How to Propagate African Violets

Propagating African Violets is easier than I initially thought.  As you may have seen, I’ve killed many of these pretty houseplants.  It wasn’t until recently that I seem to have gotten the hang of keeping them alive!

Now that I seem to be able to keep the alive, the obvious next step is making as many of them as I possibly can, right? Here’s how to do it:

Supplies:

Scissors and/or a sharp knife
A Small container (I use yogurt containers)
Good seedling or seed starting mix (it should be very light, not dense)
Plastic bag or clear container

First thing you want to do is prep everything. Your planting container should be cleaned, then cut a small hole in the bottom of it. Be careful while doing this, of course!

Now, find a healthy looking leaf from an adult African Violet plant. Use a sharp knife to cut the stem of the leaf at a 45 degree angle. Make sure the cut is clean.

Now stick it in your container with some good seedling mix, and give it a good drink of water.

African violets like to be in an environment where the air is holding a lot of humidity, and that’s where your plastic bag comes in. If need be, use scissors to cut it to fit the plant. I happened to luck out, and my bag fit pretty well without needing any cutting.

Now the easy part is done; caring for the small plant as it grows is the difficult part. I’ve found that they do best if kept in a humid environment. Keep in mind, that they do not like to be sitting in water, so it’s better to allow the container to wick in moisture as needed. Once a smaller plant starts to grow, I usually move them into a larger terrarium type container. I put small rocks in the bottom of it and pour in some water; the container then goes on top, and a lid goes over the whole thing. Having a few holes for air circulation is also a good idea. Keep the small plants in an area with bright indirect light, and they should thrive.

Soon you’ll have little African Violets like these!