African Violets and Gesneriads: November Photos and Chit Chat, 1 by bsimpson1972

bsimpson1972 wrote:
Well, micro minis grow extremely quickly from seed. They take only a few months from seed to bloom. If the seeds are fresh, germination happens in about 4-10 days. If they aren't fresh, germination can be random and very sporadic.

I have been frustrated more than once after sowing micro mini seeds from ebay, the seed fund or other sources that weren't fresh and not a single seedling came up.

Once they're germinated, just wait for them to have two to three pairs of baby leaves before you repot. The seedlings will be tiny and stay tiny for quite some time. However, they are incredibly tough for their size!

If you want to make them grow faster, just take a tooth pick and "tickle the roots" of the seedlings every two weeks for about 8 weeks.

And if you really are in a hurry, take a pair of small scissors and remove the tiny cotyledons and every baby leaf but two pairs and pot up the plant with the remaining leaves just abouve the surface of the mix. This is tedious and sunds scary at first but gives those seedlings an incredible growth boost!

I grow both S. pusilla and muscicola (aka. "Rio Das Pedras") unenclosed. The former on wicks, the latter on a pebble tray. They grow, bloom and set seeds with no problems at all. My experience is that if you can keep the plants moist and above 50% humidity, they'll do just fine!

They also do well in any high sided glass container or, of course, enclosed.

A Wardian case may be too large for plants that max out at about 2.5" across at maturity. Think along the lines of a brandy snifter or a half-pint mason jar...

However, in a small Wardian case, you can easily put a whole collection of these tiny plants. :)

To give you an idea, here's a picture of Sinningia concinna with my hand for scale.