Strep Killers Unite!

GrowHappy wrote:I really want you to be able to grow streps Phoebe! This is coming from somone who had the same thing happen to them last Spring! My streps had a marvelous winter and then once the temps got warmer, wham! They all went down hill and died. I attributed my failure to too warm temps and to peaty of a mix. I think I even wicked a few in the mix.

Have you analyzed what might have gone wrong, what kind of potting mix were you using? Also, how big of a pot size did you go up? What were your temperatures like?

Where to start? About mid summer, my streps stated declining en mass, and quickly, by fall, I had tossed quite a few--I'm down to 3--a baby one I have wicked and is slowly growing in a solo cup, and the new leaves are small--Aiko Lime Sprint, or something like that, and, two I grew from a leaf--Remembering John--but they are extremely slow growing--should be blooming by now. I also grew some mini's from leaves--Fernwoods-- which started off well, then stagnated and recently died. I suspect my potting soil b/c that was the only Major change....am also looking at my water, tha pH in particular. And now...a gallery od dead streps.
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m370/fleebeesmom/StrepBristolsGooseEgg003.jpg
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m370/fleebeesmom/StrepJacquie005.jpg
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m370/fleebeesmom/HeyMei--JacosGem--TundraSnowflak-6.jpg
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m370/fleebeesmom/001-4.jpg
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m370/fleebeesmom/Misc002-1.jpg
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m370/fleebeesmom/CHILLYWILLYmISC003.jpg
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m370/fleebeesmom/ROBSCHILLYWILLYMISC010.jpg
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m370/fleebeesmom/TINYWOODTRAILFALLINGSTARS007.jpg
And others....RIP
Jaco's Gem

This message was edited Jan 6, 2010 3:26 PM

My memory is renewing...Some faves I also lost--Orchid Lace, a big red noid I never got a pic of, Mini Little Gem, It Makes Sense, and, Smelly Cat! Darn!

Oh my, and they were sooo pretty!

I have not been able to figure out Streptocarpus! I rec'd my very first ever Strep (Dibley's Gwen) in a trade when I first joined DG. It lived for 1 1/2 years, then I began reading about wicking and changed it over to a wick. It died, and every single one I got after that died within two weeks of being in my house! I know my problem was the wicking along with the soil I was using! They were staying way too wet. I keep saying one of these days I will buy just one to try again ... and NOT wick it! But, I've also been saying for many months now that I'm going to drag a plant stand back in and set it up with lights - and I still haven't done it!

hee hee ... I think with my short attention span I do better with the beaded flowers! They stay beautiful for always, never require a lot of light or water and never have to be fed! ^_^

I may join you Lin!

I can just picture my kitchen windowsill with a row of the little beaded violets blooming away!

^_^

I love the title of this thread!!! We can form a support group and overcome this problem! I feel confident! Phoebe, you had a beautiful collection and you can have one again! We are NOT going to let these streps whoop us!

Now, based on what your thoughts are about why yours failed, I'll add my two cents(or questions!):)-
1.) What kind of potting soil were you using? What were the ratios of ingredients, if you made your own?

2.)Streps do not like alkaline soil, so it may be well worth the money to buy one of those pH testers and see what you've got going on. I'll post my soil recipe at the end, but getting something acidic in the mix will help. One of my AV club members waters her streps with Miracid and her plants look great(and HUGE!).

Hi All;
I think i posted to the wrong thread before.But in case you did'ent read it i will post it again. For 2 years in a row, in the summer i would lose most of my streps, not relizing it was to hot for them, the plant room would get to 80 - 85 sometimes, but i did not think that was to hot, well it was. after talking to jim & some others that had the same problem, i decided to get a air conditioner for just the plant room, i do have air in the rest of the house, but with the lights on in the plant room it just got to hot. Once i got the air in the plant room, i hardly ever lose a strep to heat. I also wick my streps useing a very lite mix.So heat has alot to do with the streps in the summer.growing under lights.
mrsbonnie

Well, my newest batch of mix, of $$$ necessity, is MG perlite and MG sphagnum peat--and it is killing everything--I think...pH tests at 6.something--I forget now. My last batch had a lot of additives in it--ran out of that last spring. I stopped using fertilizer, and a friend sent me some of her special mix--we'll see if that helps.

that is very helpful Mrs. Bonnie. I know now, ahead of time, that I've got to not only keep the AC on, but add some extra fans aimed directly at the streps!

Is 70-ish too high? It's pretty consistant--most of the time....

Try to keep the temps between 55 and 75, as they prefer to be grown cool(remember the roots like to be kept cool too!).

as long as it does'ent get 80 or above, i use fans also, helps alot.I have also found that streps do not really like spag moss,it keeps them to wet.
mrsbonnie

Phoebe, I can't grow them!! Period!! Jim Gail and Amy have sent me so many leaves I'm embarssed to say how many. They just won't grow for me.

Hello All,
Home from work today as my chest is killing me... also sinus... I hate this crap... I have missed you all... I hope you all had a wonderful holiday? We did... :-) I am hoping after this crud leaves me things may get to be a little more normal around here...LOLOL Yeah right...
I love the title of this post.... Shoot lately I have killed more plants then I care to admit.... I have several places on my shelves that use to have plants and now are empty.... I either watered to much at times then not enough... I do have allot of baby plants to still pot up... I hate re potting... Anyone want to come help????
Ok off to bed again for me as I did not get to sleep until 4am and up at eight... so nap time...LOL
Hugs and Love,
Susan

Susan, I've been thinking about you and wondering how you are doing! I'm so sorry to hear you've been under the weather. I caught a cold at Thanksgiving when I was in Georgia visiting my sister, ended up being sick for three weeks, got a little better but the cough held on for two more weeks. I spent part of the Christmas holiday in bed.

I guess the only good think I can say about this cold weather we are having is that maybe it's killing a lot of germs! We've had three straight nights of 28º!! And more to come! We are supposed to have a chance of snow flurries here in Daytona Beach tomorrow night!! The landscape has really taken a hit already ... lots of tropical plants will be lost from this extreme cold. News reports say it's the longest, coldest weather Florida has seen in 6 decades!

Brrrr ....

this weather is terrible for florida, i use to live there, now all the green will be gone, i can only hope this rotten weather goes away soon.
mrsbonnie

Aaah, Mother Nature ... she can be kind and cruel. I know things will green up again eventually. Some of the more tropical plants may not survive this winter but some things may re-sprout come spring and warmer temp's. I really feel bad for the farmers and nurserymen ... the ferneries, citrus and vegetable farmers are really going to suffer if their crops are damaged.

I sometimes think we Floridians gloat too much about our great warmth and sunshine, especially when we rub it in to folks during their cold northern winters!

... so maybe this is a lesson for us?

The cost of fruit will go sky high again this year if you don't get warmer weather, Lin! It is crazy EVERYWHERE!!!!

Since I came on this forum, you ladies have given me a wealth of information and I thank you ALL for that. I used to grow just NOID A.V.s for years and neglected them...believe it or not, they did quite well. Then I began trying hints and tricks. Some worked and some didn't. I guess it really does depend on the environment they are grown in and I had to adjust accordingly.

I had never heard of a strep until I found this forum. I LOVE them :) I ordered a few from D. T. and he sent a paper saying he NEVER wicks his. I have ordered from another vendor and they came wicked. I do not wick mine and I let them dry out just a little in between watering and I bottom water them. They are on the lowest shelf which I think I picked up that tidbit from Jim. So far they are doing awesome. Lynn sent me 3 leaves and I had baby leaves come up on those before mouse ears came up on the A..V. leaves. In fact, I have leaves down from Oct. and still have nothing. No, they weren't planted deep, they are just trying to worry me to death because I don't want to lose them. LOL! I love streps. I only have a few varieties-maybe 10-15????? If anyone needs some leaves just d-mail me and I will tell you what I have. It would do my heart good to share with you ladies in the spring. I am planning on getting more in the spring so the list will grow more then.

This is a wonderful forum, sharing great tried and true methods and I thank everyone on here for that :)

Yes mother nature can be very funny at times... We got 8 inches of snow... and then I had 3 inches of ice in my driveway for over a week...LOL I never knew what a strep was either until I came to the Av forum to play Bingo...LOL time has flew by...LOLOL
Lin, you know this house is crazy... even now with all the boy OUT they still drive me crazy...LOL Matt our 3rd son and his wife Dan, and my GS Gunner moved right before Thanksgiving to Hawaii for the next 4 to 5 years with the Marines... Everyone tells me how happy I should be...LOLOL Nope... this means in the next year he will have to do another tour of hell.... Plus I miss my little man Gunner... and it cost a small arm and leg to travel there.... LOL
I had this crud in my chest last year and it is not fun.... I hate feeling like this... I am in bed typing this...LOLOL I do have a few flowers blooming so maybe tomorrow I will try and get a few pictures.... I cut all my streps back almost to nothing when I was a baby mother to them... They are bouncing back nicely... I can't even begin to say how many I lost over this past 4-6 months... but allot were doubles so that is ok I guess...
Ok back to coughing..... Also Aspen, I agree that this forum is the best... Everyone here is helpful and very given..... Mrs. Bonnie, how far is your place in IL to Kim's? Dimmer (Kim) also lives in IL. Let me find her area... brb. I am going there next month... I need a vacation from my family...LOLOLOL
Hugs and Love,
Susan

Hi Back,
LOL MrsBonnis, Kim lives in Zion, Illinois 60099. Are you anywhere near her? Mega, Your not alone as I think all of us have killed our fair share of leaves... It is only now going on my 3rd year I can grow a strep in soil from a leaf... I also think what they say about them liken it cool is correct.. I keep my home very cold at night and they love it but when we use the wood stove they dry up very fast and need allot of extra help... I have found the more you worry over them the faster they die....LOLOLOL Ok Hubby is home now so going to whine to him for a few.... Doing this as my DIL was whining to our son the other night when she did not feel well and Kevin(hubby) said boy am I glad you don't do that... So I have to remind him I can....LOLOL
Hugs,' Susan

Susan, I love your great sense of humor! It's so nice that you are going to get to go visit Kim again ... and I totally agree, we all need vacations from our families sometimes! I only have my DH and the cat but I have to get away at times!

Gee, Our news is saying we are going to have Rain, Sleet and Snow between 7 and 11 a.m. on Saturday morning! I live in Florida but this sure isn't Florida weather!!

The freezing temperatures here in central Fla. are really doing a number on plants and animals. One loggerhead turtle and 100 endangered green sea turtles have been rescued from a lagoon in the county just south of us. The water temperatures in the lagoon have dropped to a low of 40º which is causing the turtles major distress. Their systems shut down and they just float to the service, not being able to swim. They are sending them to Sea World and Marineland until the water warms up so they can be released.

I know this cold weather is really off topic but sometimes it causes funny things to happen too. Another critter that is suffering from this rare Florida freeze is the Iguana ... they prefer 80 º to 90º temperatures, and it's been so cold they are litterally going into a stupor and falling out of the trees in south Florida. This is a video from a news channel where my sister lives: http://www.justnews.com/video/22153242/index.html It takes a couple of minutes to load but is interesting.

Just popping in to say hi to everybody!! I just finished reading the posts and looking at Phoebe's lovely pictures!!

Miss you all!! We are buried in snow and tonight's wind chill is -40....BRRR LOL.

Love this thread.I will be back to join in.

Lynn

Yikes! Here's one of my cheap noids to warm you guys up.

Love that noid!!

We got lucky,only -2 for a high today,-25 windchill,but tonight the actual temp will be -19.Can't wait till next week.It's supposed to warm up.

Waving my hand up!

Hi, My name is Jan and I'm a strep killer, going on 2 years now.Can't tell you how many victims I have killed but it's in the high numbers.I want get therapy to get over this problem I have ^_^

LOL, Jan!

LOL!

I knew it!!!! ;-)











join the club--Little Gem...RIP :-(

Ok,
Now I too must confess LOL.Something strange happened late this fall and I somehow became a "Strep. Mass Murderer".I know I lost at least 50.....probably closer to 100....gasp....when you count the babies!! And that's not even counting all of the other Gessies I killed.

I have nearly 100 percent success rate with starting Strep. leaves and making babies from every leaf.Then I kill them.I think I have found the answer.Here is my evil plan!!..Everybody send me all of your leaves...then I grow them to first bloom size.....then I send them back to you.....and then when they are gorgeous and blooming you send them back to me LOLOL.

Sounds like a plan to me ^_^,
Lynn

Funny girl......

LOL!!

Maybe,but I'm serious.....kinda LOL.

I haven't killed one in a while. I am keeping my fingers crossed:)

Pat M.

I don't like to say I've killed them...I prefer..I can't keep them alive..sounds a little better. I've got 3 holding on, Actually every time I lost them they looked pretty good up until the downhill slide happened. I had a friend who just put leaves in soil and they grew plantlets...she gave me lots and lots of them, as she couldn't keep them all and I lost every one. I can't get leaves to start and I can't keep baby ones alive. The older ones last awhile and then it seems they get to where they need repotting. If I: a) repot, they die and if I: b) don't repot they die. Another problem I have is knowing Kathy Spissman...she has a lot of streps and its hard to see how pretty and not want to keep trying another plant or two. tish

Lynn,
If you need a few more let me know and when I am feeling better I can ship you a few babies I have growing... Did you look under January's forum as I posted a picture of a strep and was thinking it may be the one you did not have a name for....Do you have Emily or Charlotte? I think it is them blooming now in the baby box...LOL I can ship like last year in between bad weather...
Oh and ladies going to group to get help with strep addiction does not help... been there done that... no go..LOL
Hugs,
Susan

Tish wants to see Susan's strep baby box! Picture! Picture!

Susan,
Thanks,but I have 3 trays of nice babies from leaves Jim sent me.If I can keep these alive,I'll figure out what I lost LOL!! I'll go look for that thread.

Lynn

Tish,
If you can wait until tomorrow as I just sat down and my charger for the camera is broke and I don't feel like getting real battery's for the camera... I have the crud in my chest and my head is full of snot...LOL This is a bunch of streps I put down as leaves to try and learn how to grow in soil instead of water rooting my streps... These are all doubles I have here already.... I will take a picture of them for you tomorrow...
Hugs,
Susan
Your welcome Lynn, I have leaves coming up from Jim also...