Thats AMAZING you have so many leaf cuttings on the go all being propagated :-) I think its so wonderful that you can get beautiful whole plants from the leaves :-) and WOWSERS at the STUNNING flowers on your black Streptocarpus 'Black Magic', such a beauty :-) thanks so much for sharing Rachel and sending you tons of love and heaps of Plant power from Waterford to Wexford and have a BRILLIANT Wednesday ahead today XXXXX
Very interesting video. You know, I wasn't aware of Streptocarpus until I came across your videos. :) Maybe you remember that I told you that I got three Primulas one of which had rotted away almost completely. It has survived and has a whole bunch of new leaves. :)
Hi Rachel and thank you so much for the wonderful video, is great that you had plants in different stages is all I wanted to see, now I have a much better idea and not so scared I won't know what to do next. The amount of time you had them in the sealed container, did you need to water them at all? If yes how you did that? Because my container is much smaller and the amount of soil is also less than yours is going to dry more than one time until is time to move them to the second stage. Do you think after I water them from the bottom I should lead open for a day until the surface will dry a bit? Do you think the little plantlets will suffer if they aren't covered and not have humidity for their little leaves? Thank you again for all your help!
I never water the container, Corina, after the first time. I would not be afraid to water the soil though, if needs be. African violets need to be watered from below but streps do not. If there is a lot of moisture and dripping then leave the lid off. Otherwise I wouldn't bother. Hope this helps.
Great information. How do you feel about dividing them, pros and cons? I'd never heard of this as an option until a year ago. I tried it and it worked in that I ended up with more plants than I started with. I've given most away now as I concentrate on different types of plants. But I'm curious as to your views. What's your main motivations for taking the long road from leaf cuttings? I just didn't have the patience : ) The black Strep is stunning!! I had a very dark purple nearly black slim flowered one once, but not as dark as that. I have a love/not love relationship with Streps as I love the flowers but dislike the long furry leaves. So they get bought and then given away, ha ha!! I've managed to not buy any for a good while now, I may be finally be cured ; ) Jennifer
Hi Jennifer. Last year I experimented with dividing streps for the first time. I found that the resultant plants were a lot less floriferous, lacking the vigour of the newly propagated plantlets.
Thanks for this video. I'm also trying to propagate streptocarpus by leaf cuttings. Two cuttings became brown and seem to be drying/rotting. The biggest one is still ok, but still no plantlets. And now as I looked for my notes I see I forgot to write down when I planted them! I'm so mad at myself.
Yes, rotting is the biggest danger and it can happen. I prefer to cut my leaves in largish pieces as the smaller the piece the more likely they are to rot. Now is the best time to propagate. Winter is always more tricky. Good luck.
Wow! Dividing a too big strepto, half finished, and decided to look up what I was doing. Had no idea. I'll try a more serious approach with the rest... And look for a box to keep them moist. Cheers from Western Canada.
+Gardening at Douentza Hi Rachel sorry for my late reply. I wish I was in the EU but sadly I am in Canada. I must see if I can find some on this side of the pond. (Atlantic Ocean) thanks so much.
There are lots of tropicals and subtropicals that cannot be left outdoors here in Ireland. I use a lot in the garden in summer and then dig them up in autumn and overwinter in a frost free greenhouse (5 degree minimum). Anything that needs a higher temperature (10 degree minimum) needs to come into the house.
I checked it again. The two smaller cuttings were rotten and I threw them away. The biggest one grew roots (some of them straight up, out of the media), but seems to be getting brow at the base, so I will have to wait and see. No plantlets. I guess it's too late to try to make it again. It would take 3 months for new plants to grow, and the summer would be over. Maybe next year in February?
Strange that the roots are coming out of the media. Plantlets may form yet. Sometimes the parent leaf rots away and can be gently removed but if you have roots the babies may still come. I think June is the best time to propagate so don't be afraid to go again if in doubt.
Gardening at Douentza Thanks, Rachel! I will try again. That was a leaf of the streptocarpus Cinnamon. I will try with the Good Mood too. As soil I tried a mix of peat and perlite. I saw in the internet that some people use a mix of perlite and vermiculite (nothing else), and they sterilize it in the microwave. Would that work? Is the chance of mold any smaller?
There are lots of different mixes. The difficulty with this kind of mix is transferring the plantlet after it has put its roots down in the perlite/vermiculite. It is harder to transition it to peat. But you should experiment and find what works best for you!
Thats AMAZING you have so many leaf cuttings on the go all being propagated :-) I think its so wonderful that you can get beautiful whole plants from the leaves :-) and WOWSERS at the STUNNING flowers on your black Streptocarpus 'Black Magic', such a beauty :-) thanks so much for sharing Rachel and sending you tons of love and heaps of Plant power from Waterford to Wexford and have a BRILLIANT Wednesday ahead today XXXXX
Thank you, Lyn. Yes, I love the black one too :)
Very interesting video. You know, I wasn't aware of Streptocarpus until I came across your videos. :)
Maybe you remember that I told you that I got three Primulas one of which had rotted away almost completely. It has survived and has a whole bunch of new leaves. :)
That's great news about your primulas. I remember well.
Hi Rachel and thank you so much for the wonderful video, is great that you had plants in different stages is all I wanted to see, now I have a much better idea and not so scared I won't know what to do next.
The amount of time you had them in the sealed container, did you need to water them at all? If yes how you did that? Because my container is much smaller and the amount of soil is also less than yours is going to dry more than one time until is time to move them to the second stage.
Do you think after I water them from the bottom I should lead open for a day until the surface will dry a bit? Do you think the little plantlets will suffer if they aren't covered and not have humidity for their little leaves?
Thank you again for all your help!
I never water the container, Corina, after the first time. I would not be afraid to water the soil though, if needs be. African violets need to be watered from below but streps do not. If there is a lot of moisture and dripping then leave the lid off. Otherwise I wouldn't bother. Hope this helps.
Great information. How do you feel about dividing them, pros and cons? I'd never heard of this as an option until a year ago. I tried it and it worked in that I ended up with more plants than I started with. I've given most away now as I concentrate on different types of plants. But I'm curious as to your views. What's your main motivations for taking the long road from leaf cuttings? I just didn't have the patience : ) The black Strep is stunning!! I had a very dark purple nearly black slim flowered one once, but not as dark as that. I have a love/not love relationship with Streps as I love the flowers but dislike the long furry leaves. So they get bought and then given away, ha ha!! I've managed to not buy any for a good while now, I may be finally be cured ; ) Jennifer
Hi Jennifer.
Last year I experimented with dividing streps for the first time. I found that the resultant plants were a lot less floriferous, lacking the vigour of the newly propagated plantlets.
Yeah, thinking about my own experience, I reckon you're right. Fair play to you for your patience. Thanks for the reply : )
Thanks for this video. I'm also trying to propagate streptocarpus by leaf cuttings. Two cuttings became brown and seem to be drying/rotting. The biggest one is still ok, but still no plantlets. And now as I looked for my notes I see I forgot to write down when I planted them! I'm so mad at myself.
Yes, rotting is the biggest danger and it can happen. I prefer to cut my leaves in largish pieces as the smaller the piece the more likely they are to rot. Now is the best time to propagate. Winter is always more tricky. Good luck.
Wow! Dividing a too big strepto, half finished, and decided to look up what I was doing. Had no idea. I'll try a more serious approach with the rest... And look for a box to keep them moist. Cheers from Western Canada.
Good luck
Keep up the great work. Regards George (Galway)
Thank you. Glad someone in Galway is watching :)
Wow that's a lot of plantlets! Do you grow so many for your own pleasure or do you use them in some sort of display for your gardens?
Thank you for watching. I grow streps for myself and to sell them too :)
+Gardening at Douentza oh I didn't realize you sold plants. That's great! Do you sell them locally or do you ship them to other places?
I ship within the EU. Plants are €4 each for the second biggest size you saw in the video.
+Gardening at Douentza Hi Rachel sorry for my late reply. I wish I was in the EU but sadly I am in Canada. I must see if I can find some on this side of the pond. (Atlantic Ocean) thanks so much.
do you have any tropical plants that u wanted to grow?
Always :)
Gardening at Douentza and you cant keep it for a long time because of the cold?
There are lots of tropicals and subtropicals that cannot be left outdoors here in Ireland. I use a lot in the garden in summer and then dig them up in autumn and overwinter in a frost free greenhouse (5 degree minimum). Anything that needs a higher temperature (10 degree minimum) needs to come into the house.
Gardening at Douentza i wish i caould have a house that can let the temperate plants g inside
I checked it again. The two smaller cuttings were rotten and I threw them away. The biggest one grew roots (some of them straight up, out of the media), but seems to be getting brow at the base, so I will have to wait and see. No plantlets. I guess it's too late to try to make it again. It would take 3 months for new plants to grow, and the summer would be over. Maybe next year in February?
Strange that the roots are coming out of the media. Plantlets may form yet. Sometimes the parent leaf rots away and can be gently removed but if you have roots the babies may still come. I think June is the best time to propagate so don't be afraid to go again if in doubt.
Gardening at Douentza Thanks, Rachel! I will try again. That was a leaf of the streptocarpus Cinnamon. I will try with the Good Mood too. As soil I tried a mix of peat and perlite. I saw in the internet that some people use a mix of perlite and vermiculite (nothing else), and they sterilize it in the microwave. Would that work? Is the chance of mold any smaller?
There are lots of different mixes. The difficulty with this kind of mix is transferring the plantlet after it has put its roots down in the perlite/vermiculite. It is harder to transition it to peat. But you should experiment and find what works best for you!
Gardening at Douentza Thanks, Rachel!
nice growth! !
Thanks
quanti cuccioli.
:)