A little over a month ago, I spent some time with another of my violets to repot it. It had produced an offshoot or baby plant that had sort of taken over. The parent plant had developed this woody ort of stem and the leaves were curling up. I was sort of afraid that I was going to lose it. The original plant is one that was a baby produced by a plant that my son and daughter-in-law have. They got it in a dish garden sent to them when my Daddy died. So, I was glad t get a baby from that plant for sentimental reasons. Plus, it has the most beautiful deep bluish purple blooms. Below is a photo of what my plant(s) looked like in late February.
You can see the parent plant on the right and how it was developing that tall stem and the leaves were starting to curl. By mid-March, it looked like the photo below. So, I ordered a couple of flower pots to use as a new home. The pots I ordered were advertised as African Violet self-watering ceramic pots.
When I began to take the plant(s) out of the pot, the parent plant broke away. So, I wound up leaving the baby in the original pot that my son and daughter-in-law gave me. I just added a little African Violet soil to fill the pot, watered it and set it back in the kitchen in front of a west-facing window. Below is how that looked.
Then, I took what I had left and went to work. I broke the top of the parent plant's woody stem off and planted a piece that was a couple of inches long into the new self-watering pot. The leaves were curled and it looked pretty sad but I had hopes that it would develop a root system and bounce back. Below is a photo of the sad little violet parent in its new pot.
I still had a long piece of that woody stem-like piece and a few leaves. I snapped the leaves off and put them into a glass of water to see if I could propagate a new plant like that. Then, I buried the remainder of the plant in the other self-watering plant filled with some African Violet soil. The photos below shows what I had left
leaves in water on the left and the stem I buried on the right
I've seen no action from the buried piece. It still just looks like a pot of dirt. I think I will wait a couple of weeks before I take action, but I probably will dig it up and throw that piece away. A couple of the leaves in water got all limp and pitiful looking and I tossed them out. The remaining leaves have not developed a root system either and will probably get tossed as well. Today, I noticed that the parent plant in the new self-watering pot seems to have revived.
similar view of the top of the sad, parent plant that was shown above
side view showing stems and leaves stretched upward
The leaves have uncurled and the stems and leaves seem to be stretched out and reaching for the heavens. It looks like a healthy plant! All I have done is add a bit of water into the bottom of the pot from time to time and left it alone. It is sitting on a table in front of an east-facing window alongside the parent plant of the violet I've had for years (the parent of the first plant shown in this post).
What an amazing transformation! I am so happy to have saved the original plant.
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