African Violets and Gesneriads: Little Fuzz, 0 by Keyring

Keyring wrote:
hi to my fellow fuzzheads :-)

There is really no real trick to these things. I can tell you how I grow them, but my methods are more a result of laziness than "best practices".

I let them grow while they're growing, and let them rest when they look like they need it. When the growths start looking ratty, then they might like a rest - I cut back on the light and water, but I do not snip off growths. I've let some of my Sinn seedlings grow through their first winter, while others decided to take a break. I don't force anything.

While growing, I feed them regularly. I put a tiny bit of slow release fertilizer in there - 2-3 pellets to a 3 or 4 inch pot - and then also fertilize them weakly with the other gessies. That adds up to a bit more fertilizer a bit more regularly than my other gessies.

Amy, you might try potting some of the ones with thinner stems a bit deeper as you did with your ges soc noid. When seeds are sown in a clump, often the seedlings will be lanky for lack of light. (Or, if you are like me, you can just leave them alone to figure it out.) I think I've said this before - if you think separating them will break the stems, just pot them up in clumps but try to tweeze the apart a bit to give them a bit more growing space. (This happens to be my usual method for the first potting up, as it's just soooooooo much faster.)

I often keep my Sinn seedlings in compots (3-4 to a pot) for a few months to over a year, depending on how long it takes that type to bloom. BUT, it is recommended that you split them up as soon as possible so that the tubers develop evenly.

At some point, they can be weaned off the high humidity. I usually do that when their second stems appear. At that point, I start growing them drier as well.

Even as adults, they like to be pot bound - pots are often only 1-2 inches wider than the tuber.

Brenda - yes, the mixed seed from the ges soc are mixed and can include species (which can be IDed) and hybrids (which will forever be noids). It's fun :-) I got some good things out of it.

compot pic, probably a hybrid with leucotricha as the mom: