June IV gessie flowers

I didn't realize how many posts were on the last thread, so starting a new one.
Here is Sinningia (or Gloxinia 'Paula') with her first bloom.

Beautiful, Gail!

That is so pretty!

I love the pictures everyone!! Gail,your Streps. are always gorgeous!! I pulled my DT Streps. out of his mix today and switched to mine.Hope all goes well,but I rushed a little because my back was killing me!! If they don't react well,I will just repot them again...LOL.

I still have two trays of his I haven't had time to put in my own mix.............because I am repotting every single plant I have right now................

I am trying to repot a lot of things,plus switch some of them over to matting.Some of my plants grow much better if they are not wicked,especially those not in my soil mix (mine is very lean).Wicking seems to keep plants too wet for my taste and I find matting is easier to control.I guess hand watering will always be my favorite..I'm just an old dinosaur...LOL. Trouble with that is I don't have the same energy level I used to and hand watering every tiny little thing takes Mega energy!!

Lynn

I hand water everything I have and don't use capillary matting except on babies............it is time consuming for sure............(and I am certainly not 'young')

Oh Gail, I love that Sinn! I'm hoping I still have a few Charles Lawn mix tubers that made it thru the winter. Do you know that I've never bloomed one of those Sinns? That's my goal this year, is to bloom one of those floofy ones! LOL The Sinn sp. 'Nocturne' that I got a leaf of last year did indeed form a tuber, and it's growing beautifully. I'm hoping to have a bloom on that one some time.

I ordered some new florist's gloxinia from David Thompson and am furious at myself for not taking the time to root the leaves that were broken. However, I did cut out the centers of 3 that were broken and am rooting them.............

Look at the same plant today as it opens................Her name is 'Paula' and David hybridizes the florist's gloxinia................

That is just absolutely gorgeous! Do you have any of those left from when you used to grow Sinns, or did you get rid of them all completely and are just now starting over with David's? I remember you had some Charles Lawn hybrids at one time...

I got rid of all the seed grown ones when I ran out of space................but will order some more seed for fall..................

Pretty!

nice gail

Gail,
Did you remove the wicks from ALL of those plants or just stop using them.I am wondering what you will do if you go on a trip or something?

I did the same thing. I removed my wicks. Not sure what Gail did. So many got too wet or too dry and each plant is so different. Wicking worked for me for a year, then plants seemed to be unhappy with it.

Sally,
I am waffling back and forth with wicking,matting and hand watering.Although I prefer the latter,sometimes it's hard to keep up.

I just like hand watering or better yet...........I try to put the same kind of plants in the same size pot to a permanest tray. Then I can water from the bottom and come back and hour later and remove extra water. It works for me.................I haven't found a good answer to being out of town. I tried last time to let a teenager water and that is when all my plants got burned from the seaweed kelp so badly. She let them all dry out.............

That is ok......it is a good excuse to divide and repot every plant I have..........

Oh and I know how much you love that...LOLOL. (the dividing and propagating part).It would be great if I ever managed to get everything in each tray in the same size pot,but even then I find plants dry at different rates.Oh well,it wouldn't be so much fun if everything grew at the same rate and required exactly the same care ^_^.

Lynn

Not many blooms at my house but this violet from Goldleaf is starting to bloom.

merrywood

Sinningia Rebecca x self

Pretty merrywood, Jan . . .

I've backed off wick watering, too. Like Sally said - some would get too wet, some too dry. I am currently using the 'Texas style' watering on my AV's . . . so far, everyone likes it. And it's easy for me.

Ooh, I love Sinn 'Rebecca' x self, Jan! That's gorgeous! Is it as red as it looks on my computer monitor?

Nichole, do you do the actual 'Texas style' with the holes drilled in the sides of the pots? I'm too lazy most of the time to drill the holes, but it's definitely the best method for me.

Ok, 'Texas style, Nichole's way'. ^_^

My 'revised' method is exactly the same as the original . . . except that I don't put the extra holes. I still put the extra perlite at the bottom of the pots, so the soil is not sitting in water. I've been doing that for just over a month, and my plants seem to love it!

That's exactly the way I do it! I think it's a fabulous method and the only one I've consistently used for quite a while. If not for that method, I don't know that I'd have any plants left at all! LOL

Hello All,
Amy, so nice to see you here.... I still have one of the sinn's you sent me and it grows like a weed and I think of you ofter....
Sorry I have not been around but with all the rain my gardens are full of weeds like I never cleaned them before... I also have been reading the twilight series and now listening on audio tapes... I love to be read to....
Jan, the second flower bloomed on the sinn's you sent and my gosh is it beautiful... I will try to get a picture later. It is a beautiful red... I am still not clear on what I am suppose to do to rest them after they bloom... Looks like I may get seeds on the purple one... So excited
Oh and the hawk I posted that I picked up on our land... The next morning I took her out of her cage and she looked 100% better so I took her and her blankets and put her on the carport and gave her water out of a turkey baster and she took it and also offered her ground beef raw that she did not want.... She then hopped up on both feet spred her wings and took one more hop and she flew away... I see her everyday... I love nature but this one made me feel so good to have done.... To see her every day give my heart a warm feeling....
Ok going to pull some more of the million weeds in my beds.....
Miss you all and keep you all in my prayers ... Keep cool and have a great weekend..
Hugs,
Susan

Turtle, what a great ending for your hawk!

Jannick, such pretty plants!

No pictures for me today, feeling dizzy again. Went to the vet with my Parrotlet, then felt bad. Resting now.

Could anyone give a link the "Texas Method" referred to in the above posts?? I have heard of it but when I googled it I didn't find a site. Thanks, Lou

Lou - just scroll down until you get to Texas-Style Potting Method.

http://www.optimara.com/optimaraglossary/t-tox.html

These are PDF documents, so you'll have to have Adobe installed to open them, but most every computer has that, so you should be fine.

This one has a nice article with a lot of info about the Texas Potting method. http://www.avsa.org/AVMFiles/GrowingShowPlants.pdf

This one has a shorter article, but still quite informative on the next-to-last page. http://www.yulokod.ca/sunny/TAVS/PDF/2008-TAVS-05.pdf

Jannich,
Just love your pictures!! ^_^.
Susan,
I was thinking about sending out a Saint Bernard to search for you...LOL. I have missed your posts.

I will have to look into this Texas method. I use such a lean mix it seems if I put perlite in the bottom plants stay too dry on matting,but maybe ?? it could work with wicking.I admit I prefer to underwater anything rather then take a chance on rot or fungi.

Lynn

Look what just gave me her first bloom!! Episcia Pink Smoke...........I love her even more!!!

That's beautiful! Is that the one you bought from the Marketplace last year? If so, I bought it, too, and surprisingly, still have it alive! Mine's not blooming yet, though.

Yes, I bought 3 stolons from Goldleaf on DG Marketplace and even have many stolons rooted. This is now in an 8" bulb pan and overflowing.......will stick some more stolons.......
By the way, I keep mine under a big dome........with the vents open.

Yours is doing much better than mine, but I don't keep mine domed, so I'm sure that's part of the problem. I think I'll fertilize it today and see if I can't get it kickstarted. I really appreciate all the flower pictures you post, Gail. I do love to see them and you're the best flower picture source I know!

Well, thank you Rain...............I guess I take so many pictures because I like to see pictures and I really wish everyone would take a minute to take pictures of their plants. When people post pictures, I always add another 'want' plant ^_^

LOL I'm pretty sure my want list is longer than I am tall! I'm really motivated to grow my plants as big and pretty and healthy as they can be, after the neglect I've served them for so long now. I want to see just how well they can do if given the opportunity. I only have a few things blooming now, but I'll snap some pictures today to post and more will come as I get things growing and blooming better.

I'm putting together a seed list to order, too. I love growing things from seed to bloom! ^_^

I want seeds again, too..................although I have more than I can grow right now............

I'm looking at getting some Sinn. speciosas - Lawn hybrids and such, and I really want some Strep seeds from a variegated mother plant. I've never gotten any variegated Strep babies from seed and it's something I'd just love! I wish there were more Petrocosmea seeds available. The Pets are my favorites and I want more of them!

If you order seeds of sinningias, don't forget the Jack Evans both purple and red are magnificent looking!!
Here is an example of the Jack Evans purple.

Here is a purple peloric.....