Before attempting propagation, consider whether or not you have the room for more violets. Consider it carefully for maybe a minute and no matter whether or not you have enough room, do it any way. This is the most fun part of having the African violets. Give them away if you don't have room, get a bigger setup, sell them, but try propagating them. It is just fun.
There are two ways to propagate African violets. By cuttings and by seed. Nearly all plants can be propagated by cuttings and violets are no exception. Now days this is called cloning though the act of cloning is something different involving petri dishes, a few tissue cells, hormones and sterile conditions. The results are basically the same...a plant genetically identical to the parent which lives on it's own. This asexual propagation is a reliable way to get another plant or plants that are exactly like the parent. It does occasionally happen that a sport or spontaneous mutation occurs in the offspring that may lead to a new color or form of flower or leaf which then become a new variety. Sexual reproduction, which involves crossing pollen from one flower to another or back to itself, produces seeds and seedlings with the characteristics of both parents and is the preferred way by hybridizers to come up with new varieties. It's not a difficult process and is one I will discuss in a later post.
There are a few types of cuttings we can get from an African violet plant. A crown cutting, leaf cutting, and a sucker. As African violets age and the older leaves die, they can get quite a long stem with just a clump of leaves and blooms at the top. The crown can be cut off and rooted, the remaining stump will usually put out more crowns which can then be removed for rooting more plants. Leaf cuttings are more of the norm. A removed, healthy leaf can produce roots and any where from one to a dozen little plantlets which can be separated with a little roots attached and potted up to keep growing. Nearly all the African violets produce suckers. These are little plant like things that form in the juncture between the leaf and the stem. This is also where blossoms form. So, if the plant is producing suckers, it usually is not producing blossoms or very few of them. It is better to remove them and they can be treated like a leaf and rooted. These produce plants quicker than leaves.
The actual process of forming roots depends on the plant hormone auxin. It is a substance produced in the leaves which causes leaves and stems to bend toward the light. It also stimulates roots to grow along stems if the part gets separated from the plant. This happens naturally and is one way plants can reproduce in the "wild". What we do in this process are things to ensure the success of the process.
What you will need is a rooting media. I like to use 1/2 perlite and 1/2 vermiculite, or 3/4s perlite and 1/4 sterile potting soil. You can use just straight potting soil, but results may be disappointing. The humidity needs to be kept high during the rooting process so some way is needed to achieve this. I like to use the plastic clam shell type things that bakery products come packed in. The lid can be closed, there is enough room on the bottom portion for an inch or so of media, and it is clear so the leaves get light. One can plant the leaf in a single plastic cup, with holes for drainage and put an ordinary drinking glass over it. Anyway you can think of is acceptable if it can provide room for soil, room for the upright leaf, and increase the humidity without blocking light. Now on to the nitty gritty of actually doing this.
I will start with leaves because that is the most common way of propagating violets. First, remove a healthy, actively growing leaf. Take it from a middle row of leaves if possible because these will root the fastest. If not, take one of the outer rows as long as it looks healthy. You can either use a sharp knife to cut it or keep bending it to one side until it snaps. Once the leaf is removed, take a sharp knife and cut the end of the stem at an angle. This is to create more surface area for roots to form. The next step is an individual choice. One can purchase powdered or liquid rooting hormone which contains auxin and a fungicide to prevent rot and often speeds the rooting process after the leaf is stuck in rooting media. Simply dip the cut end in water, then in the powder, make a hole in the media with a pencil, stick the stem in, firm the media around it so it can stand upright on its own and follow the instructions for the next step. Or, one can stick the stem in the media without the rooting powder. If one likes the idea of speeding the process up, but not use a fungicide, one can make a natural rooting liquid from willow twigs. Willows contain an enormous amount of auxin. It aids them in populating the world with willow. If branches break off, they need only contact soil and they often take root and start growing. A rooting solution can be made by simmering willow twigs in water for a few hours. Let the solution cool and use it to dip the stems before sticking in the media. Another way to root the leaf is to do so in a cup with tap water. 1/2" or so of water in the bottom of a plastic cup deep enough to support the leaf upright in the cup. Change the water every few days because sometimes it gets smelly. Rooting powder is not used for this method. As soon as the roots form about 1/2", it is time to pot them up in soil. Going too long in the water will make the roots "water" roots and the leaf will have a difficult time adjusting to growing in soil. If you are using several varieties of leaves, figure out someway of keeping track which ones you have in the propagating box. I make up a chart and write Row 1 starting from the left and write down from top to bottom of the row the variety of each leaf. Row 2, etc. After filling the propagating box or little pot, close the lid or put the glass over it. The rooting media should be very moist, but not water logged. I open the lid every day for a minute or two to allow air circulation as this reduces the incidence of molds and rots on the leaves. Check the moisture of the media and if it seems dry, add more water. There is no need to use fertilizer at this point because the leaves can't take it in until they have roots. Not every leaf will accept this treatment and some may die. Remove any that are turning soft and mushy or brown because it could cause rotting in the others. After about 2 weeks, little roots should start to grow from the bottom of the stem. You can tell by gently tugging on the leaf. If there is resistance, there are often roots. Remove one or two to check the root progress and if they have roots, check all the rest. Plant them in their own pots when they show 1/2" roots. It is a good idea to provide higher humidity during this process of growing on their own, at least for the first couple of days. I grow on capillary matting so if they are on a tray, the humidity is higher around them.This is when they can receive some fertilizer, about 1/4 strength. once a week. If they are growing with other violets in a capillary matting tray, whatever the others are getting seems to be fine.
Now comes the exciting part. Depending on the leaf, the variety, how old the leaf was when on the plant, the leaf will start producing plantlets. Eventually, you will see little leaves coming up through the media. This may take another 2-4 weeks. There will be anywhere from one to several plants. I've had as many as 20 on some leaves. Let them continue growing until the little guys have at least 4 leaves. You do not have to wait for all of them to get to the point. I remove the leaf from it's pot and remove the plants ready to be on their own and then stick the others still attached to the leaf and the leaf back in it's pot. I continue with this process until all the little plants are removed. If the parent leaf still looks healthy, I pot it back up in fresh soil and let it produce another crop of plants. This can be done as many times as the leaf remains healthy. When removing the little plants, try gently separating them from each other and the parent leaf, by hand. Or you can use a sharp knife to cut it. Whatever method, try to get some roots to come with the little plant. If a plant becomes separated from the leaf without any roots, treat it like a leaf to be rooted and put in in the propagation box, only allowing the crown to be either just touching the media or only very slightly buried.
Crown cuttings can be done the same way, cutting the crown off with about 2" of stem and treating it like a leaf. It often roots very quickly because it has many leaves producing the auxin. Cut the remaining stem down to about an inch above the soil and often it will produce many crowns to replace the missing one. Choose one to be the new crown and remove and put in the propagating box any others.
Suckers are the bane of blooming African violets and most varieties produce at least one or two and some several at a time. It is all part of the grooming process to remove these. If you are not familiar with which is a sucker and which is a blossom, study the plant until you can tell. A blossom will have the little immature bud visible and a sucker will not. If in doubt, let it grow bigger until you discern the difference. I like to let the suckers get to 4 leaves before I remove them for propagating. If you just want to remove them for grooming, don't wait that long because the risk is run that it will deform the shape of the violet if the sucker gets big. Carefully, find where the base of the sucker is where it is attached to the leaf and stem. Very carefully, insert something pointed like a pencil, toothpick, bamboo skewer, or the tip of a sharp knife, into the base and gently, begin to pry the sucker loose. Sometimes they snap right off intact and other times they disintegrate into separate little leaves. Some of this is skill, some of it is luck. Take the ones that are intact and add them to the propagating box like the little plants that didn't have any roots when it was removed from the leaf and they will very quickly produce a new plant.
Buying leaves from hybridizers and growers on line and then propagating them are an easy way to add to your collection without the cost of a mature plant or the shipping cost of the heavier plants. And it's FUN!
