Monday, July 9, 2012

Ack!

I just watched what was probably one of the worst videos about African Violet propagation that I've ever seen.  I'm glad that a young person is in love with our plants but I hope that he learns some better tricks than what he shows in his video.


Here's my comment that I replied with:

Thanks for your enthusiasm! We need more younger people involved in the hobby!  I have a few pointers. 1/ You don't need to use rooting hormone.  AV leaves are prolific in production without it, so you're wasting your money.  2/ While some varieties are very slow to produce babies, most will have "mouse ears" poking up within 6 - 8 weeks if they're put down into a very small pot.  Think 3 oz Dixie cup or smaller.  You also need to separate the babies so they grow better! And I'm out of space!

I ran out of space on YouTube's space but I also wanted to say that watering a leaf that frequently will probably rot it.  You also do NOT want to tamp the soil down like he did.  You need to leave space for the new roots to grow and for the baby(ies) to make their way up through.  Even better than using straight African Violet soil is to mix it with perlite (50/50 is good) so it's not so heavy.

I couldn't believe the babies that he showed that had been there for a year and were growing up in the original pot as the momma leaf.  Those babies would look so much better if they'd been separated out months ago!

And now I'm off my soapbox.  Just remember that not everything on the internet is the best advice.  m3rma1d makes excellent videos with great advice on how to care for your African Violets and I highly recommend her over just about anyone else out there!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Richter auction... MINE! :D

YAY!  I just won an auction for Richter's Chenille!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261058080719?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649&autorefresh=true

I lost several of the Richter babies that I had and will be getting replacements next week of all except for Green Dawn.  That's the only one that I have to find out of the Richter hybrids that are known to still be available.  So close to having them all!