October Photos and Chit Chat

Closeup, 1st flower:

Closeup, 2nd flower:

Sinningia 'Freida'. Closeup.

Sinningia reitzii "New Zealand". Unfortunately, the gorgeous juvenile foliage won't last...

Too bad,It sure is beautiful now!

Lynn

What happens to the foliage of New Zealand? It looks like an episcia, Solidad de ? (Bronze?)

Hey Jamie!

First of all: S. reitzii is a very variable species.

I have to agree that there are some similarities to certain Episcias but the texture is different and the plant has the usual Sinningia tuber.

The adult foliage is solid dark green and very attractive in its own right, particularly when the plant is in bloom and the scarlet red flowers make a great contrast to the foliage. Some clones of S. reitzii also have red veins and leaf undersides.

This article shows the "standard" form from Alan LaVergne's site:

http://www.burwur.net/sinns/4rtzMain.htm

And some more examples from Mauro Peixoto's site:

http://www.brazilplants.com/gesneriaceae/sinningia/sinningia-reitzii-c.html

http://www.brazilplants.com/gesneriaceae/sinningia/sinningia-reitzii-i.html

And finally some examples from Ron Myhr's site:

http://gesneriads.ca/sinni208.htm

http://gesneriads.ca/sinni207.htm

http://gesneriads.ca/sinnin68.htm

http://gesneriads.ca/sinnin66.htm

http://gesneriads.ca/sinnin67.htm

http://gesneriads.ca/sinnin65.htm

Olaf, you have given me a full day of reading enjoyment with those links!!! Thanks - Jamie

Okay, here are some of my micro mini Sinningias. Currently, they are all grown in a fish tank but I will try to grow them unenclosed as soon as I have some plants propagated. Yesterday, I've also sown another batch of Sinningia pusilla and muscicola fresh from the pod. So, if there's any germination (which is very, very likely since they are tiny, pretty weeds), there will be some available next Spring. I have several more pods ripening and they all will be sown as they are ready.

Sinningia 'Bright Eyes' (Thanks Bonnie!):

Sinningia 'Lil' Tiger' (Thanks Bonnie!):

Sinningia 'Mighty Mouse'. A classic micro by John Boggan. Has a tendency to be very weedy. John calls that a flaw while I call it cool! LOL Cuttings root within a week and start growing again after two to three weeks. And there are PLENTY of cuttings... This is the third batch of cuttings from a plant bought in April...

Sinningia concinna. My pride and joy. Hard to see in this picture but the plant has buds. Presumed to be extinct in the wild, I will make sure to help preserve the species and will propagate the heck out of her as soon as I can... :)

Oh my goodness, Olaf. They are so adorable. I think I'm gonna have to grow sinningia instead of african violets.

Thanks Eileen!

They are my absolute favorite plants. Very easy to grow, they thrive on neglect when grown domed and overall just plain adorable! :)

The thing is that they are so small that a 1.5"-thimble-pot can look too large for the smallest ones like a single-crowned Sinningia pusilla.

So, what I'm trying to say is: There's always room for one or two or a dozen... LOL

Olaf

Everyone has such beautiful blooms! I may need to let a few of mine bloom, so I can post a few pix again, too!

Ok, so I'm looking for other suppliers of potting mix. I can still get up to the nursery in Boerne, which is where I've bought it for years. But, I was looking for alternate suppliers. I've tried mixing my own before, but that didn't work out very well . . .

I found this today . . . I have purchased Espoma products in the past, but didn't know they had expanded into the mixes . . . has anyone tried this yet? I'm trying to figure out if "organic" means they didn't add any fertilizer to it . . . http://www.espoma.com/p_consumer/potting_mix_overview.html (the violet mix is the 4th down on the left)

Hey Nichole!

"Organic" does not necessarily mean "no fertilizer". Manure, for instance, would be both organic and a fertilizer and well rotted manure is often mixed with well rotted humus to bump up the nutritional value for heavy feeders.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if they would omit the fertilizer or use much less in their Violet mix.

Best would be to just call or email them and find out.

Most commercial mixes have some kind of fertilizer in them anyway. Even plain peat moss has fertilizer in it a lot of times.

Olaf

That's exactly what I did, Olaf . . . I sent them a message. I'll give them a few days to answer, and if they don't, I'll give them a call on Monday. Unless I find the product here somewhere, then I can look at the bag myself. Just checked their "where to buy" page, and they have it listed at Rainbow Gardens . . . that's where I get my perlite, so I will give them a call tomorrow.

I was not enamored by the Espoma soils. If I were going to buy soil, I'd use Promix. I use tapla/Al's mix most of the time now.

I finally have some pictures...Laser Celebration.

Episcia "Sarah Beth". This is a Baker plant, and they're local to me and very nice people, so it's special to me.

Episcia Pink Smoke. No blooms at the moment, but with foliage like this, who needs them? I do. They're pink ;)

Those are fabulous! 'Pink Smoke' looks good with or without flowers. :)

This is Sinningia 'Mighty Mouse', 'Bright Eyes' and 'Lil' Tiger'

Oh, I love the minis!

Love your pictures Celene! I wonder if the Bakers still have any of their old catalogs? It would be great to put the pictures in First Class!

Lynn

They're on Facebook, or you could email, but they're closed for the winter here in Ohio.

Thanks,I think I will.I am scanning photos for FC and it would be wonderful to include some of their old ones!

I don't remember them having a catalog with pictures, but I normally just go there, so perhaps I'm not the best reference. They're super nice people, they may have scanned photos or old catalogs for you.

Thanks,I will ask them.There old catalogues had pictures that are hard to find now.

Lynn

Celene,
I couln't find them on Facebook,but I'm not very good at it.Do you know their first names?

Lynn

Celene, your Pink Smoke is beautiful! Is it in an aquarium? Do you keep it covered? Lou

Yup, it lives in an aquarium.

Anyone have thoughts on more attractive labeling ideas for terrarium plants? I use white stakes, functional but unattractive. I often have multiple plants in a terrarium, I favor 29 or 20L. They don't have to endure the sun and weather changes of outdoor plant markers. I wonder if I can woodburn and then stain tongue depressors. They at least won't shine out brilliant white. Or, I use the slats from mini-blinds, I could get a darker color slat.

Be careful with wood in the high humidity of a terrarium! I tried all kinds of things for the same reason that you mentioned and for the purpose of staking (from popsicle sticks to bamboo skewers to treated bamboo stakes) and the only thing that didn't mould over pretty much immediately was the greeen, treated bamboo stakes.

One thing that I was thinking about trying is the thin sheets of cork that used to be popular for flooring or wall treatment ages ago.

They would be thin enough to be cut into smaller pieces and their tan color would make them blend right in while being light enough to be written on with a black marker. And most importantly: cork doesn't rot.

I think they sell the same stuff for memo boards, it's just thicker.

I use a fine point Sharpie paint pen on small rocks. I can always move the rock to a pot until I get a marker made for it if I transplant them to something else. I am green with envy and I shouldn't be. But my daughter sent me a picture of an item she bought at a garage sale for $6.00. It's an old Wardian case on legs!!!! I think I may have to bribe her to give it to me as a Christmas, Birthday and Mother's day combined gift. It is cool looking. Have a nice Sunday everyone. Lou

Oh wow! Now that's more than a steal! I join you in your envy... LOL

Also: The idea with the rocks is extremely cool! I have seen that used outdoors but for a terrarium... Thanks for sharing! :)

Olaf

I am going to be experimenting with rocks soon, I love that idea.

I don't have a terrarium, but love the idea of the rocks. I may use the idea in my garden for some small plants. Thanks for posting these great ideas. Keep them coming.

I want to learn how to carve rocks with a dremel.

Home Depot told me that Dremel makes a special bit for rocks. I had them order me one and true to the ineptness of our local HG, the wrong bit came in and they wanted me to pay for it and I said no and they wouldn't order the correct one. It might be worth looking into. Let me know if you get one and how it works. I will be interested to know. Lou

I'm kind of afraid of the bit bouncing off the stone and engraving my thumb or finger, but I suppose I could use a small vise.