I have never had a 'Sally'. Believe it or not, I bought her on ebay back in February or early March. She actually lived and this is her first set of blooms.
****edited to say I just went back and looked at all the great photos on this thread.........Rain.........wowser on that pinkish orange light sinningia........wish I knew her name.
This message was edited Jul 29, 2009 6:41 PM
Gail, the pictures are all so beautiful! It has been very quiet for sure.
I suppose everyone else is out in the fun summer (LOL)
SO hot. What an awful summer. I just stay inside and cool.
I just told someone that the only good thing about our heat wave and drought.........high winds........is that I just have all day to work on plants. Letting the laundry and housekeeping go.........playing with plants takes all my worries away.........in my own world!!!
i sure do love your pictures,Gail and raingazer, making me drool,please dont stop lol
JIM
wow, i know alot of you are having such hot weather, on the other hand we are having the most unusual summer with cool temps,most of the dyas we have had so far are in the 80's, so very unusual for ill.i think we only had maybe 1 week of anywhere near 90.such crazy weather everywhere,most people here feel like we have'ent had a summer to speak of. & for the next week it's still suppose to be in the 80's..i am not complaining as it's really nice out.
bonnie
Bonnie, viostrep in Minnesota says the same thing as you..............we don't ever remember heat this bad. Yesterday and today will have a heat index of 108 again with actual temps of 99.
Connie, I was just reading in one of my old Violet magazines. A nice article about different kinds of episcia's needing different conditions. Talked about growing them in live spagnum moss and how many growers like using that. Talked about the pinks needed lots of humidity and moisture. I have sure seen differences in my plants, different colors wanting different light.
Looks like I am doing what they like and they sure have told me thank you! ha.
Hey, Everyone! Sally, I went to a bigger town (just got my stitches removed) and went by a nursery...The lady laughed at me when I asked if she carried live sphagnum moss and said I was looking for spanish moss. I said no, ma'am, thanked her and left. I am sure it helps retain moisture and looks so much better than just soil in the container. Your arrangements are simple but so elegant. What would dry spanish moss look like? Have you done one using some just for looks? I have some and if I don't find the other, I may play with it just to see what it looks like. I have one arrangement with spanish moss covering the edge and it turned out pretty.
We are having temps here in Mo. like mrsbonnie. Of course, we are neighbors...no summer here. We set up our pool this year and haven't used it 5 times. It is just too cool.
As always, Gail, your blooms are just picture perfect :)
Connie
Be careful about what that decorative Spanish moss has in it germ wise..................glad you are feeling better. Didn't know you had been sick, Connie!
Hmm, never thought about germs in the spanish moss. Thanks, Gail! I am feeling better :)
Connie, I use the little latex gloves when I put the plants in the glass. After that, you don't even have to touch it. I use gloves in the soil outside at all times. Even the soil-less mix. You never know what is in all of it.
I don't use spanish moss. I have, in wreaths. I am actually careful about dried flowers moss, whatever. Preservatives, chemicals. They add up fast.
Very good points! How long does a bag of sphagnum moss stay good? I think I might have a possibility of finding some where my daughter lives in AR.
I have half used bags all over the store room and still use them.............they have been out there for 2 and 3 years............you can also sterilize the real 'stuff'.............in the microwave......
Wow! Good to know. Thanks!
Sally, I get my Canadian SP> Moss wet .........and then microwave.......do you know anything about that?
No, I haven't done that. I just hate to put anything in my oven or microwave.
Hi,You can also put the Sp.moss is a bowl or something like that and pour boiling water over it and leave it till it cools or overnight.Then squeeze the water out.
Smarty Pants, jannich......what a fab idea!!!! I will do that next time...........
Mother plant Vivian (sinningia or florist's gloxinia) blooming!!
The cuttings root so easily, I am thinking about chopping my mother plants up to make more babies............except I won't touch those that haven't bloomed at all..............
I soak orchid moss and the like in boiling water, too, Jan! Be sure to use gloves to wring it out. It can cause pretty severe skin irritation.
Gail I LOVE that Vivian!!!
That would keep it out of the microwave. Good idea. Vivian is gorgeous! Is that another one you got from David?
Yes............I am overwhelmed with the giant ones! .........this weekend, I have to pot them up in at least 4" pots and take cuttings of the ones that have bloomed and root them up..........as I am finding that it may take a while to form a tuber but they roots so quickly and easily...............The cuttings I will only put in 2 or 21/2" pots............
The main stem was broken in transit so I potted Jean up in a smaller container. Here is the mother part of her left and I am going to get at least 3 good blooms out of this one. She is a keeper!!!
Oh, yes she is. I hate she got a little damaged. Are you just sticking the piece in your soil-less mixture and she will root back for you?
Let me take a picture of those that were cuttings......they are giant already........
I am going to send you on Monday the leaf pot to Rambling Dots......rather than pot up the babies...you can pot them up and you will have several trailers to play with..........just putting it in a small box.........but you will have to dmail me your address........
If I find another leaf pot of another trailer, I will add her to the tiny box............
I am in shock as to how quickly these gloxinias are growing.............only domed them for 2 weeks....
Looks like you have a bud on one of them. You started them by just a leaf? Rambling Dots is a pretty plant! Are ACA's a mini a.v.? I was sent a Aca's Pink Pet about a month ago. It doesn't have any blooms and it is a little thing...but very healthy! Can't find a pic of it.
Those buds were already initiated when I took the broken stem...........so that is the only reason there are buds on them...........
Let me look up Aca's Pink Pet..........on First Class
Aca's Pink Pet (8471) 07/05/1996 (J. Brownlie) Semidouble pink two-tone pansy. Medium green, pointed, glossy, hairy. Miniature
Pretty little plant. I thought it might be a miniature. Thanks!
Gail like I said....everything you touch grows!!!!
It is a good thing, Meag............as I certainly can't do anything else in life too well..........smiling.........except love my grandchildren.........
These are the gloxinia leaves I am growing........don't want anybody to think those plants came from leaves....they were cuttings from the mother plants.
These will take months to form a tuber.
They look good, Gail! Wonder if you can cut those and stick them like you do streps and produce more...I am always curious about different ways to root leaves.
Here is the difference I think........just guessing........but strep leaves produce babies with roots and sinningias have to form a tuber for a root system. That tuber will take months to form and then I have to plant the tuber so she will put out new growth..........a much more lengthy process and a different kind of root system. I am thinking that each tuber formed will need a lot of energy (much more than a strep or av leaf) to flourish.
If anyone knows about this.......Bonnie, you and Rain grow a lot of sinningias............please help us.
I put down a leaf of Sinn. sp Nocturne last year and didn't think it was going to do a thing, but it stayed green and pretty so I left it alone. Over the winter, with everything going on and the neglect dealt out to my plants, that leaf finally died. This spring as I was cleaning off shelves, throwing away what had died and such, I discovered not one, but two tubers in the mix in that pot. I potted them up and one has 4 huge buds on it. Now, it's been almost a year since I stuck that leaf, but I think it could have gone a lot faster if I'd been caring for it properly.
What you described sounds pretty much right on, Gail. I have also been told, though, that this method is not as "foolproof" with Sinn leaves as it is with leaves of other plants. Sometimes Sinn leaves don't root, sometimes they don't form a tuber, and sometimes they'll form a "blind tuber" that will never sprout foliage. It's certainly a way to propagate them, but don't count on it like you do with leaves from other types of plant. Hope that makes sense. ^_^
Rain............I wrote DAvid Thompson asking those very questions about tubers that don't sprout.......he told me that on these big florist's ones I should most definitely get a tuber that will bloom eventually............(from a leaf).
That is great about Noctune........she was one of my favorite sinningias..........
I will keep everyone informed on these leaves and when I cut back the other mother plants, I am going to stick some more leaves .........not just cuttings..........
Here is 'Paula' starting all over again blooming. I thought she was through. These are smaller blooms but there are lots of buds already formed.
**falling asleep at the keyboard.............
see you in the morning and thanks, rain.
This is something that I am not at all familiar with and I am very interested in them. So then you can root a sinn with a leaf but you are saying that it has to develop a tuber from that leaf to grow. When the leaf starts forming babies is that the sign that a tuber has formed? Can you leave it growing without replanting the tuber?
Okay...you two need to hold a class on this so I can learn about them. Sorry, Gail...get some sleep and I will talk to you in the morning.
