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How can I propagate or repot my African violets?
African violets can be repotted quite easily. In fact, if you've had it for a while, you'll notice that as it grows, the neck or stem of the plant gets taller and taller and really grows up over the surface of the pot. You can take those and remove them from the pot, cut away any extra soil around the outside, and reset the plant down lower so that the lowest leaf on the stem is about at the soil level. Sometimes that means cutting a little bit off the bottom of the root or putting it in a little bit larger pot if you need to. But, generally speaking, we don't like to put African violets in too large a pot. It just creates problems for them in terms of overwatering. Re-set it down with fresh soil. You can put that fresh soil around the neck and it will be fine to take off and continue growing well.
They are also easy to propagate from leaf cuttings. Simply break a leaf off and set the broken end down in just a quarter of an inch under some moist potting soil. If you want to use potting soil, that's fine, but you can also use fresh perlite or vermiculite.
Put it in a moist chamber. You can use a clear plastic bag over the pot or even a clear plastic top from a cookie or cake container.
New plants will start to form at the base. That's why we don't want to shove that leaf down into the soil too deeply, because it's right at the base where the new plants will appear. Then you simply cut the layers as they root and re-pot them up and you've got several new plants to go from an old one. If you know someone who has an African violet that you're really fond of, you can ask for just simply one leaf. Take it home and do that kind of cutting and it will be just fine.
For more information on growing African violets, The First Austin African Violet Society has regular meetings and two shows/sales a year. Find out more under Zilker Botanical Garden's club and event listings.Related Episodes
