Making new plants from your african violets

I really love house plants.  And african violets are so pretty!  I've got quite a few.  Some people are scared to have house plants or think they "kill" them but it's not a hard task to keep plants alive and blooming.  You just need to keep them happy-water and the right temperature.  Easy peasy!

For african violets, they like warm temps, sun and need a small amount of water about once a week.  You can keep them on a sunny window sil in the warmer months and near a heat source in the colder months.
They bloom a few times a year.  They usually come in pink, white or purple.  The flowers are so pretty!

African violets are also very easy to reproduce.  They take a while but you won't be disappointed.  To make new plants from your current plant you will need a few small containers (pots or even small cups) with good soil, a sunny place and remember to water them weekly.

Pinch off one of your current leaves close to the base of the plant.  Each leaf will eventually produce it's own plant.  So, for starters, maybe just do a few leaves.  Each leaf needs it's own container or enough room in a larger container.  This way you aren't trying to untangle a mess of small plants when you re-pot them.

Stick the leaf in the soil far enough that it doesn't fall out.  Make sure to keep it covered in soil and water once a week.  If your leaf falls over, bends or dies, it probably means it's not in the soil deep enough, you didn't water it enough or it's too cold.  It's ok, just try again.

It'll take a good couple months, but eventually you'll see teeny tiny little leaves sprouting at the base of your original leaf.  This is good!  Keep watering.  They will quickly multiply and get bigger.  When the leaves get to be the size of dimes,  you can pinch off your original leaf so the new plant can focus it's energy on growing.  You can then repot the original leaf to grow another plant or just toss it.

Your plant shouldn't  'overflow' the edgs of your pot so once your new plants leaves are the size of quarters, you need to make sure it has ample room to grow.  A bigger pot may be necessary.  Carefully transplant the whole new plant into a larger container.  Keep watering weekly and keep in the sun! 

Here are some pictures of the process.  I don't currently have any of small sprouting plants but will be able to add some in the next month or so!  They are out of order....sorry.....i'm still technlogically stupid sometimes ;)




This is one of my full grown "old" purple violets.





This is one of  my "old" pink "mother plants" 





This is what my new plants look like after about 9 months.  They won't produce flowers for a while yet, but they are growing strong!  They will need bigger pots pretty soon!



Another plant that is less than a year old

This is what a new plant looks like after about 4 months.  it's about time to re-pot this into a bigger container.

This is what the beginning of the process looks like when cultivating new plants out of leaves.

Here is one of the new plants about 6 weeks in....little leaves!