African Violets and Gesneriads: One of my Favorite Plants Training An Episcia 'Cygnet', 1 by Allison_FL

Allison_FL wrote:
An Episcia 'Cygnet'. Gesneriacede and all who have or would like one .it's a treasure.( The one I grow is Alsobia Cygnet and I have also grown Iris Angel)

I bought a very small one on Ebay, I just about lost it had a tiny 1/8 piece of a stringy stolen and I nursed it ! Now I have a big plant and was also able to share
with dozens of friends. " Sold a lot also ) All from one little plant.
This is from the book ;
Plant that really Bloom Indoors
By George and Virginie Elbert
When we first saw 'Cygnet' growing in a basket and hanging down in a rather disorderly way. But the flowers were pretty and larger than most Episcias. The nurseryman disparaged it as having a poor habit. We bought it, nevertheless, and over the years have learned to handle it so that it remains as neat as you could wish and never stops blooming !! In our opinion it is the easiest to grow and train of all the Episcias..
The only objection is that the foliage is rather plain.
The flower is over an inch across, white, beautifully fringed, the throat dotted with purple. Flowers last two or three days at the most but the production of bloom per inch of stem over a long period is tremendous.
Episcia 'Cygnet' is a hybrid of two white flowered species which are not at all easy to bloom. It has hairy gray-green foliage, scalloped along the edges and tapering to a long petiole. The cause of it's bad habit is the productions of quantities of stolons ( suckers), which if allowed to grow, extend like rope down the side of pot or basket and then produce rosettes and flowers at the tips. All Episcias have this tendency, but in some at least the center stem is thick and sturdy.
' Cygnet' requires special training for flower production.
Since the Episcia is sterile, you must start with a plant. Pot it up with rich mix and keep very moist. ( I have mine 'Cygnet' pot sitting in a 6 inch flower pot saucer and in is under gro-light and natural light too !Mine is wicked and always has a small amount of plant food Eleanor's VF-11 in the saucer --- Allison)
It is more tolerant of real wetness than other Episcias. Feed regularly with balanced fertilizer. In the city window it requires an east or west situation; in the country it will do well with reflected light. Flowering depends on the number of successive cloudy days. But placed four or five inches below fluorescent tubes and given a 16 hour day, it will bloom continuously. high HUMIDITY IS BENEFICIAL BUT NOT A REQUIREMENT. the TEMPERATURE SHOULD ALWAYS BE OVER SIXTY-FIVE DEGREES f. ours HAVE NEVER BEEN BOTHERED BY PESTS.
As the plant grows, snip off all stolons at the base. The tips with their leafy rosettes can be propagated in moist vermiculite. While the plant is small -no more than two inches high- you will have months of blooms, with two flowers at a time that are really outsize in proportion. Gradually it will outgrow the pot, and in larger quarters will put up more rosettes. Keep trimming those stollons. After a goodly while you may have a five- or six inch pot mounded with stems and leaves no more than 3 inches high and all blooming. Single stems can then be removed for very rapid progation and quick blooming. In this way your plant will always be neat and flowering.
E. 'Cygnet' makes a splendid terrarium plant using the single stems in two inch pots.
This is an outstanding example of the way we can train plants accoding to our needs. Of course the plant itself must be amenable ' Cygnet' is very obliging. It's a treasure.
Allison





This message was edited Jan 20, 2006 5:55 AM