It can take anywhere from a few months to a year to see plantlets, but it's usually a couple months.

Be patient ...

When I started setting leaves, I was discouraged to read other posts stating 8 weeks because most of my leaves have taken up to 6 months to make mouse ears.
Be very patient. If the leaf is crisp, leave it alone. It will either make a plantlet or rot but it may take a long, long time or not
I have had leaves set in record time but they were leaves from my own plants. But then I had species leaves, S. Pendula, S Rupicola sent by a forum member which set as fast as my own leaves.
It takes patience. Now I wonder what I am going to do with all these plants :)

constant warmth of the media might be a challenge.. if your furnace kicks down at night ...

see in the morning.. if you media is cold to the touch ...

ken

I start my leaves in water and when the roots are about 2 inches long I pot them up and then just wait for new growth it takes about 3 months before the send out new growth so patiences is the word for growing them.

When I first started setting leaves, I would leave the stem cut too long ... 2 inches or more.

That meant that any new plantlets would have to grow all the way from the bottom of the pot, which takes significantly longer.

Now I cut my stems no longer than an inch, placing the cut and propagating stem end right under the surface of the soil. This speeds things considerably.

Lately I have been cutting off the top tip of leaves when I plant them and I think maybe it speeds up new growth-any opinions on this? I used to wait for new growth and at that time trim top of leaf.
Thanks
Marty

Welcome to the newbie club! It's worth the patience it takes to grow babies from leaf cuttings. What a thrill when that first little leaf appears. I planted a lot of them in little plastic pots on Sept. 15 of this year. It took 8 weeks for the first 3 to start. I killed off about half by over watering and they died very quickly of rot . I had so much great help and encouragement from the wonderful folks on this forum! Kept me going! Thank you guys. Some of mine are just mama leaves with no babies yet, but they are all different variety and I have learned that some take longer and some just do not produce. Hangs in there with us and we will all encourage one another and you will learn so much from this forum!. toni

If rooting leaves in water, they will have to make new roots in soil, so to start them in soil. I compromise, I start some in water to see if they will sprout roots, then transfer them to small solo cups with soil and perlite mix. The problem with starting in water is the tendency to forget them. When starting directly in soil, use a higher percent of perlite.

This post was edited by fortyseven on Thu, Jan 15, 15 at 18:15

Marty
The longer the uncut adult leaf is viable and remains in the pot, the more likely it is to keep reproducing. A leaf remaining in the pot can continue to reproduce in cycles. Once it starts growing new plants, the "switch" to reproduce has been turned on so it seems to keep doing that.

This post was edited by fortyseven on Tue, Jan 13, 15 at 12:46

Joanne - are you saying that once a leaf has made plantlets that the baby plants can be removed/potted but to leave the mama leaf in the potting medium and it will continue making more baby plants?

Shallons, I am doing what Joan described - I had a mama leaf that produced one set of mouse ears. When the plantlet had 3 sets of leaves, (the largest about the size of a dime), I realized there would be no more babies. I scooped everything out of the cup, onto a paper plate so I could see what I was doing. I gently separated the mom leaf and the baby, making sure to divide the roots, too. Popped them into their own solo cups, and back into the domed box.
Both are doing well, the baby is growing and has added even more leaves. The mother survived, too, but I don't see a new pair of leaves yet.
The leaf is from Golden Autumn, and I find that I never get more than one start from a leaf. I'm trying to get a good backup plant, and I didn't want to take another leaf from the main plant. I'm interested to see how long the mom leaf takes to put up a new baby.
Lennie from Michigan

It depends on the variety of leaf. The adult leaf does not need to be removed from the pot when removing babies. I used to get only one or two babies per leaf. However, when not in a hurry to remove them, the yield is higher. They stay under the dome, checking for watering. Joanne

This post was edited by fortyseven on Tue, Jan 13, 15 at 18:32

when i read that you could start new plantlets from leaves, i tried it both in water and in soil - why because i am really impatient and wanted some assurance that roots should be growing in the dirt. :) they really do like to be on the just damp side too - i keep thinking i am going to kill them because they keep drying out, but nope they are thriving.

I was wondering, myself, whether a damaged leaf will still grow a plantlet. I got a leaf for a yellow AV and then accidentally cracked it in half from near the tip of the leaf all the way to the stem. >_Anyway. The nice thing about growing from a leaf is that it is basically set-it-and-forget-it. If you can forget. I've had a leaf grow a plantlet in 2 weeks. But that was amazing. It usually takes more time. Really it is all over the place...difficult to put a time frame on it.

@ tlbean2004: If you haven't done so already, you can give them a gentle tug to see if they are rooted. Eventually 2 weeks - 1year (depending from where on the plant they were taken from) they will probably produce babies. If they have not rotted, just keep soil moist and let them be, hang in there!

PS: Any word on your leaves?

@ Lauraeli: I've had broken leaves produce no problem, even planted the broken off pieces and have had success!

cutting the tips has never seemed to "hurry up" the process for me...and I just root directly in soil mix, no water roots for me...

Cheers,

I gave the cuttings some water about 3 days ago. There is still no change. The 3 leaves that remain are all still green and looks stiff and healthy.
But, there is still no new growth to be seen. I wish they would hurry up because i am so anxious. It seems like i put them in the soil ages ago! lol but it has been about 7 or 8 weeks.
The biggest leaf is from a plant i got on cleareanc that recently died so i hope it makes it!

Thank you for the update!
Glad to hear things are still looking healthy
We've all played the waiting game at some pointâ¦
Hovering over our "precious", ahem *cough* our plants..

Best wishes

I never used to put a date (nor variety!?!) on my leaves, and I am sure some took FOREVER...
My last batch though, I tried something new. I put a scoop of (moistened) potting mix in a ziplock Baggie, planted the leaves, wrote the varieties and date right on the bag, closed it and hung it from a nail in the wall next to my plant shelf.
Out of 10 varieties planted November 15, three have plantlets so far, and I am seeing roots in most of the bags.

I think I'll keep doing this from now on :-)

Karin

Putting the leaves directly in baggies offers the more immediate gratification of being able to see the roots developing even if there are no mouse ears yet. That's a GREAT idea Karin!

I didn't have a clue when I stuck my two leaves in soil...probably should have done some homework first. Travis sent them with a plant order (thanks Travis!) and without trimming or treating or doing anything to the leaves/stems I just poked them in some potting medium in a 2" pot. I watered them in, let the pot drain well and sealed it up in a gallon baggie which has been sitting in a corner ever since. I didn't date it but I think that was August mid-month or early September.

It looks like there are four plantlets growing and the leaves are still more spear like than stems and leaves. Nothing flat or round opening yet. At what stage of development should they be separated and potted individually? I'm not particularly anxious to do this and am content to leave them where they are for some time but don't want to delay their development by being over-patient with a process.

There appears to be plenty of moisture in the bag, so Bean, if others agree, maybe it would be easier and less stressful for you if you sealed up your leaves and stopped watering. I've not added a drop since I first watered them into the potting medium. The only fussing I've done is open the bag occasionally to look at progress, then I seal it back up and blow into the bag so it is fully inflated before closing the last bit of seal.

Shallon

I'd take credit, but i "stole" the idea from someone else, and i don't even remember who to give credit to.... irina possibly? hmmm...

for me it is still a learning experience - i am now seeing tiny plantlets at the side of the baggie, but below the "soil line". should be interesting to see how they turn out.

As for when to separate, apparently bigger is better, but if you have too many cramped together, maybe pick some out so they keep their symmetry.

Karin

Thanks Karin - there are multiple leaves at each eruption location. I should post a picture but it seems like too much work at the moment. They are not overly crowded, assuming the clusters are individual plantlets. I think I put the stems too deep and the leaves had to erupt through an inch of potting medium to reach the surface, so maybe that's the cause of the "cluster" effect. The next week and a half is insanely busy - for obvious reasons (we're hosting Christmas at our house and I'm chief cook) so the babies will have to manage as they are for a while longer.

They can wait months--many more months than I care to admit. Even if they get gangly from having too many in the pot, once removed and separated into their own pots, they will eventually round out their growth pattern.

This post was edited by fortyseven on Sat, Dec 20, 14 at 20:01

Here is a picture of the cuttings from this morning.
I lightly tugged on them and there was some give so im sure they have rooted.

They just like making me wait for the new growth to appear! lol

As long as the leaves are crisp and green, you can be sure they are rooting. As noted, from the time you put down a leaf until you have a small plant takes 9 months to a year. To get mouse ears takes on average 3 to 6 months. Following Karin's tip above by doming them might help them be happier and grow faster. Probably the best advice is try to forget them except for watering. They have their own internal timeclock. That is how I acquired so many store bought plants, wanting something in bloom all the time.

just as an example, and yes these are not AV's, but florist's gloxinia's. i planted two leaves at the end of May - this is what i have now:
{{gwi:2122914}}
{{gwi:2122915}}

one started a little plant. the other has been taking its sweet time. I do finally have roots out the bottom of the cup - so i know that it has at least rooted.

Thanks for giving me hope. lol
I really dont want to wait that long though!

I had very good luck with small pots.

One of my mistakes was I used too large pots - well actually, they were the smallest pots for normal plants. The roots rot in those pots. The correct pots are like yours - they are actually tiny cups for dipping sauces.

This post was edited by jujujojo on Tue, Dec 30, 14 at 14:49

UGHHHH
Still waiting!
Leaves still crisp and green.
I think if i would have placed them on a heating mat they would have grown leaves by now.

Since my house is kept at 69 or 70 degrees and it is winter they are taking thier sweet little time.

My sentiments exactly! I waited..and waited and ...waited some more. Months went by. As long as the mother leaf is crisp, just let it sit, check the water and water very very carefully.
You will be surprised how long some of these leaves take. I have had a leaf for 8 months that finally sent up a mouse ear.
I am new, first time trying to do this, started last April and I can sympathize with your angst!
Almost all of my slow, slow, mother leaves have Finally sent up mouse ears.
Don't give up!

AVs are very slow growing, it can take a year to see a new plant growing from the parent leaf. If the starter leaves were older or damaged in any way, the new growth will be slow. As long as the leaf is green and looks healthy, it is putting down roots. Some leaves almost never sprout. There is no guarantee, it is part of nature.

This post was edited by fortyseven on Thu, Jan 15, 15 at 16:33

Ok, i can now spot some roots at the bottom of the sauce cups and they are firm when pulled on.

But still no new growth!!! argggggg

I have a few baby plants that are coming from mothers I planted last Sept. Some are just healthy Moms to be :) I think it must depend alot on the plant the leaves came from. Mine are all different.

I just checked mine, and out of the November 15 batch, there is only one variety that has not sprouted plantlets yet. Of the December 15 batch, all but one have sprouted too (yay I got a baby of Tommie Lou). With the exception of petrocosmea and sinningia.
I put more leaves down last week, so it should be interesting to see, if they sprout along the same time lines...

It has been 5 months now and still new new growth!

UGHHHHHH

Maybe you're checking on them too often ;-p

Some growers report that leaves planted in a community pot show mouse ears much faster than a single leaf in a single pot. Perhaps they sense competition & want to be the one to survive or maybe leaves just enjoy company. Terri

We hae Nine months to one year is an average length of time that should be allowed. Leaves will sometimes grow sooner. Usually, they get a growth spurt in the spring.

If you did not bag them, or put a dome on them and keep them slightly heated, it could take longer. People who have rapid results usually use a very high quality soil mix, bag or dome the leaves, even use a tiny bit of fertilizer now and then. (There is not a right or wrong way, just that some methods seem to get faster results. If you live in an area where spring is late in coming and skies are cloudy, it might take longer.)

Irina had said that the pregnancy hormones circulating in a communal pot cause the rapid growth. Joyce Stork may have written about this. I have observed that leaves from the same plant follow the same pattern of growth, whether side by side in their own separated containers or in a shared community pot. The community pot procedure did not work for me. When it was time to separate the small ones, it was difficult to untangle them. Also, a leaf in its own pot can produce 3, 4 or more babies that grow in a dense clump that can be difficult to separate.

Joanne