Hi goofy bulb,
(Sorry I don't know your name).^_^
If doming is working for you,fine.But even in El Paso,AVs should be fine without.They really don't require the high humidity like Episcias and such.You could try placing them on a pebble tray or damp matting or misting them.You can also buy the cheap plastic nursery trays,a dollar something each,buy some plastic gridding at Lowes or Home Depot,cut it to fit the top or inside the lip of the tray,then keep some water in the bottom of the tray.The plants would get a big boost in humidity.
In MHO Avs don't need jars.
Lynn
Hows your trailer coming along?
This is in my first check in with my trailer..I cleaned her up today removed some of the lower leaves that are touching the soil and have pinned the arching branching to make contact with the soil..the only problem I see is that I don't have a center shoot to let bloom...once pinning the stems down I already see little babies lining up along the stem..I used a wire with rubber on the outside, you can get at any harware store ..in the garden section ..cut it to size and shaped it to hold the stem down..
Sonia
Here is a nother pic slightly blurry, but you can see all the new little ears forming along the stem..you have to squint a little..sorry LOL
Morning folks!
Hi Alexandra,Good to see you girl.I hope your family's health problem improve and things calm down for you.Tish is right,I would move your plant up a bit.You want the suckers or crowns to form before the buds.I would also take a few leaves off like Tish said. A humidity tray and misting like Lynn said should help alot. would help alot also.
My trailer refuses to bloom.It looks like it's on steroids lol I'm going to skip the first flowering part and sometime this week I'm going to report it into the pan pot and start pinning it down.This plant seriously needs some room.I don't think a flower bud could get though the growth on top if it tried.I guess sometimes you just have to play it by ear.
Hi Sonia,I'm glad you joined us!
Ok ladies,so this morning I repotted my trailer into a small shallow deli container.Talk about butchering a plant!
What did I learn?
1.I waited way to long trying to let the center crown bloom.
2.I waited way to long to start removing lower leaves and pinning down the new crowns.
3.When I tried to remove the lower leaves I broke 3 suckers off.
I guess that's why this is called a project.Grow and learn along the way ^_^
So I went from the above picture,to this new one taken today.
This message was edited Feb 28, 2010 8:58 AM
...Wishing we can get one to grow this big..LOL...
Sonia
Oh Jan...yours looks just like mine now. LOL!!!
I started seeds (dust?) in January and have four plants now getting their second pair of leaves. A few late starters are just coming out of the ground. These things are small: just over 1/4 inch diameter. When should I transplant, and into what size container? The seed is a Park's seed, trailing violet mix. Will it take a year for these to bloom? Actually, they've grown quite rapidly.
Grayson
Wow, thats just great starting from seeds. How neat is that. Very. It doesn't always take a year, different plants are different, some bloom sooner that others. I would leave them until they get quite a bit larger. There is no hurry. If they are too close together you can scoot them away from one another while they are still small and easy to move. It would be great if you can post a picture of their progress.
tish
Not only neat, but way cool. Here's a picture I just took of seeds started in mid January. That's a tofu container they're planted in. I keep it covered with a pane of glass. By the way, Park Seed agreed with me that germination was poor, and have a fresh packet in the mail for me, no charge. I know they've gotten bad press in the past, but my experience with them has been good.
I may separate and space these plants out a little, leaving them in the same container for a while. What do you think, lilypad22?
Grayson
That is a great reference to the size with the penny, cause they look so much bigger, I wouldn't have known!. I would scoot them apart now while they still have a small root system...being "under cover", they will be fine. Just make a new little hole, scoop up a plantlet, dirt and all and move it to the new hole. Plants close together you'll have to delicately separate, but again, being covered it going to keep them just fine until the roots get established again.
Thanks for the pic!
tish
The hybridizer Dale Martins says if you lift your gesneriad seedlings every 2 weeks that jiggles there roots and the plants grows faster.And she right.I wonder if it would work for AV's from seed also?That might be a cool experiment for you to do Grayson.
Jan
Sounds good. I'll watch and try to send pictures periodically. I transplanted last evening for the first time. I have a new packet of seeds coming and I can try a controlled experiment. (I better eat more tofu so I can have the containers I need.)
Grayson
That is what I was wondering, if it would work with av's too. Jan showed me some plantlets she was growing from seed. She did an experiment where one seedling she kept moving to "jiggle" the roots and the others she did not. The moved seedling is a small plant where the untouched ones are still very little seedlings. It's pretty incredible the difference in them.
tish
Tish:
These things seem to grow every time I look away. It's incredible. I'll send a picture this weekend. My next planting will be a more controlled experiment. I'll plant two flats and move the plants around in only one.
Do you train yours according to the standards, or allow them to grow naturally? I've been reading about the specifications for the planters. It would be fun to commission a local potter to throw some pots.
Grayson
I was trying the trailer experiment with Jans suggestions above but its slow going and the few I've been working on are just growing so slow.
There are different kinds of trailers, some grow bushy and you don't have to do much with them. the others grow horizontally and you pretty much have to keep after them or they really get overgrown. None of mine are show plant quality and I don't put the time into them to train them well..so most of mine grow naturally except I do take off the larger leaves to let the undergrowth develop.
tish
Tish:
Here's an April 1 update on trailer seedlings.
Looking good. Keep them growing compact and not reaching for the light. Their color and growth looks good. They're growing fast!
Tish:
Here's an April 22 update. I will probably transplant to individual pots this weekend, and start the second batch of seedlings as well. I'm spending most of my garden time outdoors now. I expect there will be rainy days to keep me inside.
Grayson
Wow! I would not have believed they would grow so fast! They are ready for individual pots. When the crown leaves get a bit bigger, I think the plant will be ready for you to take off the bottom set of large leaves....do not cut them close to the stem of the plant, leave a stub. Where the leaf stem is connected to the plant stem is where new growth will grow out...creating another crown - if you cut this too close to the plant stem, it will damage that area and new growth will not appear. You want multi-crowns, its a trailer. As crowns grow out, you will be removing the larger leaves and pinning the stem down for the Japanese method.
tish
Wow! Those babies grew so fast! They look great.
Mine are really bad looking. Bout ready to give up on them! Tish yours are really looking good!
Melanie
I transplanted today but did not remove any leaves yet. The smaller ones in the tofu container are going back under a pane of glass. I have planted everything in MiracleGro seed starting mix. I don't want to mess with success. Thanks for your last post, Tish.
By the way: one is in bud already. I can see two flowering stems. I know I'm supposed to remove all buds for a while, but I'm going to let this one go.
Grayson
I hope you all have signed up for the round robin. I want a trailer to try. They look so neat! Lou
Here's an update on seeds planted in January. Except for the one I have allowed to bloom, I will be doing some serious pruning and some repotting this week.
I want to show this one off:
Your AV babies look great and what a pretty bloom your plant has.Great growing garyon! Thanks for showing us your pictures.Jan
Ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaaaaa! Been culling what's left of my collection, throwing out anything that is not behaving. Almost tossed a little thing called "Blueberries and Cream"--small and suckering badly. Since this is one I'm not that familiar with, after pinching off all of the suckers, decided I'd look it up before tossing it. Seems it is a mini-trailer--or at least it was til it met me! Poor baby! :-(
Well....I thought it was funny.....
This message was edited Jun 3, 2010 7:43 PM
Jan - Regret to say that my pet plant for this project got pitched. I am not convinced it was named correctly . . . mainly because of all the plants I have, most are either trailers, or just love to sucker on me. This puppy did neither. Great leaves, beautiful blossoms . . . just did NOT want to cooperate.
So, I have other (for real) trailers that I will use for the project. I have been using a Rob's Sticky Wicket using JA method, but I did not start from the little cutting on this one (skipped to the pinning the stems down) . . . I think that one will be my main focus for the project for now on.
Nichole
Several of the plants I started from seed are blooming now - pink and blue singles. They suffered from neglect this summer, but responded quickly after I put them under lights. I probably will not try african violet seeds again. It was rewarding, but I'll try something else next year.
Any ideas for deer-resistant garden plants I might try?
At least you can say you gave it a go!
I've heard daffodils are deer-resistant . . .
I am planting nearly 200 daffodil bulbs this weekend - probably near the end of the season for planting, but I couldn't resist the end of the year sales on spring flowering bulbs.
I plan to post pictures of my violets.
Hi,looking forward to your pictures.Have you thought of growing some other gessie seeds? Theres some cool plants in that family.
heres a link for deer resisant plants.I try to follow georgia's list only because it closest to me but sometimes thoses critters will stop and take a nibble,anyway!
http://gardening.about.com/od/gardenproblems/a/DeerResistant.htm
There are about 10 more coming into bloom in the basement. They grow well with 16 hours of fluorescent lights. (standard bulbs from Home Depot, not special gro lights.) I'm sure they would have bloomed sooner if I kept them under the lights over the summer rather than using natural daylight.
They are very nice.I see you have more than 1 plant in at least one pot.It looks like they liked the natural light just fine.
Lynn
They are potted separately, just displayed very close to one another.
They look great!!
All my babies have at least 2 crowns now. The most are R. galiwinku-5, R. wagga wagga-5, S. orbicularis-5, and R. sticky wicket-8.
Jamie,
They all look great!! The babies you sent me are all making new leaves,except....gulp....Chamagne Pink.I have her in a dome,but I am afraid I am losing her....sigh.
Lynn