Fertilizing Cuttings - AVs

16 years ago

I don't know much about African Violet cuttings and how they grow. I have read here that at least until they form roots they should only get water, and preferably distilled, because solutes in the water can inhibit the cutting from taking in water.

Once they form roots, however, is the leaf feeding itself or does it need a fertilizer to help it? If you do fertilizer, is the fertilizer helping the leaf grow or helping it to form plantets?

And once the propagating leaf creates plantlets, is fertilizer appropriate? They do not initially have roots, so would the same thing apply to them as to rooting leaves - that is that only water should be given?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (2)

yiorges-z5il
16 years ago
Cuttings in water have many problems... for that reason I only propagate in well drained soil. In this case I would apply 0,1% IBA (Rooting hormone) & keep soil damp not wet.
after the plantlets have formed I would seporate & place in potting soil then i would start dilute fertilizer treatments. the fertilizer will be primarly for plant growth & 3rd concern would be to further promote root growth
lathyrus_odoratus
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for your reply.

For some reason, African Violets tend not to respond well to rooting hormone; in my experiments they spend a lot longer making roots and forget to propagate, but the chances of rooting are no higher. Given you can get just as strong of plants in less time, many people choose to not use hormones.

I wasn't suggesting not using soil, sorry if it sounded that way. Rather I meant tat I was only "feeding" the leaf with water, not fertilized water. I'm curious as to how the fertilizer effects the leaf and why.
Related Professionals
Charlottesville Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Portsmouth Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Pocatello Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Middletown Landscape Contractors · Norfolk Landscape Contractors · Green Bay Landscape Contractors · Carson City Landscape Contractors · Madison Architects & Building Designers · Killeen Architects & Building Designers · Roanoke Architects & Building Designers · Chillicothe Architects & Building Designers · Bloomington Architects & Building Designers · Bangor Architects & Building Designers · Kearney Architects & Building Designers · Eureka Architects & Building Designers