It's a baby!

[reggiey56]

Rainbow's Limlight planted June 3. I'm so psyched! We won't think about the other eight leaves that are just sitting there doing nothing.

[Gkfurrow]

Congratulations, reggiey!! Maybe the other leaves will take the hint and get busy giving you some babies!! Oh hummm!!! I'm still waiting!! :-)

[reggiey56]

It worked, Gk! Just checked again this evening and now my Thunder Surprise has 3 babies! I can't wait for all the shower gifts to start arriving...

[Sparkles]

Yippee!!! That is wonderful to hear.

[Gkfurrow]

Oh, I am so jealous!!! I told all my leaves about your babies. They didn't seem too concerned!! LOL

I am SO glad to hear that your leaves are FINALLY producing babies for you. Good for you!!! YAY!!

Glenda

[reggiey56]

It is a wonderful thing! I was ready to give up - this whole project has been like watching grass grow! Now I'm looking at more leaves to order. Nothing to be jealous of, though - I just checked and nothing's flowering...

[Alaizabelle]

I think that grass grows faster ;)

I've had some leaves down since feburary, and they still don't have babies yet! Some had some in March, some have just barely given 'birth'! These leaves sure have a mind of their own on when they will produce plantlets!

[Sparkles]

I don't know that any of this is proven (I want to do some experiments, but haven't had time), but here are some things I've heard that can make it take longer:

1. Long petioles. It's said that the longer the petiole is left, the longer it takes. It's also said that longer petioles are more likely to result in a "true to parent" plant. I tested this with only 3 leaves from the same NoID. One short, one medium, one long petiole. The short did root and produce the fastest. The medium was close and the long one was over double the time. But, it was only 1 leaf! That does not prove anything. I've also had other long ones that produced fast, so I'm not sure the length is what makes it happen.
2. Rooting hormone. As I said before, I did an experiment and on the whole, the ones without hormone were faster, but not by that much. Other people have tested and the difference was startling, like months. All people who've tested it come out on the side of not using it.
3. Older leaves. The older the leaf, the longer it can take. When we buy them, or even trade, we have no idea of how old or young the leaf is. I think there maybe some research behind this, but cannot recall it at the moment. The younger leaves may have more auxin or other hormones to stimulate rooting and propagation.

I've heard that gentle heat such as putting them on top of the light fixtures can make it faster. And, I've heard that that can cause rot. Someone suggested a heating mat, others have said it's a sure way to disaster.

What I will say next is how we start assuming certain things are true. So far, all of mine have rooted and produced faster in the summer. Now, I've only been doing this a year and this isn't a controlled study. But, all the leaves I received from late October through February all took a long time. The ones I received in May through August were very fast. I didn't get any in early spring or early fall to compare.

It could be a coincidence. It could be that I used different vendors who used older leaves....I don't know. I've just noticed it. I do keep data on how fast they root and produce. After a few years I might have enough to actually compare and see if there is a pattern.

[reggiey56]

Isn’t that the thing, though – for every how-to out there on how to start and raise AV’s, there are a dozen other conflicting expert opinions! Use plastic bags/don’t use plastic bags, use rooting hormone/don’t use rooting hormone, on and on… so no matter which way you decide to try, you’re always going to do it wrong! Very frustrating for a beginner.

[abigail1280]

I don't necessarily think there's a "wrong" way ... as long as you stick to the basics and find what works best for you. I think it's all about the conditions YOU are growing your plants and leaves in. Humidity, Light, how often you water, etc ...