Hello, as I am new to multiplicate violet, I am wondering when you separate the little babies from the mother leaf ? I have multiplicate many leaves whith succes and all excited to grow them apart now.

Thanks for answering!

Marianne

the ''french amateur'' from Canada back on forum

@AnneCecilia...thanks...I will go ahead and prop open lid a little bit and then open it up completely after a few weeks. What kind of vented covers do you use for your 1020 trays?

@marceaulyonnais....I usually wait 2-3 months after I see babies from the leaves before I transplant. By that time the leaves are quite large about the size of a quarter, also I wait till at least 2-3 sets of large leaves have developed.

Cooks

If you do a search for "clear vented cover for 1020" you'll see lots of choices. Greenhousemegastore.com has both a 2" high and a 7" high cover with vents. The vents are just holes in the cover with a disc over the top of the hole that you can rotate to adjust the size of the opening. It's a nice feature that helps when there is too much condensation on the inside of the dome.

You're right to wait awhile to separate - baby plants can go a long time crowded together and be ok, but if you try to separate when they're too small you run the risk of damaging or outright losing them. I've read the recommendation to separate when the leaves reach quarter size, but I often wait longer.

When my plants make babies that are the size of yours I take the cover off. I have never had a die off! What are you growing in that tray?

When to separate? Generally for standards, when the leaves are about the size of a nickel. Semis, closer to almost dime shaped or when you see several rows of leaves giving it a rosette look. Minis, again, several row rosette look.

For what it's worth, I wick water all my leaves in 10"x22" trays and find that they get plenty of humidity without a cover. With a cover, they may put out mouse ears faster, but I also lost more under cover because the humidity stayed too high, even with vented lids. I think because of the lights.

@AnneCecilia...those vented lids do look great and at a great price too.

@Amy...mostly these are leaves from round robins, a mix of standards and semis

@ Vikki...thanks for that tip. Actually I have also noticed that sometimes the leaves under the dome become mushy and have lost some too. Maybe next time will try without the lid, though I have never tried wicking.

I usually water from the bottom or from the top. But I guess doing wicks may save me time. I always get confused about what kind of yarn to buy and am lazy at starting the set up.

Anyway, the lid is propped up partially, the soil did seem a bit dry after the holidays, so I watered very little. I am again out of town for a week, so will open up the lid completely after I am back.

Thanks everyone!!

Cooks

Marianne you are asking for information on starting leaves,,,well I just ran across some great information for you (and everyone else also!!!!)!

avsa.org/learn-startingleaves

This is written so well, I bookmarked it !!!! That is how much I liked it! Go there and let us know what you think! Rosie

I'm lazier than all of you...I never cover the leaves. I almost never lose a leaf, and I don't have to bother with hardening them off.

However, I should point out that my indoor ambient humidity is around 50%, something that many of you don't probably have.

I do suspect that if you have humidity 20% or lower, the dome probably helps quite a lot (just a guess).

50% humidity in the house???? Oh my,,,,I would not be able to breathe!!!!! That's ok,,,,I will use my baggies!!! lol Rosie

Well Rosie, it's 75% outside...and with all the plants inside...well it's only 50% because i dehumidity. I'm used to hot and humid (though I don't like it that much). I am comfortable with 50% and 75F on AC, and figure that's better for the plants than more arid...and that's what's important, right ?

I mean I would live in a greenhouse if it weren't quite as sunny and open :)

Whew,,,,someone get me an inhaler!!! These old lungs can't deal with that! We don't have central air but let the temp outside get more than 70F and it is not good. Whew!! Rosie