How to Grow a Violet From a Leaf

An African violet, or Saintpaulia, is a plant that is easy to grow inside from a small leaf. You just need to know the basic rules of rooting violets and have a little bit of patience.

5-Minute Crafts is giving you detailed recommendations on how to grow a violet from a leaf.

You need:

• a violet plant — parent
• scissors
• a pot with soil
• a small glass with water
• a plastic bag or a plastic container with a loose lid

What to do

1. Cut or pinch off a leaf with a stalk about 1 inch long from the parent plant. It is better to choose leaves from the middle for rooting, as they are capable of producing more “children.”

An important note: Opt for green leaves without cracks, stains, or other damage so that they root well.

2. Pour water into a small glass and place the stalk of the leaf into it.

An important note: The leaf itself shouldn’t be in the water.

3. In order to make the leaf grow roots faster, place the glass with water into a plastic bag, a plastic container with a loose lid, or cover it with plastic wrap. By doing this, you’ll create a kind of greenhouse for the leaf that will speed up the germination.

4. Place the glass of water in a warm and bright place for germination.

5. Watch the level of water in the glass and periodically add more water if there is not a lot left in the glass.

An important note: If you notice that the leaf in the glass has wilted or started to rot, don’t throw it away: cut off the edge of the stalk, change the water in the glass, and continue the germination. After a while, the leaf will come back to life.

6. After about 2-3 weeks from the start of germination, the leaf will start growing roots. When this happens, you can plant the leaf into a pot.

7. To avoid waterlogging the soil, put a drainage 0.5-0.7 in thick on the bottom of the pot. You can use expanded clay, polystyrene, perlite, coal, or sphagnum moss as drainage. Pour some soil over it, make a small pit in the center, and plant the leaf.

8. Cover the pot that has the leaf with a plastic bag too. Keep the germinating leaf in a plastic bag until “kids” start to appear around the leaf. Once this happens, you can start to periodically open the bag for airing. After some time, you can remove the bag completely.

9. After about 3 months, the violet’s “kids” can be planted in separate pots.

Variations

• Apart from germination in the glass with water, you can plant a violet right into the soil. It will decrease the chance of the stalk’s rotting, but it will also slow down the germination.
• You can plant a violet leaf in a damp peat tablet. When the violet gives birth to children, it can be transplanted into a pot along with the peat part.