Saintpaulia African violet?

I have some plants of Saintpaulia. After the blooming , that lasts for several weeks, thank God, do any of you suggests cutting some of the basal leaves(the first circle, near the earth, which are usually the biggest ones) with the dead flowers or is it better to leave the plant alone and wait for the next blooming, which I imagine will start in a few months!!! Not before, unfortunately!. After the flowering period is it better to reduce water and fertilizer or not?


Any tricks for enducing the next blooming in the shortest possible time, without waiting too long?


Thank you for your kind help.


Joe

Saintpaulia African violet?
On propagation, the material I read does not indicate before, during or after bloom, it simply says to use a "mature" leaf.


"The most common method of propagation is by leaf cutting in spring. Any healthy, firm leaf will do. Remove the entire leaf with petiole (leaf stem) by snapping or cutting it off at the stem of the plant and trim the petiole to about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in length. Then make a hole in the growing medium (such as a half sand, half vermiculite mix) with a pencil, insert the leaf stem into the hole, and water thoroughly. According to Jones and Conover, roots normally appear at the petiole base in 3 to 4 weeks under good conditions and leaves of the new plants appear at the medium surface 3 to 4 weeks after root formation. In two to six months, young plants start from the bases of the stalks, which you'll be able to repot once they've formed two to three leaves.





"African Violets may also be propagated by division. Simply cut each crown away from the plant carefully so that each plant has its portion of the root system, and plant each division in whatever African Violet potting mix you're using." (http://www.gardenguides.com/articles/afr...





Another method of propagation is in water: http://www.violetcollection.com/AfricanV...





As for "pruning" your violet, "As an African violet grows older, the lower leaves die and need to be removed. When several leaves have been removed, the plant begins to look stemmy and unattractive. They are ready to be repotted when the stem is more than 2 inches long...." (http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/life/...





Per flowering time and duration, "To encourage bloom, provide a high-phosphorus liquid fertilizer diluted to half strength every two weeks." Also, make sure that when you water, the H2O is warm. Tap water shocks them if it is too cold.