Well if my numbers are right; I am up to 83 named mini/semi AV's, 2 unnamed semi mini AV's, 32 sinningias and some favorite hanging plants. I took tons of pictures today to share with everyone (or whoever still comes here) *lol*
The Obsession Has Begun
continued....
continued.....
Some of my favorite hoyas.....
Nematanthus & xCodonanthus
xCodonanthus continued.....
I am not 100% sure but I think I have a sinningia cross that may be forming a seed pod
This is Miram G x guttata which was pollinated 6/17.
Wish I knew if it should be further along if it was successful or not. Hopefully someone who hybridizes will be able to provide more info.
Well, I have alot more to post; but I just checked the mail and I got a box from Rob's so I need to unpack the new recruits *lol*.....Priorities you know ;)
Some of my pictures seem to have not posted so I'll try again. Still getting used to posting here again.
continued......
Last one for now.....more later
Hey Kim::))
Good to see someone posting here lol!! Those new babies of yours are just gorgeous and it won't take them long to find out how well they will be taken care of ::)) Can't wait to see more of your new beauties. Thanks for sharing with us!! Oh, love the little planters you put some in...so cute ::))
Connie
Hey Connie, SO GOOD to see you still here too!
Yeah, I decided to join Dave's again but didn't realize just how quiet it had became.
That's really sad in a way.
I miss all of the seasoned veterans from our time years ago when I first joined.
I hope that maybe by posting more often; it will encourage others to post.
Growing gessies has to be one of the most fun plants there are to grow.
I really have missed growing and am really enjoying setting up a new life and setting up a new plant stand.
I figure that since I spent the $20 for the year that I am just going to keep talking to myself and the comer by and maybe it will spark newbies to come along and want to learn a new hobby.
For me; it is my meditation time and I REALLY need it with everything that has happened in my life the past 2 years.
I am VERY excited about what the future holds and where I will take this hobby but I know I'm hooked for life as I have a husband now who truly supports my interests :)
Anyway; time for some more pictures
Here is the overall picture of my plant stand, followed by the top shelf, the middle shelf, a closeup of the middle shelf with the plants in bloom on it and a closeup of the top shelf with the juveniles waiting for their first blooms:
These are pictures of the wicked cool seed starting domes I got on E-Bay. They hold 49 leaves each and only take up something like 8 or 9 square inches. I loved the first one and soon needed a second *lol*
The next pictures are some WICKED cute colored pots that I picked up at 5 or 6 different Marden's all around here. My poor husband, the things he does for me *lol* I went crazy going from store to store to by every single one they had *lol* They all fit in a cool under the bed rubbermaid container on wheels. The first picture is all of them together, the second picture is the mini size pots and the third picture is the semi mini size pots. I felt like I had won the megabucks! *lol*
And last shots of the day (there will be more to come; trust me *lol*) are my little windowsill sinningia's with "Josh's Bench" and the little guys that live on the middle shelf of my stand "under the dome" until they can stand on their own.
Well; that's it for today but I'll be back with more soon.....stay tuned *lol*
WOW Kim!! You got it goin' on Girl lol!! Love it :) Yes, keep those pics coming. That bench is adorable ::))
Well, we are so glad you are back and I sure hope you will continue to stay. You sound happy again and I'm so proud for you!! There are only 4 or 5 of us left (if my count is right) that were here when you were here last. I miss the chat, the games and everything else we did. New members came in but didn't stay long. Nothing like the good ol' days lol.
Connie
This message was edited Jul 3, 2014 8:21 PM
Hi guys,
Just stopping in to say Wow Kim! Hi Sis ^_^.
I miss all the fun too.Guess everybody is just too busy in the summer.
Kim,the seed pod looks fine,just watch for it to dry out.
Lynn
Hey Lynn; so good to see you!
Woo Hoo; that is good news on the seed pod. I will have something to look forward to growing out this winter if it really works *woot*
Hubby and I just put the 3rd shelf lights on last night and it won't take long until all 3 shelves will be full I'm sure *lol*
I am SO tickled to be back growing and look forward to this forum picking up again.
What are you all growing now?
I haven't been here in a long time so catch me up ladies; I've missed you all!
Queen Sabrina that has been treated with Keiki Grow :)
This message was edited Jul 5, 2014 3:57 PM
Kim,
I have had a lot going on the last year and a half.I gave away a lot of things and some looked so pathetic I tossed them.
I still have quite a few Episcias,lots of Sinningias (hopefully all my stored tubers haven't shriveled) and odds and ends of lots of Gessies.So good to see you enthusiastic about it again! ^_^
Lynn
You can find anything you want to know about Sinningias here. http://www.burwur.net/sinns/2index.htm
Kim, those are beautiful! You already have more than me . . . but I am staying small on purpose for now. ^_^
Hi Kim and Aspenjo. Good to see you gals posting again. Nichole keeps this forum alive, thanks to her. Hopefully more will start coming back. I hope so. I will come and visit more often too!
Eileen
Aww, thanks Eileen!
Jim just moved (again) to Ohio because of work . . . so hopefully once he settles in again he'll post once in a while too.
Let's see if this helps any. It is a message I just sent through "Contact Us" . . .
"
My suggestion is not for the whole site, but the forum mentioned in the subject line.
I'm sure you can see that the participation in the African Violets and Gesneriads Discussion Forum has dropped considerably in the past 2 years . . not even considerably . . . but dramatically . . . so that participation is next to nothing.
Times are tough for everyone, and I understand that Dave's Garden will still ask for membership fees - you've got to keep the site running.
What I would like to suggest, though, is to change the African Violets and Gesneriads Discussion Forum from a "members only" forum to a non-member or "free" forum. I think that will entice many members who left Dave's Garden for the free social networking sites to come back and get the forum active again.
Thank you for your consideration.
Nichole
a.lk.a. Syrumani
"
WOW Nichole, that was BRILLIANT!
I really hope that they will consider it and that if it does become visible to non paying members that we get some newbies in.
I just LOVE answering questions or asking questions to others that know more than I do.
AV's are SO versatile and really not a picky plant.
They are lots of fun and most people only know about the supermarket ones.
GREAT IDEA!!!!
No reply yet . . . but it could take time. Would be nice, though, if they sent back a "we received your message" . . . but, oh, well.
I still talk to alot of the people I met here on FB . . . one reason they go there is because of no fees . . . I think it would be nice to have a central place to discuss things again.
I don't do Facebook. In fact, hate it.
This is why I wish this forum would be free to others so that people would come back and post.
I wish I had never joined here again and asked for a refund once I realized that no one even posted on this forum anymore but that was a no go.
So I decided that I would just talk to myself *lol*
BUT you, Connie, and Lynn still are posting so that is AWESOME!
I sure hope you ladies are going to help me grow out some seeds this fall/winter!
So far it looks like 3 of my sinningia crosses have taken so it will be a fun project if you ladies are up for it and have the space.
I'm still just propagating and hybridizing what I can and have decided that I am not going to order anymore plants this year (well.....maybe 1 more order *lol*) and just keep trying to do the best with what I have.
I am SO glad to be back growing. Everyday I look forward to scanning the light stand and seeing what I can do.
I took about 7 sinningia cuttings recently and am trying to root them in water. A couple of them have 1 root already!
I am mainly sticking to AV's (mini and semi mini) and sinningias this time around.
Feel like I did my thing with streps and not sure I want to evolve into that again.
Maybe today I will get a chance to do a few pictures or something :)
Kim
This message was edited Jul 26, 2014 6:00 AM
I'm up for growing seeds . . . ordered some from the Gesneriad Society, just to have something to grow!
Take heart Kim. Lots of people usually come back in the fall!
Quite a few on my other forums here, mostly hoya forum have gone to facebook and AllTimePlants, where it is free. Awhile back, there were problems with some people posting cruel posts, (there were a few trouble makers) and when people were incensed at it, and replied, they were terminated by Dave's Garden. A lot of others didn't like that, and so they qult, or didn't renew. DG lost a lot of good members with great ideas and sharing.
This message was edited Jul 26, 2014 1:52 PM
Hey everyone!
Didn't get much of a chance for pictures today (a few sinningias)
I am SO stoked you are going to want to grow out some of my seeds Nichole. I'm gonna need you to *lol*
We'll make it a fun fall/winter project! I can't wait!
So far the crosses that HAVE taken are:
Miriam G x guttata (already collected seed)
Los Angeles x guttata (seed pod almost ripe)
Ozark Coral Freckles x Los Angeles (seed pod almost ripe)
I will soon been pollinating these:
Ozark Double Snowrose
Miriam G
HCY's Taurus
I was thinking of crossing Ozark Double Snowrose with guttata, Miriam G with Ozark Coral Freckles and HCY's Taurus with Gabriel's Horn........we'll see :)
Here are the few pictures that I grabbed before I dismantled them for seed purposes *lol*
The first picture is Miriam G
The second picture is Ozark Double Snowrose
The third picture is HCY's Taurus (note the bloom in the background)
The fourth picture is a closeup of the first flower
The fifth picture is a closeup of the send flower (the flower in the background)
Quite a variable plant so I suspect offspring will also be variable as she will be the mother and Gabriel's Horn is VERY variable also. So if this cross takes; I suspect it will be exciting to watch each new baby bloom when they reach that age.
I also LOVE Miriam G in person and think that the striping of it is very unique. I think crossed with Ozark Coral Freckles is going to be quite unusual also. I sure hope this one takes!
I said I wasn't going to order again but.....
Needless to say, I will be adding:
SRG's Lavender Eruption, SRG's Blue Pearl and SRG's PYOU to the gene pool *lol*
I wanna write so much more but hubby just walked in with Chinese.......priorities you know *lol*
Hope everyone is having a GREAT weekend!
Hey everyone ::)) Wow Kim, Chinese, gorgeous Sinningias...what more could a girl ask for lol ::))
Yep, Sister Lynn is right if we all just hang in there. In the mean time, maybe Nichole's letter will help. Great letter Nichole ::))
Connie
Just thought I'd share . . .
OMG that is SO cool!
My brother has his name and his wife's name but I have NEVER seen Kim and I drink a TON of Diet Coke *lol*
Wow, I really do exist *lol*
shhhhh don't tell anyone.......
3 more crosses tried this morning. Not sure they will take or not but hoping so :)
Thanks for sharing; made my day :)
Wow, I seem to be having technical difficulties all over the place *lol*
The 2 seed pods that I said were almost ripe above have me perplexed.
I crossed them both on the same day.
This morning I woke to find one all brown and split open.
I proceeded to remove what little amount of seed there was in it.
I then got to thinking that just because the other one was still green that I didn't want it to split open and lose any seed so I proceeded to open it manually and the seeds were all white.
On top of that, there weren't that many in there.
I know they are like dust, but it seems like I should be getting more seed in each pod than I am.
I sure do wish that someone with experience could help me here.
Trial and error when you don't have a lot of chances to cross is difficult at best.
I sure do hope that my skills improve with this as I REALLY want a lot of seeds to share and I'm quite disappointed in the haul so far!
My motto is..........it only takes 1 seed to be a beauty!
It's a science project; next year will be better I'm sure *lol*
This message was edited Jul 29, 2014 2:33 PM
Hmmmm . . . maybe next time tie some sort of baggie over the pod, so if it does split, the seeds would fall in the bag?
Might try that.
I do have 3 tiny tiny ziplocs and I could put one over a pod to see what happens.
If any of the crosses I just did take; I'll try it.
Good idea.
Good Morning Friends,
I can barely contain myself this morning for many reasons!
First, I did 4 crosses on 7/29 and this morning I checked on them and sure enough, all 4 have nice pods forming! Woo Hoo! My head starts racing with hopes of something amazing coming out of these crosses. Of course we all know that almost all of them will be duds or look alikes; but there is always that hope of a one in a million. I think it is that hope that really encourages me. I never thought so many of the crosses that I am doing would take. I think I should have been a bee *lol* I have ALWAYS struggled with growing seed though. I do OK as long as there is a tuber, cutting, leaf or plant to work with but when it comes to seeds; I have always struggled. This is why I am SO grateful Nichole that you are willing to help a sister out this fall/winter! I smile when I think about when you first arrived here and how wonderful it felt to send you all those baby AV's. I remember sitting on my floor in my bedroom next to the plant stand and making your box. It brought me such great joy. Hopefully by this fall/winter I will have much more to share with you other than seeds too. I sent you a D-mail but you never replied :)
Another reason I'm pumped today is because I approached my new husband; my Noah; the answer to my prayers (awwww) about possibly putting the lights together for my 4th and final shelf on my light stand tonight and he said yes! OMG.....new real estate to work with! Woot!
This was after I approached him about spending $200.00 on tubers and again the answer was yes. I am just SO excited! It's like Christmas. I ordered 11 new SRG hybrids that I am totally on the roof about! The gene pool that could be in those hybrids makes my head spin. *lol*
I am a little perplexed though because I received 2 tubers both supposed to be HCY's Taurus from Rob's earlier this spring (free plants with my orders) and they are both blooming together. I have attached pictures of both of them. Obviously 1 of them is mislabled and that kinda bums me out because I hate to put the wrong name to one of them if I plan to use it for hybridizing it's important to know the REAL name. So I am going to have to really research and figure out what it is I really have. According to my spreadsheet I should only have HCY's Taurus and HCY's Aquarius. But there is also HCY's Aries out there and could one of them possibly be that? I don't know. But I do know that these 2 Taurus's look nothing alike. Any thoughts on this?
Off to do more dobbing :)
This message was edited Aug 2, 2014 8:33 AM
Kim,
I would email the picture to Rob and ask him.
Woo Hoo....more plants,new seed pods AND a new stand.You must have done something right girl ^_^.
Lynn