
Methods of propagating violets: pros and cons
Depending on the experience in breeding senpolia, everyone can choose the method that suits him. It is useful to know all of them, because sometimes there is no choice at all, depending on the state of the mother plant.
Saintpaulia rooted leaf with kids
Leaflets
Any sturdy leaf without traces of disease and spoilage can be an excellent material for the vegetative propagation of the senpolia outlet. The optimal time is March, when there is no heat, and the day lengthens. But as a measure of emergency rescue, the method can be used almost year-round.
Pros:
- material is always at hand;
- a large exit of children: from one sheet to several dozen outlets;
- almost guaranteed result, subject to simple rules;
- can be carried out year-round.
Minuses:
- the best results are given by rooting in March;
- violation of the detention regime will lead to the death of both the sheet and the children;
- the minimum time for receiving children is two months.
Having gained experience on planting violets in a pot with a leaf, in the future it can be repeated as many times as you like, noting the additional nuances.
Cuttings, parts of the stem
This type of propagation is practically no different from leaf and is used when there is no whole and strong leaf on the plant. Therefore, they take a leaf stalk with a piece of the main vein or cut out the central part of the stem. The shank the longer, the better. Part of the stem is taken 1-1.5 cm long from the center, removing the crown (if it is in poor condition), as well as the entire lower part with roots.
Important! A very sharp knife is used for cuttings, and all sections are slightly wilted, and then treated with alcohol.
Part of the stem of the violet with the crown and young roots
Planting material is buried in the soil by 1-1.5 cm and covered with a transparent cap. In such a greenhouse in the next 2-3 weeks, viable parts of the violet will be able to produce roots. If you take a container with transparent walls for landing, soon the roots will be clearly distinguishable. Part of the stem, like the stalk, should give the children, which in 2-3 months can be carefully planted in separate pots.
Advantage: large parts have more vitality for growing young roots. Disadvantage: in the presence of some kind of fungal disease, there is practically no chance of rooting.
Flower stalk
Some varieties of violets, for example, chimeras, can be bred in large quantities only this way. Seeds and leaves do not carry a complete set of genes that allows you to maintain a unique shade of flowers and their shape, as well as leaves. To obtain clones, flower stalks are taken, rooting them in the same way as leaves.
The rooted part of the peduncle
Plus of the method: 100% preservation of all the features of a rare variety.
Disadvantage: extreme laboriousness of the technique and low survival of peduncles (an average of 1 out of 4-5 or less).
Seeds
The seeds of violets are very small, it is difficult to handle them because of this. On sale, they almost never occur. The main reason: a short germination period (up to four months). Therefore, the method is exclusively used by those who purposefully develop new varieties. Plus: you can get new shades of flowers by crossing violets with various characteristics.
Rooting violet leaf in water
You can root in the soil (2-3 weeks) or in water (about four weeks). Within 1-3 months after rooting, children appear. To maintain optimal humidity, a cup with a leaf is kept under a cap or in a greenhouse.
Rooting violets in water
How to root a violet from a leaf: preparation for germination
If the leaf lay for a long time (more than 5 hours), then it needs to be allowed to be saturated with water with a drop of potassium permanganate (2-3 hours). It is best to use leaves of 2-3 tiers of the outlet for reproduction. The stalk is left up to 2 cm long. If part of the sheet is used, then the cut is given 15 minutes. dry immediately by rubbing it with alcohol.
Optimal conditions
It is best to use a transparent plastic greenhouse with a lid. Once a day, the lid is opened for ventilation. If there are traces of damage on the sheet, then do not cover with a lid. Additional lighting is not necessary if you begin to work in the spring or summer.
How to grow a violet from a leaf at home in agroperlite
This relatively new method has several important advantages over rooting in water. In agroperlite, the roots grow the same as in the soil, which simplifies the adaptation process when transplanting into the soil. Agroperlite is sterile, breathable, and retains moisture well. It can be used solo, as well as mixed with vermiculite and peat. The stalk, on average, starts up roots after three weeks, after which it is 100% ready to plant it in the soil.
Germination of violets in agroperlite
Propagation of violets with a leaf at home step by step
It is possible to immerse a freshly cut leaf in the soil without hindrance, no preparation is required, it is only important to create suitable conditions for growing roots. Using root can speed up the process, but even without it, the chances of rooting are high.
The soil
In a glass (5 cm in diameter), drainage (sand, small expanded clay) is necessarily put to the bottom, and holes are also made for water drainage, through which it is best to water. The right ground for rooting is bought in a store or prepared by mixing vermiculite and perlite, peat, finely ground charcoal with fertile soil. The proportion of disintegrants is up to 30-50%. Optimum acidity pH = 5.5-6.5.
Note! Experienced gardeners recommend introducing a small amount of finely crushed eggshells.
Temperature, humidity, lighting
Violets can grow perfectly in the temperature range from 14 ° C to 29 ° C. The regime of 20-22 ° C is suitable for adult plants, and 24-26 ° C for rooted cuttings. A jump of more than 3 ° C per day already slows down development, and more than 6 ° C will make you freeze for a long time. Violets like moist air (above 60%), but they react poorly to drops of water on leaves and flowers. It is optimal to put the pot in an additional second pan filled with water, and keep the first one dry after watering.
Senpolis love the light, but scattered on the eastern and western windows or in the shade of larger plants.
The quality of the soil for planting the leaf
To obtain the soil of the desired friability and structure, components are introduced into it that increase air capacity and the ability to retain moisture: vermiculite, perlite, charcoal, sand, sphagnum moss. All of them do not upset the acid balance and do not change the bacterial composition for the worse.
Important! It is better to warm the finished soil in the oven to kill mold, disease and insects.
How to propagate a violet with a peduncle
As soon as the peduncle grows to its maximum height and its buds open, the flowers are carefully cut. The peduncle itself is cut as close as possible to the point of its growth from the outlet. A fork with 2-3 green leaves should remain. The lower end is immersed in the soil for violets and be sure to cover with a transparent cap from above, leaving in a warm place (20-22 ° C). Water the pot from the pipette very rarely and gently, since overmoistening is detrimental to the peduncle and its roots. Rooting takes 2-3 months.
Typical Germination Errors
A negative result is often the first time you try to breed a senpolia. Reasons for failure:
- Decay of the sheet. Most often it happens due to waterlogging, especially in winter. To accelerate rooting, the slice is dipped in root before immersion in the soil.
- Water in the cups for rooting is disinfected with activated charcoal.
- The rooted leaf became sluggish. It should be placed in a greenhouse and reduced by watering time.
- The sheet turned black. This happens due to excess moisture and sunburn. The pot needs to be cleaned in a greenhouse away from direct sunlight and dried.
Note! General rule: it is better to dry slightly than to fill the soil. When rooting in water, you should change it to clean every day, and wash the glass.
Violet transplant after germination
As soon as the rosettes of the children are formed, they are carefully separated and transplanted into new containers. The best time is autumn (September-October). Winter is the most inappropriate period. The next time the change of pot will take place in the spring (February-March).
How to determine the readiness of a plant for transplant
A signal for a transplant is the pot’s fullness with roots, as well as a white coating on the surface of the soil - mineral sediment. If the roots support the walls of the pot, peek out from the lower drainage holes, this is already a neglected case, a transplant is urgently needed. The goal is to change the soil to a new one, rich in nutrients. New roots grow from the part of the stem that is above the soil. Therefore, the plant is freed from the old lower leaves (if necessary), and the stem is slightly buried.
Children are separated from each other
Note! You can leave the pot the same. With an increase in capacity, flowering will not occur until the violet has mastered a new volume.
How to choose and prepare the soil for planting
Earth is suitable with an acidity of pH = 5.5-6.5. When choosing a ready-made substrate in a store, preference is given not to black, but to brown, rich in coarse-grained high-peat peat. Various disintegrants are mixed into it for a third of the volume: sand, charcoal, vermiculite, coconut fiber, perlite, sphagnum moss.
Humidity, temperature, lighting
After waiting until the soil dries up, the violet is taken out of the old pot, gently brushed off from the old soil. Long, old and rotten roots are removed. The bottom row of leaves is plucked off if it looks unattractive, given that this will delay flowering for at least a month.
The first two days after transplantation, watering is not performed to give time to survive the injuries of the roots. The pot is placed in a warm place (23-25 ° C). If the air is very dry (humidity 50% or less), then use a hotbed.
Important! Lighting requires 12 hours, so if the daylight is too short, it is advisable to organize a backlighting.
Propagation of violets by seeds
If the collector was lucky enough to meet on sale the seeds of senpolia, then grow varietal plants from them is not too difficult at home.
What cultivable seeds look like
It is visually impossible to distinguish germinating seeds from non-germinating ones, they are too small. Their color is from black to dark brown. The only benchmark for germination is the production date specified by the supplier.
Saintpaulia seeds
How to prepare seeds for planting in the soil
To distribute the seeds on the surface of the soil, they are dragee. Take a few tablets of activated carbon and push them into the dust. Then coal and seeds are mixed. Dripping a few drops of water into the mixture, mix gently. Small lumps should turn out - dragees with seeds inside.
Optimal conditions for seed germination
The decisive factor is temperature. At 20 ° C, seedlings will appear in three weeks, and at 25 ° C in two weeks. Sowing is carried out in a container on the surface of the soil, practically without deepening (you can slightly powder with fine clean sand). Humidify from a spray bottle, and then cover with a transparent lid or glass. The place is chosen bright, but without direct sun, a little shaded.
Senpolia sprouts
Rules for caring for young sprouts
In order for the seedlings to grow, but not to stretch, you need to lower the temperature to 17-18 ° C. Watering is carried out so that the soil is slightly moist, but not moist. Waterlogging can destroy all seedlings. Dive when forming the first real sheet into a larger container. After another 10 days, you can plant it in the first smallest pots (5-7 cm in diameter).
The picking of seedlings of senpolia
Growing senpolis at home is a very exciting process, fraught with a lot of interesting nuances. It may seem complicated, but the experience of how to propagate violets in different ways comes quickly, and the results are definitely worth the effort.
