How do you repot African violets?

Answer 1

Take two rows of leaves off the bottom of one of your plants by gently pulling the leaf to one side or the other until the leaf pops off and either plant them, give them to someone or throw them away. You can leave as little as three or four leaves on the plant without damage to the plant. Squeeze the sides of the pot to loosen the roots from the sides and gently pull your plant out of the pot. Take a sharp knife and slice 1 ½ inches off the bottom of the root ball. This won't hurt your plant, it will thank you later. Slice away about ½ inch of soil around the sides of your plant, then gently scrape the main stem to clean off all the old dead brown plant material. This is where new little roots will grow. Now, get a clean pot - 2 inch for minis, 2 ½ inch for Semi minis, and 3 to 4 inch for Standards. Place a small amount of soil in the bottom of a clean, sterilized pot. Put enough soil in the bottom so that when you set your plant in, the bottom row of leaves will line up with the top edge of the pot.

Now, cover the newly scraped stem with fresh soil, new roots will grow within four weeks or so. Spoon in soil around your plant. Gently firm the soil down as you add more soil until you get to the top of the pot, don't pack it down real hard though. Some people think you shouldn't firm the soil around the newly planted plant, but from my experience the plant may become loose in the soil if you don't. The last row of leaves should be even with the edge of the pot.

Plant should not be loose. If your plant has a very, very long neck, you need to slice off the entire root ball and plant the scraped stem in the soil. Leave a stem that's about 1 to 2 inches long and firm it in the soil. Moisten the soil slightly (not soaking wet). Place pot and all into a zip lock bag, zip it up and leave it for a month. Give it good light. Occasionally open bag and blow your breath in it to give it some oxygen and fresh air, don't let too much moisture build up, then zip it back up again. After a month, begin to harden it off by opening the bag a little more each week, but be sure you don't let it dry out totally. Give it little drinks, until you can take your newly rooted little plant out of the bag for good.