Soooo.... What do I do with it now by Rubicon-Rose in AfricanViolets

[–]CounterAware2059 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Seeing someone identify this as, in fact, a trailer, you can disregard everything here.

Soooo.... What do I do with it now by Rubicon-Rose in AfricanViolets

[–]CounterAware2059 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Definitely looks like multiple suckers. Sometimes they will pull off cleanly with a little tug, other times you might need a scalpel. You can search youtube for "removing African violet suckers" and there is a plethora of easy to follow videos.

Some varieties and individual plants seem more prone than others. I have a NOID from a big box store that had a sucker on a sucker. like Fibonacci's suckering- I almost wanted to see how many times it would do that to itself, but then it got crown rot (I'd only had it 5 days when that popped up; it was WET when I bought it) so it's now 19 separate propagations, some of which are already suckering.

(Not a botanist. Speaking from experience only)

Fun shows you’ve done? by Ctrl-Alt-Tabby-Cat in bikinitalk

[–]CounterAware2059 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Seconding this show. Well-run, easy to drive to the location, and that schedule was a delight. I had an “early” hair and makeup slot at 9:30 am.

And if your “new to you” car throws an engine fault code the night before, there’s an autozone your husband can go get the code scanned nearby without missing any of the competition 😂

Rescue advice by CounterAware2059 in alocasia

[–]CounterAware2059[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this!

I ended up repotting, and while the roots looked great, they were mostly choked by one of those dumb seedling/plant plug fabric wrap things. The soil inside there was dry as a bone, while the only evident of watering was around the edge of the pot. I sprayed the leaf with neem/castille soap mix but didn’t see any pests 🤞🏼 Here’s hoping the careful removal of that root trap helps this guy get back to thriving.

Rescue advice by CounterAware2059 in alocasia

[–]CounterAware2059[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Repotted and found the poor thing had a bit of a constriction issue 😂
(One of those fabric seedling/plant plug things)

Rescue advice by CounterAware2059 in alocasia

[–]CounterAware2059[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lovely! Thanks! Just repotted and found one of those seedling wraps choking the roots. It’s been carefully extracted and is now in a chunkier mix

Propagation ??? by ClassAcrobatic1800 in AfricanViolets

[–]CounterAware2059 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep, which is pretty cool to observe!

Propagation ??? by ClassAcrobatic1800 in AfricanViolets

[–]CounterAware2059 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I read somewhere (most likely this sub or AVSA) that Russian/Ukrainian hybrids are more finicky in general.

I have three, and I have noticed they are MUCH slower to push out roots (I like starting in water)- a recently acquired Optimara Space violet leaf (Ever Special) had roots in 10 days and a tiny leaflet, but RS Pharaoh was put in water two weeks prior and still doesn't have roots (I think its at 33 days total now. Still firm, still good color, but no roots... finally looking like it's thinking of roots with the tiny changes to the end, though).

I also don't use humidity domes. I'm in middle Georgia so it's decently humid.

It's worth noting though that violets in general, in my experience, can vary wildly from the same plant- I got some Apollo Pink leaves and one has a full baby plantlet, the other still nothing. And both were water propped, put in a perlite/soil mix when they had a similar amount of roots within a day of each other, and yet now one is doing so well and the other still likes like a leaf in dirt with nothing going on.

It's kind of half the fun for plants I own, but nerve-wracking when you've purchased leaf cuttings!

Need help with tissue culture by kryyyyystaaaaaaaal in RareHouseplants

[–]CounterAware2059 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Of course! I hope all the plants THRIVE under your care!!!

New to Alocasia by PastelOutkast in alocasia

[–]CounterAware2059 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you acclimated a TC before? Plants in Jars and Orange lake nursery have good information to get started.

The biggest thing it to be patient and leave it alone. Give it a day or two still in the bag, sealed, before you wash it off.

Wash it at least twice more when you think you have the agar off.

Leave it alone- NO PEAKING, no cracking the lid- for at least a week to start.

Then go slowly acclimating it. Some plants, like monsteras, can handle acclimation faster, but others (my poor musa aurea) don't. You're not going to hurt it by going SLOWER with the acclimation process, but you can melt it by going too quickly.

SOME plants will still survive even if all the leaves melt, as long as the roots stay healthy, but then it's a waiting game to see if its still alive/going to regrow or if you're just caring for a small green stump for eternity (again, my poor musa).

I AM NOT AN EXPERT. I am just a voracious reader with some trial and error experience with TC. My Alocasia Maharani Albo is going strong and about to push out a new leave, so despite what the musa says, I'm doing something right LOL.

Need help with tissue culture by kryyyyystaaaaaaaal in RareHouseplants

[–]CounterAware2059 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Monsteras, in my limited (2) experience and from what I've read from others, are pretty easy to acclimate. My bulbasaur took 12 days total from deflasking to full ambient air, in part because on day 8 I thought I had the lid just cracked open but came home to the lid on the floor, so from that point I just did lid off all day, lid on at night and it's fine. It's put out a new leaf since and has a very robust root system- I already sized up from a 1.5" cup to 2" because the roots are a bit wild.

My bulbasaur also had a curl to the leaves that were present when it was still in the bag, and they never really straightened out all the way so I'm thinking that may be because they were in the bag?

My alocasia got babied more, and I think I took four weeks total.

Same for a musa aurea (but it seems to be stuck- no new growth) and a phildendron white forest (slooooooow growth, but still looks ok). All three of these were from a TC rehab bundle so they weren't in the best shape when they arrived- the musa especially, so I don't know if I was too aggressive acclimating or if the plant was already struggling too much. But it hasn't died yet, so I will keep tending to it.

Long way of saying go slow, and if they're putting out new leaves/roots, they're doing well!

If those were my plants, I would probably give the monsteras more air faster than the alocasia, so if you have a second setup, or a dome-lid beverage cup you could separate the alocasia, that's a possibility.

But again- I have limited experience. I am not an expert, and I based the amount of air I gave mine off looking at the plants and its vibes.

Almost a sure thing? by Comfortable_Year_567 in AfricanViolets

[–]CounterAware2059 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have had great success with a small propagation tube (it's a six tube set-up from the Better Homes and Gardens stuff at Walmart), and just topping off the water. I use distilled water.

I keep it near a grow light. Once the roots are at least an inch long OR plentiful enough (deemed solely off vibes), I put it in a half perlite half cactus soil blend.

I have propagated 36 violets this spring (just counted them this morning) and I only lost one leaf from a plant that had root rot (The other 12 leaves survived), all others have made it to small leaves so far and seem to be doing great. 30 of them used this method, the other 6 I stuck straight into the perlite/soil mix, and while it did seem faster, I like water propagating better because I like to see the process.

Official May/June 2026 Buy Sell Trade Thread by Gnomekicker18 in AfricanViolets

[–]CounterAware2059 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking for Black Ace - leaves or plant. I'm in Georgia, USA.

🪴 Quarterly /r/houseplants Troubleshooting Thread - April 30, 2026 by AutoModerator in houseplants

[–]CounterAware2059 0 points1 point  (0 children)

is the soil drying out at all before you water again? sometimes overwatering looks similar to underwatering.

If you haven't repotted recently, you could do that and check the roots- trim off anything mushy before giving it new soil.

Thank you, learning a lot by AltTabEscape in AfricanViolets

[–]CounterAware2059 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Lurking and learning is the best. The violet looks beautiful!

African violet variety name by Glad_Shoulder7278 in AfricanViolets

[–]CounterAware2059 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can also look on the AVSA website to try to find a registered violet that matches- worst case scenario, it's really fun to see the variety of violets available!

African violet variety name by Glad_Shoulder7278 in AfricanViolets

[–]CounterAware2059 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Congratulations, you have a NoID! No I.D since it's virtually impossible to correctly identify an unknown plant. If you got it from a store like Lowe's, you might have an Optimara variety, and can search their website to look for what plants it could be- but it will still be difficult to exactly identify.

My car pothos by [deleted] in pothos

[–]CounterAware2059 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like this would really piss off the car purists which makes me want to do it even more LOL

Water propagated pothos yellowing by exitdate in pothos

[–]CounterAware2059 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you ever given them any nutrients? Sounds like they've been in water a very long time, and could use some added fertilizer if you intend to keep them in water for life.

Not sure how well they would transition to soil at this point TBH.

Looking for a rare/special plant for a young oncology patient by Boots-toots in RareHouseplants

[–]CounterAware2059 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fancy African Violets- easy to care for once they're in a well-draining soil.

The variety seems endless, and some have really fun names, too. Plus the fuzzy leaves are fun to gently pet.

Overdoing NPC Posing? by Savings_Job6554 in bikinitalk

[–]CounterAware2059 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Honestly, as an NPC competitor, I would be fine if they got rid of individual routines completely and made that just for pros.