Reproduction Of Saintpaulias - 3

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Reproduction of Saintpaulias

I propagate Saintpaulias by leafy cuttings. I make an oblique cut at the bottom of the cutting with a sharp knife and place it in a bottle (from under the medicine) with water so that the lower part does not touch the bottom. I cut off the upper part of the sheet with a razor. I do this in order to stop the growth of leaf cuttings (they can grow slowly, delaying the appearance of roots, and subsequently children). This part of the leaf can also be planted in the ground, deepening a little. The pot with the rooting leaf should be placed in a bag, inflated and tied. Children will subsequently appear on the bottom of the sheet, but this will not happen soon.

When the roots reach one centimeter on a leafy cutting, I plant it in a small pot, water it with Energene solution (13 drops per 250 ml of water), put it in a plastic bag, inflate it again, tie it and put it on the rack. To prevent the handle from falling, I stick a U-shaped wire behind it, bending it slightly. She will support him. Once a month, I untie the bag and check the condition of the earthen mixture. If it is dry, I water it with HB-101 or Ribav-Extra solution, again inflate the bag and tie it. So I check the leafy cuttings once a month.

When the formed children reach a height of about 2 cm, I untie the bag, but do not open it immediately. Children need to be accustomed to room air after greenhouse conditions. After 4-5 days, I make a small hole in the bag and then over the next two weeks I gradually open the bag, and then completely remove the violet from it. When the children grow up and reach about 4 cm, I separate them from the leaf cutting and put them in separate small pots - each child in a separate pot (I select only strong children). And I water it with Energen's solution. For better survival, I put each pot with a baby in a plastic bag, inflate it and tie it up. As soon as new leaves begin to grow on the new plant, I release the baby from the bag in exactly the same way.

I plant the children of fantasy Saintpaulias all that have formed. Many of them may not retain their varietal characteristics and will be of a completely different color and fantasy may be absent. Plants that have not retained varietal characteristics are mercilessly discarded.

In many non-fantasy varieties, children may not retain the characteristics of the variety - so-called sports are formed. Sports are often far superior to their parents in beauty. These saintpaulias take a worthy place in my collection.

I propagate Saintpaulias at any time of the year when they are supplemented with fluorescent lamps. But nevertheless, I consider the period from late January to early September to be the best time for their reproduction.

The Saintpaulia plant does not live long - about three years. When the uzambar violet turns into a "palm", it needs to be rejuvenated. To do this, cut off the upper part of the plant with a sharp knife so that there are few leaves on the lower part of the plant. On the cut part of the plant, I remove the lower leaves until a "hemp" is formed. I also remove flowers if the plant has bloomed. I immerse the upper part of the plant in a glass of water so that there is only a "stump" in the water. I monitor the water level - it should be at the same level throughout the entire rooting period of this Saintpaulia. When roots appear on the "hemp", I am in no hurry to plant it.

Small roots cannot fully provide such a rosette of leaves with nutrients, and often the plant dies or takes a long time to take root. I look forward to the appearance of long roots. Then I take the violet out of the water, cut off the roots with scissors, leaving 3-4 cm on the "hemp", straighten them so that they are parallel to the leaves, and plant them in a small pot. I put the pot in a plastic bag. Care is the same as for leafy cuttings and babies. As soon as new leaves begin to grow in the center of the rosette, the plant has taken root and you can gradually release it from the package.

After the upper part of the old Saintpaulia has been removed, I do not throw away the lower part with several leaves, but I care for it in the same way as for other Saintpaulias. Over time, small children will appear in the axils of the leaves. When they grow up, I carefully cut them off from the mother plant, again remove the lowest leaves to the "hemp" and root them. Chimeras and fancy Saintpaulias are propagated in the same way in order to preserve their varietal characteristics. Chimeras and some fancy Saintpaulias do not retain varietal characteristics when propagated by leaf cuttings, which is why they are very expensive.

I prefer to buy planting material only from professionals at exhibitions that are held in St. Petersburg every month. When I bring leafy cuttings from the exhibition home, I must disinfect them. I wash them in warm water. I wash the sponge generously with laundry soap (72%). With a sponge with foam, I blot the leaf stalk on both sides and rinse off with water. Then I wash the leaf cutting in Aktara's solution, completely immersing it in the solution. I quarantine the bubbles with new leaf cuttings in a mini-greenhouse. A cake box with a transparent lid is suitable as a mini greenhouse. But in stores for gardeners they sell special mini-greenhouses for seedlings - they are more durable and convenient. After the roots appear, the leaf cutting in the pot is in a plastic bag, so the quarantine period is kept for a long time,for which diseases or pests (if any) appear on the leaf cuttings, and they can be detected in time without harming the entire collection of Saintpaulias.

Each plant pot has a tag with the variety name. On a computer, I create a plate in advance with the names of the varieties available in my collection of Saintpaulias in several copies. I cut out the variety name and tape it to the pot. Before transplanting or planting children, I prepare in advance the names of the varieties with which I will work.

To know which varieties are in the collection, I make a summary table, which indicates the names of the varieties, which plants they are (stalk, baby, starter or adult plant), on which rack and on which shelf it is located. I make a list separately for Russian varieties and separately for foreign varieties. For example:

Variety name	Leafy cuttings	Kids	Starter	Adult plant	Rack number	Shelf number	Note
Antonia	+			+	one	3

+ means the number of plants.

I write in the table with a simple pencil so that I can erase the entry and write a new one, because the plants are constantly moving from one column to the next. In the notes I write the features of this variety. For example: it blooms often or rarely, the need for watering (often or less often), and so on. From this table, I can easily determine: how many and what age Saintpaulia plants are in the collection.

For each rack I also make a separate list: on which shelf, which varieties are. I do this so that you can quickly find the Saintpaulia of the desired variety. In a separate folder, a catalog is compiled in alphabetical order with a description of each variety. One grade on a separate sheet of paper. Each type of Saintpaulia has its own color on the sheet of paper. For example: standard varieties on white sheets of paper, miniature varieties on blue sheets, etc.

The photographs of Saintpaulias are stored electronically. In one folder there are standard varieties, in another - miniature, in the third - fantasy, etc. Each variety is placed in a separate folder, on which the name of the variety is necessarily written.

Variety of Saintpaulia varieties

There are a huge number of varieties of Saintpaulias, and more and more new ones appear every year. All of them can be divided into classes.

The simplest classification of Saintpaulias:

1. Standard grades. The rosette diameter is more than 20 cm.
2. Miniature varieties. The rosette diameter is less than 20 cm.
3. Variegated varieties. These saintpaulias have white, yellow, cream, pink, light green spots, streaks, rims on a green background of foliage.
4. Trailer Saintpaulias - ampelous. The stems of these Saintpaulias either crawl or hang over the edge of the pot.
5. Chimeras. These Saintpaulias have a wide white stripe in the central part of the petal.
6. Fantasy Saintpaulias. Their petals are decorated with polka dots, dots, strokes, stripes, splashes …
7. Yellow-flowered Saintpaulias. Saintpaulias do not have a pure yellow flower, but the yellow color on the petals manifests itself in the form of yellow shadows, strokes, stains on a white or pale pink background.
8. Natural species are the progenitor of modern varieties of Saintpaulias.

For most gardeners, the favorite Saintpaulias are fantasy, standard ones with wavy petals, with large flowers. Variegated varieties are interesting. On the green background of the leaves, these varieties have spots of different colors, stains, rims, stripes. Many indoor flower lovers are afraid to acquire such Saintpaulias, thinking that these are diseased plants. It is not a disease, but a partial loss of the ability to produce and retain chlorophyll.

When variegated varieties of Saintpaulias have a break in flowering, they always remain decorative due to their variegated foliage. Sometimes variegated leaves accentuate the beauty of the flowers. For example, green leaves with white streaks and white flowers add airiness to the plant. In my collection there is one variety of Saintpaulia, which practically does not bloom, but the plant is decorative due to its beautiful leaves.

Standard varieties are the largest group of Saintpaulias. Their flowers are of the most diverse shapes - from simple to densely double, with wavy edges of various colors and shades, fantasy, chimeras, trailers with simple and variegated leaves, from miniature flowers to giant flowers (7-8 cm in diameter). One drawback is that large sockets take up a lot of space.

If there is not enough space for the collection of Saintpaulias, miniature Saintpaulias will help out. Their rosette diameter is small, and the flowers are larger than the leaves of a plant with variegated leaves, trailers, fantasy, with a varied flower shape and colors. Adult miniature Saintpaulia plants (not trailers) should be kept in very small pots.

Collecting

Saintpaulias is an exciting activity, but it requires a huge amount of time, money, and space in the apartment. Before creating a collection, you need to think about this. She will "tie" you to the house thoroughly. You can't leave home for more than three days. Should you sacrifice your time? You can, of course, leaving home for a long time to water the saintpaulias and place each plant in a separate plastic bag, after removing the flowers, and tie the bag. In this state and without additional illumination, the flowers will last about two weeks. But for Saintpaulias it will be stressful.

If you finally decide to create a collection of these beautiful flowers, you should start with simple varieties. Do not chase new products. When you have little experience, you can lose expensive and rare specimens. I was adapting to my Saintpaulias for three years, I even had a desire to give up everything and not waste time on them. But the result exceeded all expectations. From a capricious plant, Saintpaulia turned into an affordable and beautiful flower for me.