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peggy_bishop_mcvay

Babies from seed!!

Peggy Bishop_McVay
14 years ago

I have little tenny tiny babies of all 3 (standard, mini, and trailers) Started from seed on October 8. I am officially hooked :o) can anyone advise me on about how long it will take them to get to a safer size... they are soooo small. I know they must have a few sets of leaves.. I am just excited and don't want to hurt them. Thanks for any advise.

Comments (5)

  • korina
    14 years ago

    Congratulations Av mom! You should leave them until they're large enough that you feel comfortable handling them. Thumbnail-size leaves or even larger; there's no rush.

  • Peggy Bishop_McVay
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thank you Korina! That is easy enough I can remember. Have an awsome week.

  • lathyrus_odoratus
    14 years ago

    I didn't know, either, and I kept looking for people's ideas on when. I'd read thinks like Korinas (which is good advice) and many others, but it wasn't working for me. The piece that helped me the most was:

    -Wait until you can tell which plant is which (if you only see leaves and can't tell which one forms which plant, it's too early)

    To that, I add the other advice about size - but I sort of mixed them together to give me a better description (I need specifics or I am lost). So, I combined Korina's advice with others: I don't separate them if: a) I am not comfortable handling them, b) they do not have at least 3 leaves that are thumbnail or larger, c) the plantlet has less than 5 or 6 leaves in total (more is fine).

    Out of necessity, I've broken those rules.

  • Christine
    14 years ago

    Congrats on your babies! Janet's Low-Tech Method For Starting African Violets From Seed (the method I used since I figured a nationally recognized hybridizer must know what she's doing) gives the following recommendation:

    "In 3-4 months when most of the seedlings are showing their first pair of true leaves, (the first pair you will see, called cotyledons, are not true leaves) it is time to start transplanting them into very small individual pots."

    I actually began transplanting the first ones that sprouted at around 2 months, but think Janet's and Korina's advice to let them get a bit bigger is smart - it was tricky planting the first ones since I felt like I had 10 left thumbs until I did a few transplants. Like Janet's, most of the instructions I found recommended transplanting at a fairly small size (unlike leaf babies).

    I found that dealing with seedlings was different (e.g., no mouse ears on strong stems) but in many ways easier than working with babies from leaf propagation. I had scattered the seeds fairly well and the babies were very distinct - there wasn't that mass of growth of several babies all jumbled together that is common with leaf propagation. No worries about separating a baby and having to try to get roots with it or finding (oops!) no roots: the seedlings each had their own root system (and some were surprisingly large).

    Good luck on raising beautiful plants!

  • Peggy Bishop_McVay
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thank you all for your advise! These are my first and will always be special. I don't want to "mess up" so I welcome all information. I check them every day and every day there are more to count! :o) Being this excited about them sprouting can only be a small amount of the excitement when I finally see them bloom! I will wait and watch until they are big enough to do anything with them. Again, thank you all!