Well...Bad news

only one of the original African Violets I propagated is still in the process of developing. But I have started another 2 on the path to becoming their own African Violets. I'm starting these ones in the sand and watering every two-three days in hopes that I will not over water them. I have also heard that keeping a plastic bag over them will keep the humidity up and cause them to root faster.

My spider plant which I got from a friend a few months ago is doing well and my sudden interest in botany has caused me to take what little time I do have to study up on the plants that I have and start to plan how I can change how I take care of them in order to get the best results.

So any tips on how I can improve my propagation process or tips on how to care better for African Violets or spider plants are more than welcome.

as always love you lots,
~Amanda-Lyn Bielicki

My violets are mostly ok

Well... I think I have been overwatering them in the sand a little too much becuse one is not doing very well, and one died; but on the bright side 3 of them have rooted very well (I think). Sand is kindof hard because it is diffucult to tell just where you need the water and wether the plant is actually drinking it or not. *sigh*

Anyways I'm seriously considering botany as a future job so everybody wish me luck.

Love u all lots,
~Amanda-Lyn

OMG!!!

ok let me start out by saying that today has been insane! For starters all-county auditions are this Saturday and I am so not ready (because I'm always at rehearsal for the musical). Oh and today when I got home those African Violets I have been telling you about my cat knocked them all out onto the floor and it looks like their root bot dried out and were stepped on or eaten (bad kitty)!

So to counteract my kitty being so bad I had to transplant the plantlets from water into sand today! But I don't even know if that will help them because of the condition of the roots when I found them. I will be soooo angry if I have to restart because of something my cat did, because I have put in a lot of time and effort to see these violets grow and begin propagating and I would hate to know that my efforts had ended up being wasted.

Any advice I would love it right about now

More on my African Violets

hey! Anyone else notice my sudden interest in these silly little flowers? Well I have!

Anyways ... back to my story:

So as you all know I have been propagating African violets in my bedroom in glass containers. They have taken root quite well and I had been planing on just letting them finish growing in the containers of water, but I have been reading on the Internet that this is not good for the plants because they will take longer to root in the soil when I transplant them if they have water roots. Most places on the Internet say that I should transplant them to soil mixtures sometime soon.

Problem is that I have no soil at home, and because it's the middle of winter nowhere local really has the soil type that I need, now I do have sand, but not enough for all 6 of my violets (small as they may be).

For me this is a massive problem and I'm really not sure what to do because I know that I need a really lose and permeable soil to support African Violet growth.

Anyone Have advice for me? I could really use it!

Thanks a lot,
~Amanda-Lyn

So here's what I'm thinking

Well since not everyone is an Edward (twilight reference) I have decided that every week or so I will put up 10 things that I am thinking about a lot.

1. People who don't like twilight are idiots
2. People who think that Shakespeare is one of the most amazing minds ever are clearly insane
3. My books would make amazing movies
4. I'm so happy that I can see roots on my African violets
5. The roots on my African Violets look like pieces of white thread
6. Never trust your parents when they say that you will only be at the family party for one hour
7. My friends don't call nearly as often as they used to
8. The internet is right propagating African violets is fun and easy
9. The people who seem to think that propagating violets in soil is the best way to do it are clearly insane, when you propagate in water you can see the progress, which is way more interesting to watch
10. At the constant rate at which my African violets are propagating I will probably see the little babies starting to develop in 2-3 weeks, maybe less.

So ... that's basically what I have been thinking about all week.

Love you all,
Amanda-Lyn

Wow sorry I know it's been a while

OMG!! I'm so sorry. I have been so busy with rehearsals for m schools production of Fiddler on the Roof that I have had no time at all to blog ... or even work on my books (Gasp). So yesterday was my moms b-day and today is the day I sit in my bedroom at 10:21 at night thinking god if they don't give me tomorrow off somebody will die!

On a lighter note my African violets I started propagating last month are growing really tinny roots!! (Hey it's progress, don't blame me that I'm happy about that) It's such a relief to see those tiny little roots forming, I mean I had done all the research before I started to make sure that I was doing everthing correctly but, It's nice to have some nice solid reassureance that I'm doing this right.

So projecting here ... but if the timelines for water propagation I have read online are right I'm about a week ahead of where they usually are at this point, so I think I may have plantlets forming on the stem in a week and a half to two weeks (squeee)!

Any tips on how I can speed up the process? Post them here I would love to hear from you. :D

Happy New Year everyone!!!

OMG! I have not posted since last year! Lol it's been like a week since the last blog I put up ... but it's still last year right? *Smiles* Anyways all joking aside my new years resolution was to get as much work on my books done as possible in order to have at least one of them done this year. Wish me luck! (I'm gonna need it). So ... one thing people my friend (and fellow writer) Kara has not updated her blog lately. If you reed it don't panic she will update soon ... it's just that there was a death in her family and she has been very busy helping family members cope with the loss. She will blog again soon I promise! So happy new year to everyone, and be sure to support me and my books this year to.

Love you all,
Amanda-Lyn