sharing march/april pictures

Episcia 'Butternut'

Episcia 'Thad's Diamond Dust' which Gary Mikita (Gary's Out Of Africa) gifted to me. Thanks Gary!


This message was edited Apr 18, 2011 4:38 AM

Sinningia 'Heartland's Wow'. One of Dale Martens' spectacular calyx double Sinningias.

Closeup of S. 'Heartland's Wow'

Streptocarpus 'Bristol's Red Typhoon'

This one was in the Little Show. Columnea 'Malissa'

Wow Olaf, what a great show to sell such beautiful plants. Wish I could have been there.
Lynn and Helene- How's a canadian cleo different and can you tell me which Cleo this is?

Not sure how to tell, Been told that Canadian sport is easier to grow. Lynn knows the difference in coloration , I think. Your pic. looks like my 2

Hey Jamie!

Yes, it was great. Most of the offered plants were Streps and Episcias of amazing quality. Gary Mikita's Episcias were off the chain (and that's why I had to get three of them) and so were his Streps. Another lady also brought a boat load of wonderful Streps in all colors and sizes. Yet another vendor had a few Sinningias and I had to get all but one... Yes, I admit it: I'm an obsessive compulsive Sinningia grower! Before I left, Gary gave me another Episcia for my collection: "Thad's Diamond Dust". On top of it all, the raffle yielded another two Streps and a Nematanthus fissus cutting. And I seriously thought, I would be able to make some room by bringing plenty of plants for the raffle table.... LOL

You are so lucky to have such a awesome club. It sounds like your club show/sale is a destination as good as National! You are convincing me to try to grow some Sinningias and I sure don't have the room for it.

Well, space is always the problem, isn't it? Fortunately there are plenty of compact/mini/micro Sinningias on the market and the large majority of them is easy enough to grow and flower. And, of course, consume the last bit of space available...

Until two weeks ago, I didn't have a single Episcia. I just kept telling myself not to buy one because they get so big so fast - now I have six...

And thinking of all the Chirita and Begonia leaves I put down for propagation makes me contemplate another two or three light stands...

It never ends.,, But we don't want it any other way! ;)

And this is when you know that you have a problem:

Hey everyone!

I just dug up an excellent article in Gesneriads 3/2009 by Jill Fischer on how she grows Episcias, particularly the pink ones like 'Cleopatra'.

She uses a shallow container with a bottom layer of perlite for drainage, soilless mix with additional Perlite, Vermiculite and LFS and a top dressing of pre moistened LFS. She says that the stolons root easily in the LFS and it also helps to keep the soil moist.

Temperatures around 75 degrees and humidity around 70%, soil barely moist to prevent rot.

1/8 strength fertilizer every two weeks to accomodate the slow growth rate.

Seems as if slightly cooler temperatures will help maintain better leaf coloration.

I hope that helps.

Olaf

Olaf,
What a haul! They are just gorgeous ^_^. Butternut may be mislabeled though.
As far as Cleo goes,I will take a couple pictures and come right back.

Lynn

Cleo

Canadian Cleo.

Butternut

Some trailers from Jamie.
Rob's Jindaler....help me here Jamie.

Rob's Boolaroo

Rob's Sticky Wicket

This is Cran-Apple from Kent Stork

In case my pictures are clear as mud,this site shows the difference between the Cleos.
http://www.streptocarpus-info.com/Episcia/tablec.html

Hey Lynn!

Well, mislabeled plants - the story of my life. LOL Anyway! Considering the notorious variability of Episcias and their tendency to look different in pictures, no one can be certain... I got my 'Butternut' from Gary Mikita and I'll have trust his expertise on this.

Bottom line: Whatever it is, it's gorgeous and I love it! :)

Your trailers are adorable!

Olaf

If anyone would know it's Gary.It's a beauty.

Lynn

Considering the quality of Episcias he produces... His show plants blow my mind every time.

Olaf

Oh Lynn, your trailers are so pretty and healthy looking. Thanks for the images of Cleo. It looks like regular Cleo has much more white, which would be more difficult to grow.

Exactly! Hanging baskets are the ONLY solution. Well, and not buying any more Episcias, of course but that horse is out of the barn... :)

That's a cool setup there! It immediately solves the problem of too much wet soil around the roots without adding too much weight and the gaps won't be visible for a long time. I usually just attach chains or rope to any pot and make my own hanging basket but this is even better.

Another cool way to grow and display Episcias are Strawberry pots but they don't really solve the space issue. They just look adorable. :)

The baskets were only about 65 cents each, with the hanger included . . . I tried making my own wire hanger before . . . let's just say 65 cents is worth it for me! ^_^

Ingenious!

It truly is! Cheap and ingenious!

BTW: I get most of my "specialist equipment" from the dollar store. The crafts isle is always full of useful stuff. From sheet moss to pea gravel. From small clay and plastic pots to pruners. Everything's a dollar. :)

Another good article on growing Begonias and pink Episcias in Terrariums:

http://petaltones.blogspot.com/2011/04/growing-pink-leaved-episcias-in.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PetalTones+%28Petal+Tones%29

That's a great idea Nichole! I usually just keep chopping mine back to save space.
Jamie,the regular Cleo. grows much slower and needs super high humidity.Mine has only a couple of air-holes.A lot of people grow it completely enclosed.The trailers you sent are doing great,but even after repotting I am getting some yellowish leaves.I used Epson salts,but maybe they need to be foliar fed???

Lynn

I don't know why your trailer's leaves are turning yellow. I'm not having that trouble. I think there's a plethora of reasons for yellow leaves (water temp., fertilizer, air temp., sun exposure, .... )

Purchased in 2009, never repotted, East window, Fertilizer 6-3-6 ad 0.8 mL/L lukewarm water, yes, every-time , from below
Nice, flat, accurate array of leaves. The flowers have a very subtle, just a hint of a white rim.

Wunderbar. Sehr schone Form. Blumenform sehr huebsch

Neautiful. Very Nice form. Beautiful flowers.

It's lovely.

Lynn

Thank you!
I JUST inspected this cute thing. It has not formed any offset within the 2 years, and I really do not object. And neither had the crown split, that this can occurr sometimes, too.

Now comes the 2nd one, that it is heavily frilled, and I intend to crossbreed these two.

Which are you going to use for the donor?

I have decided to get rid of most of my standard plants . . . I'm stupid for having a thing for standards in an apartment . . . I don't have the space! So I'm going to keep 2-3 of the standards, and make the move to mini's and semi mini's . . .

Ibrabec, I shall try in both directions, iow: "Reciprocally"

My third African Blue (did I say Blue?! *LOL*) is very cute and, it has produced a number of small offsets, in the meantime.
ACTUALLY! it is or it appears blue if the environmental light originates from the sun or from a common fluorescent tube / CFL bulb
But it looks VIOLET if the light comes from an incandescent lightbulb.