Thanks Lynn!
I'm actually on a mission to make the micros more widely available. I think that everyone should have one. Seriously! Throw them in a mason jar or something with some dirt, screw on the lid, keep bright and warm - that's it. :)
October Photos and Chit Chat
I just got a tiny little tuber of White Sprite.I was wondering if I should plant it now or wait until it sprouted.
Plant it! Those little things sprout within weeks (2-4 usually). Just keep it domed or in a baggie), just dampen the mix slightly and leave it alone. Once sprouted, they grow to flowering size in usually 4-6 weeks. :)
I really enjoyed your photos Lynn and Olaf. Thanks for sharing.
Jamie
Thanks Jamie! Much appreciated!
I've just started out on the adventure that is growing Gesneriads and I have, I am and I (most likely) will enjoy every single second of it! :)
And while I was at it, I also embarked on two more adventures: Begonias and Hoyas.
Seems like those three "afflictions" are somewhat related since I have not met many Gessie growers who don't grow at least a few Begonias and/or Hoyas... LOL
We all need to start a "Obsessive Compulsive Plant Collectors (Not So Much) Anonymous".... LOL
Okay now! What would that spell? OCPC(NSM)A... Catchy, ain't it? I bet that we'll be attracting a million addicts/codependents in the blink of an eye... LOL
What I'm trying to say is: I love everyone of you! I haven't learned this much in such a short amount of time in quite a while! This little group of people here rocks my world every single day!
YOU ALL ROCK! BIG TIME!
Just needed to get this off my chest!!! :)
Olaf
You Rock! Love your pictures and you must have the greenest thumb around!~! Lou
Thanks Lou! Well, a "green thumb" runs in my family, particularly on my mother's side. That and the fact that I grew up in the country might be responsible... :)
Streptocarpus 'Happy Time'. Thanks Lynn!
Streptocarpus 'Blue Weismoor'. This one is a stunner! Thanks Lynn!!!
Streptocarpus 'Bristol's Party Boy'. Although a large grower, this is one of my favorite Streps.
Olaf...Thanks so much for taking the time to take the pictures. I really appreciate this. For neglected plants, they look pretty great! Mine have had some neglect and I've lost quite a few this summer. Luckily a lot are rhizomes and tubers and they will come back - I hope. I think its pretty good you can grow the mini sinningias like that. All mine are enclosed in jars and glass containers, but I don't seem to find the correct moisture level where they will just thrive...I do think they would do better not completely enclosed for me. I also put a layer of perlite down first in my containers. I tried to grow pots of achimenes in an aquarimum much like you have your sinningias & misc plants but I lost allf of them, I could not keep them moist enough but then again, it was not a good summer for the plants with me traveling alot. What are those light strips you are using...they are working really well. I think my lighting is a major problem with my plants also. Thanks again!
And I didn't want to slight anyone elses pictures...all the plants are just lovely! Little plant envy here. I have to say I have a lot of non-blooming plants that should be showing off for our family visiting from Massachusetts!
tish
I just LOVE the strep blooms, but I've never been able to keep them alive.
Beautiful pictures, Olaf and Lynn.
Olaf, how often do you water your sinns.? Should they be kept moist? I have wicked the one you sent me and so far it's doing great. I'm not sure how often to water if not on wicks. It's on my plant shelf sitting among my baby violets. Under lights. I have to get a light meter that works. I have the meter that does water ph and lights, but it's not working. The ones for cameras are so expensive. I'm going to do some shopping around.
Thanks everyone!
The one thing that I have learned over the years is that if you have a somewhat unsteady watering hand (like I do...), then a light mix with a lot of Perlite is the key. Sinningias, Streps, Violets and many other commonly grown Gesneriads like it on the dry side when humidity is above approximately 50%.
As for the rhizomatous genera like Achimenes and Kohleria: As long as they are actively growing, NEVER let them dry out! Anything from leaf damage to premature dormancy can be the result... It is almost impossible to overwater a Kohleria that is in active growth but forget to water them and they droop almost immediately and the leaf damage starts within a few hours.
Newly acquired mini Sinningias often times shed their leaves or even all their crowns entirely. On top of that, mini Sinningias are very brittle plants and hard to ship without damage. However, if you just take the tuber and put it into some barely damp mix and dome it, you will usually see the new sprouts within a few weeks. Often times the tuber has some spare sprouts coming up right away. From sprout to flower, it usually takes 6-8 weeks.
Tish: Achimenes should make PERFECT outdoor basket plants for Summer in your area. The key is to keep the soil moist at all times. Oh, and do you recognize the yellow flowered Episcia in the picture? :)
Eileen: I don't have any of the gadgets you are talking about and have never used them in my entire life. The only thing I have is a cheap thermometer/hygrometer which is probably not very precise but does the trick for me.
As a general rule, Sinningias don't need a lot of water when out of bloom and surprisingly large amounts when in bloom, particularly when grown in small pots. It's always a good idea to let the mix dry a bit before watering again. Wicking also works wonderfully. If you grow Sinningias domed, they actually thrive on neglect. I water my enclosed micros maybe once a month and sometimes even less.
Oh, and Sinningias will show you that they need water as they will start to droop but will get back to normal within a few hours after watering. Usually even the flowers come right back to life. Not recommended but it happens... LOL
""As for the rhizomatous genera like Achimenes and Kohleria: As long as they are actively growing, NEVER let them dry out! Anything from leaf damage to premature dormancy can be the result... It is almost impossible to overwater a Kohleria that is in active growth but forget to water them and they droop almost immediately and the leaf damage starts within a few hours.""
Olaf, thanks for the info. Now I know why the few Kohleria I had a few years ago didn't make it. I didn't water them enough. LOL
I've copied your info and am saving it in my documents so I can go and read it again, and again.
Oh, Eileen: Kohlerias in hot weather and high humidity can easily get mildew spots and some varieties are more prone to that than others ('Mother's Lipstick' is a mildew magnet for me, mor example). However, Kohlerias are such strong growers that mildew is usually more of a cosmetic problem.
Sinningia 'California Gold'. I like the lighting in this picture.
Sinningia guttata. From the batch of seedlings that I distributed to some folks on this site. :)
Nematanthus fissus. Full of buds.
Achimenes erecta 'Tiny Red'. Almost there... :)
Atlanta is very hot and dry in the summer,not much rain and when it does it hardly gets anything wet. Even in the shade, it is very hard for me to grow achimenes outside because they need watering so often. Anything outside needs a large pot and needs to have a well established root system. I do have the old purple achimenes growing outside, but my newer varieties arent' established enough to grow outside...on and off I am not home often enough to keep up with the watering. If it can't "wilt" alot, its doomed. Small pots are impossible for any outside plants, they cannot hold the moisture long enough. I did learn you can put a smaller pot inside a larger pot and the inner pot will stay moist longer, but I have not tried this with achimenes.
I had the opposite luck with kohleria I tried to grow outdoors...the rhizomes rotted! I guess dry, too wet, dry, too wet...too many times.
And Olaf, My Genevieve does not look as good as yours!....good job! So nice to see it growing so well. I need to restart my stolens to get it going again. One day when I have more hours!....I've spent enough time with plants today.
I want to ask Olaf.....those plants (mini sinningia?) setting in the pebble trays...how did you plant the pot, perlite in the bottom and a wick? do you water the pot and put some water in the pebbles for humidity or you you just fill up the tray and the plant takes up the water from there? thanks
tish
tish
v
Hey Tish!
The micro mini on the pebble tray is S. muscicola (aka. "Rio Das Pedras"). The plant is in LFS in a little condiment cup. No wick. When I refill the water in the pebble tray, I do that by watering through the Sinningia pot until the pebble tray is full enough. Next to the Sinningia there is a Maxillaria tenuifolia ("Coconut-pie-Orchid") on the same watering and fertilizing regimen and they make good companions.
I only use MiracleGro Tomato fertilizer 1/4 strength every time I water. I have never used SuperThrive or any of those Vitamine supplements. What I do use is RootOne for it's fungicidal properties.
I forgot how dry it gets in Georgia in Summer. Well, anything rhizomatous is pretty much doomed unless you figure out some kind of way to keep your plants moist at all times. LARGE pots are essential anyway and plunging smaller pots into larger ones also has the benefit of keeping the roots cool.
Have you ever tried the polymer-gel-crystals? Lowe's sells them as "SoilMoist". I use them indoors and out for Kohlerias and everything else that is very thirsty. These crystals have cut down my watering on a Kohleria in a basket from 3 times a day in Summer to only once a day!
Another thing that can be very helpful for outdoor plants is to use a much heavier mix than you would indoors. Kohlerias and Achimenes as well as Sinningias like S. tubiflora are very fast growers and are very gluttenous in their food and water intake and a heavier, richer mix can help accomodate their needs.
Speaking of Sinningias: Have you tried tubiflora, 'Apricot Bouquet', 'Arkansas Bells', macrostachya, leucotricha, cardinalis, bullata and a plethora of others? Some of them could even be hardy in a well protected spot with some mulch in your ares.
Oh, and 'Genevieve' has been blooming all Summer and is just now taking a bit of a break. I'll have to cut off some stolons and start some new plants. It's a nice, large Episcia that should be grown more widely. :)
Olaf
Noid, love the color on this one!
Hi, This is a Hybrid from the Violet Barn. It is the best flowering strep. I have ever grown. I repoted it to a 4 inch square pot and placed it a north window in may. I hope you how heavy it is flowering in Sept 2011 and has been flowering this heavy since June! I didn't add any fertilizer to thr mox and din't remember to fertilize it early August.
Eucodonia noid. Small white tubular bloom with purple edge, less than 1/2" across.
So dainty and cute. I love it. Lou
I'm going to spell this incorrectly, sorry. Amaphillion rupeste. It is growing in a one gallon fish bowl. I got this rhizome from Jim Roberts and took me two years to get it growing this nicely...he does not grow his enclosed. This is also a small white bloom.
Hey Tish!
That Eucodonia is just adorable! :)
Amalophyllon rupestre is another total cutie! I love those small, rhizomatous genera!
Here's Diastema vexans:
Another flower:
Pearcea hypocyrtiflora
Aeschynanthus longicaulis. Thanks Jamie for the two Aeschynanthus!
Aeschynanthus radicans 'Variegata'
Episcia 'Unpredictable Valley'. Finally showing her true colors after I found the right spot for her. :)
Episcia 'Silver Sheen'. She too found the right spot and is really growing on me. :)
This is not a gessie, just a house plant. It is a rooting cutting from the mama plant... I'm not sure of the name, I got it years ago in a grocery store hanging basket. The flowers are a pretty little yellow and are scented,the leaves have a pretty varigation, and it has woody stems, hard for met to root! I'm seen this plant in the Logees greenhouse catalogue. This is one of my favorite plants, but the mama does get messy, it blooms alot and when they dry and drop off there is a lot to clean up, but I really don't mind because the blooms are worth it!
Saintpaulia 'Cirelda'. Just cute! :)
I think you can never go wrong with noid violets, they do the best for me...maybe its because I don't expect the most from them, ha.
Thats an amazing show from the strep...thats when I always lost mine, when I repotted. Love the blooms and am disapointed I cannot grow them, but I've given up killing them...I just don't have the heart anymore.
I especially love the leaves on Pearcea hypocyrtiflora!
I have read where John in DC and Jim in Md grow some of the sinningia outdoors. I do have Banana Foster, Arkansas Bells, and Apricot Boquet sinningias and am working on rooting some cuttings so next year I can try them outside.
Tommy,what a gorgeous blue!
Greensideup,what a Strep. to bloom that long!
Olaf,love your pictures as always!
Tish,love your plants!
Hi Olaf, the Aeschynanthus came from someone else. I've never been great with those. Your Pearcea look so much like plants that I have labeled Gloxinella lindenani (sp?) i grew lots of seed varieties near one another in a tray and may have mixed/confused seedlings.
Hi Tish, Love the Amaloyphllon and your yellow unknown. This month is full of wonderful gessie pictures.
OOPS! Yep! Sorry Jamie! Thanks Randi! LOL My memory isn't the best...
Gloxinella lindeniana can have similar a similar foliage color/pattern as Pearcea hypocyrtiflora under certain light conditions but Gloxinella will grow unenclosed while Pearcea won't. Pearcea also has a much rougher leaf texture and Gloxinella usually has much darker leaves.
Both are cool plants but Gloxinella didn't enjoy my Summer temps too much... There were a few rhizomes but that's about it...
Sinningia 'Amanda's Penny'. At it again...
