African violets , Streptocarpussubg . Streptocarpellasect . Saintpaulia , are tender herbaceous perennial native to eastern Africa suited to out-of-door cultivation in USDA Hardiness Zones 11 and 12 and grow as houseplants elsewhere .
They have thick , velvety , green or variegated foliage topped by frilly , single or double peak in blue , orange , pinkish , over-embellished , reddened , snowy , or bi- and multicolor combinations . Rosette - stylus varieties are stocky with a unmarried crown .
The rosette types are available in different sizes . There are miniature varieties of less than eight inch wide , standard type that value eight to 16 inch wide , and large plant life that are more than 16 all-embracing at maturity .
Photo by Kristine Lofgren.
Trailing varieties have multiple crowns and a loose , cascading growth use .
OurAfrican violet rise guidehas all you ask to know to grow and care for your own .
This article talk over how to divide African violets for health , size direction , visual appeal , and to propagate fresh plants .
Photo by Kristine Lofgren.
What You’ll Learn
Why separate African Violets ?
How to Separate branch
Potting Up
Going Forward
allow ’s get started !
When we divide a plant , we either split an existing plant into one or more discussion section , known as “ sectionalisation ” or we sever offsets – offshoots from the parent industrial plant .
As an African violet matures , it bring out one or more clone of itself called first or puppy , which it feeds via the parent plant ’s mature root system .
An stolon is a baby plant . The percentage point where the stem link the beginning is called the crown . Once stem sprout from the crown , the puppy is ready for division .
Dividing African violets serves several intent :
have ’s regard each of these in more detail .
Keeping the Parent Plant Healthy
When a mature African violet bring on a clone of itself , part of its food aspiration is disport to nourish the stolon .
And when the fresh plant grows its own roots , the parent faces contest for food and body of water as they are growing in close proximity .
Separating a pup from a parent plant and pot it up individually start the parent to incur all available food in the potting soil without contest .
Propagation
An African violet is unlikely to grow “ true ” if it ’s turn from ejaculate because these plant are generally cross .
The only ways to replicate a best-loved African violet and ensure identical trait are by dividing or propagating folio cuttings .
Removing and potting up pups is a budget - friendly way to start up novel plant that are ringer of your favorite specimen .
Reduction of Size
An African violet with multiple offset may become too large for its stack .
In addition to compete for nutrients and piss , it may become rootbound and ineffectual to absorb nutrition from the soil .
Separating and removing pups can restore a parent to a realizable sizing for optimal care and feeding .
Restoration of Visual Appeal
A unmarried stem canker - way specimen has one crown from which a whorl of leave sprout , the signature shape of the typical African violet .
When it puts out outset , the result is a specimen with multiple crowns , the loss of the heavyset form , and a visually unappealing display .
The removal of offsets restores a single rosette focal head .
Cascading salmagundi have multiple crowns as part of their instinctive growth substance abuse , but do good from the sectionalisation of older crowns to make way for new growth .
Now , rent ’s learn how to carve up !
The best clip to remove an offset is when it has its own roots . It ’s quick when it is around three to four months old or when the leaves are at least dime- or nickel - sized .
If you have start out a sprout from a leaf cut , this age and foliage size are also appropriate benchmarks for separating it from the sure-enough parent leafage .
The best metre to divide African violets is just after flowering so that the plant ’s energy is aim towards rootage yield .
To be sure that roots have develop , you ’ll need to unpot the total plant .
Prepare to unpot by watering the specimen a few day before so the grunge is moist but not soggy .
drop off a around - abut dinner knife between the territory and the edge of the pot to loosen the substance , and ease the plant out of the pot .
Examine the soil below the pups for grounds of roots . A naval division is most likely to thrive when it has root attach to the dark-green stems and foliage .
If you are unable to split it with the ascendent attached , you’re able to repot and wait a bit longer , or dip the rootless pup into root endocrine before planting .
You may be able to gently pester an get-go ’s antecedent away from those of the parent . Otherwise , use sanitized scissors hold to sever the ancestor connecting the two .
Take care not to come off the tender young roots from the offset .
Lay the separated baby industrial plant aside and render the parent to its original container . Backfill with extra African violet potting soil as postulate .
Cascading types have multiple jacket and unaffixed , airy increment .
To further offset formation , you could remove large , older crowns by dividing them as above , or pinch off individual large , onetime folio .
A quick way of life to murder a substantial pup from a cascading or stem canker specie is to skitter the unpotting and simply slice through the crown at the pedestal of the stem clustering and lift the pup out of the pot .
This is a useful technique if you are in an office go under where take a mess is n’t feasible , and you desire to reduce a flora ’s size of it and/or ploughshare pups with colleagues .
Because it ’s probable that the pup wo n’t have intact antecedent , to propagate the offset , you ’ll want to dip the bottom of the lop crown into root hormone powder before plant as above .
An African reddish blue like a fairly cozy pot at all degree of its life-time . When transplanting an offset , a three - inch plastic or biodegradable seedling pot is a suitable size .
Fill the pot three quarters full of a tripping African reddish blue potting territory . Do not tamp it down . Instead , keep it loose and airy .
Alternatively , you may use a mix of adequate parts peat , perlite , and vermiculite .
Make a wide , shallow depression in the land .
commit the rooted crown on top of the depression . congeal it so that the undersides of the lowly leaves are just above the gage brim and the roots are luxate out sideways if possible . Make the hole deeper or shallower as involve .
Gently backfill with grease to hold it firmly in place at the appropriate profoundness .
Tamp gently around the little plant to secure it in an upright positioning .
If you incidentally break off the roots , dip the vagabond crownwork into root hormone powder and bury it about a quarter of an inch cryptical . It will in all probability grow newfangled tooth root .
Moisten the potting soil but do not intoxicate it , and be certain to avoid wetting the leaves .
Cover the pot with a cloche or plastic bag to increase the ambient humidness around the new industrial plant .
grade the pot in bright , indirect sunlight near a south- or E - facing window . invalidate direct sun through window glass that may singe the leaf and overheat the plant .
Take the cloche or bag off for a few time of day day by day to stave off oversaturation . Remove it when new foliage appears .
Provide a develop environment with a room temperature of 65 to 80 ° F with about 80 percent humidity if potential .
To increase the humidity , place pea plant gravel or small Oliver Stone in a single bed on a tray and fill the tray with just enough water system to cover them . Place the pot on top of the stones .
Water when the potting dirt dries out entirely . you may also use thebottom - lachrymation methodby fix the pot into a pan of water for about 20 minute to ” drink ” what it needs .
African violet are prostrate to rotting in oversaturated ground , so this proficiency is a worthwhile preventative standard .
Give your flora a month or more to become established before instituting a monthly regimen of fertilizing with a liquid plant food for thought diluted to a twenty-five percent strength .
Monitor for coarse houseplant pests likemealybugs , aphids , andspider mites , and the fungal condition , powdery mildew .
Act fleetly to address infestation and infection with an insecticide and fungicide like organic neem oil . Please note neem oil has a strong , garlicky odor .
As the baby plant grows , it will eventually demand a larger sess .
A good rule of thumb for container extract is to opt one that is one - third the size of the diameter or width of the folio dyad . For model , if the leaf rosette measures nine in across , a pot with a diameter of three inch is suitable .
And because African violets have shallow roots , it ’s best to choose a shallow throne rather than a rich one because the soil in a abstruse container remain wet for too long and can promote rot .
African violet do bestwhen repotted annuallyin fresh soil to remove fertilizer table salt buildup that inhibits water consumption . glassless ceramic and terra cotta pots are prostrate to saltiness buildup on the outside , so consider sugarcoat or plastic container when you postulate to go up in slew size .
If repotting litters the foliage with stain , do n’t wash it off , as the parting are very prone to fungous disease that proliferates in dampish condition . Instead , use an artist ’s paintbrush or microfiber gaberdine to embroil the debris away gently .
Showing to Best Advantage
Dividing countenance us to display our flora to the best reward , a prerequisite for nurseryman who show at garden gild event that require a undivided rosette variety to have only one top and a drag character , at least three .
bring dividing to your African violet care regime today and keep yours seem and feeling their good .
If you found this article helpful and want tolearn more about African violets , we advocate the pursual :
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