African Violets and Gesneriads: anyone getting their columnea to bloom well?, 1 by Keyring

Keyring wrote:
Mine defoliate something awful (yes, I know, I'm sure I'm not watering enough) and when they bloom, I only get a few flowers. This time I have a whopping 3 on Lava Flow (pictured) - several buds dropped off before they opened......

I think they naturally drop leaves along the lower stem but still it looks ratty.

My growing areas are severely limited, so I have a choice of leaving it where it is (under lights) or putting it in the office window (where the succulents grow well - very arid). I might have to try the office window if only for the day-night temp fluctuation.

When I started growing these, I was told not to over pot, not to over water, not to over feed, and not to uproot it often. I'm not at all sure that it's working that well.....

By the way, if I could get this to put on a show, it should be pretty spectacular. The flowers are almost 3" long so they aren't small. It could eat up the codonanthe flowers like hershey's kisses.....