"Linda W." wrote in message
om...
Hello ...

I posted here several weeks ago, asking about rooting an African
violet leaf from a plant that had suddenly stopped doing well.

The plant continued to not do well, and so I placed a leaf in water
and have had it in water since then. The leaf is now starting to show
tiny little fiber-looking strands -- very thin and, at this point,
only a fraction of an inch in length -- very slight.

What should I do at this point? Should I leave the leaf where it is?
Will the strands get longer? How will I know whether this is a leaf
that can actually begin a new plant? How will I know when to plant
it?

Linda W.

Allow the leaf to remain in the water until the roots on the leaf become
about a quarter inch long; plant the leaf in high humus soil, keeping the
soil moist/not wet; and place the pot in a warm, high light with no sun
area. Within a month or two, often longer (don't be impatient because it
takes time), plantlets will start coming up at the base of the leaf,
sometimes a single one but usually multiple. Allow the plantlet to grow to a
size where they can be handled and then divide and replant in individual
pots. BTW, the parent plant is now into its second phase of flowering since
I received it in May.

I started three leaves in water the middle of May and potted them in high
humus soil as soon as they showed quarter inch roots, which occurred around
the middle of June. One sent up a single plant that is now three inches
across and rapidly growing although the leaf is still attached: the second
has sent up multiple small plantlets that are still too small to handle with
the leaf still attached; and the third is still a single leaf that is just
sitting there.

This is a case of "What you see is what you get!" In most cases starting new
AV's from leaves is a winner.

John