African violet leaf propagation in water

I grow a few African violets, I think they are nice little plants.  I tend to propagate them by leaf cuttings, and sometimes seeds or even flower stalks, and I usually have good success. 

I propagate them by planting a leaf in soil, and it tends to produce several leaf babies.  I don't use heat, or grow lights, or humidity domes, or hormones, or anything special.  I just cut it off, plant it, treat it like the parent plant, and it produces a few baby plants (albeit slowly).  

I keep hearing how simple African violets are to propagate by putting a leaf in water.  There are plenty of photos of this on the internet which make it look very simple and possibly faster than in soil. 

Growing African violets by putting a leaf in water is simple - yet for some unknown reason I can't do it! 

I propagated all these African violets

Propagating African violets is simple but takes me months, quite often longer than everyone says it should.  If propagating in water is faster I would like to do that.  Water propagation would also take less space than soil.  I can see a few benefits of this method. 

I have one variety that is reluctant to propagate, each time I attempted to propagate its leaf in water it rots.  I have another variety that is far more vigorous and propagates more easily, I figured this would be the one to try in water.  

I put a leaf in water in March 2024.  I set this on the kitchen windowsill next to the parent plant.  I top this up with water when it starts to get lower, and never let it run dry.  

This leaf has not produced any roots, it has not produced any leaf babies, and as of April 2025 it is still alive even though it hasn't really done much.  That is 12 months of sitting in water.  

I have no idea what I am doing wrong.  All the plants in the photos above are from leaf cuttings I grew by planting it in soil.  They are all the same variety as my water attempt, it is a vigorous and simple to grow variety.  I don't understand why I can't propagate them in water. 

Leaf cutting after 12 months

The cut end of the petiole started to callus, which I thought was a good sign, but has done nothing since then.  

I started to wonder if it was too hot or too cold in my house, or if the humidity was wrong.  I don't think that is the issue because plants grow well and leaf cuttings that are planted in soil all work.  

Also, given that this has been here for a year, it should have been through the correct temperature range at some stage.  

12 months, no roots, no leaf babies

The leaf itself still looks alive.  Perhaps it does not look as healthy as it did 12 months ago, but it is still firm and green.

You can see the mother plant in the background, it is blooming happily so the conditions can't be too bad.  If the mother plant has enough sunlight to bloom this well, the leaf cutting should have enough light to grow leaf babies.  If there wasn't enough light, or if there was too much direct light, the leaf should have died by now.  It is a mystery to me.

Leaf still looks healthy enough

While certainly not perfect, I don't think the conditions are too bad where this leaf is situated.  The mother plant is growing right next to this leaf, it blooms for months on end and generally looks great.  

To add to the mystery, more recently I took two leaf cuttings of the mother plant (and one from another plant) and have them in a pot of soil beside the leaf in water.  

I planted those leaves 27 January 2025, the first leaf babies popped up on 19 March 2025, about two months later.  During those two months the leaf in water sat there and didn't appear to change. 

African violet leaf cuttings in soil work well for me

I have no idea what I am doing wrong, and to be honest it doesn't matter too much.  I know propagating African violets in water is simple for many people, I also know that I can propagate them in soil pretty easily, so the fact that I can't propagate them in water doesn't change a great deal for me because I can still propagate these lovely plants. 

If you propagate African violet leaves in water and it works for you, keep doing that.  If you propagate African violet leaves in soil and that works for you, keep doing that.  If you propagate by wrapping the stem in damp paper towel and that works for you, keep doing that.  It doesn't matter too much what doesn't work, as long as at least one method does work for you. 

I plan to keep this leaf in water until it dies or produces baby plants.  It isn't taking much room, and isn't taking too much effort, so I may as well leave it to the bitter end.  Propagating African violets by planting leaves or flower stems in soil works well for me, so I will continue to do it this way. 

On occasion I list African violets on my for sale page.  I don't have a lot of types, and don't usually have many extra plants, but if you are interested it is worth a look.