Indoor gardening, Mid atlantic, 2015

I had a small one, it too struggled over winter but rebounded well.

Our plume was getting gangly and I cut it back by half at least. It has bushed out very nicely, and No I did not root the tips. Sorry!

jeff--

I would leave it be--no sense trying to push it into growth when it wants to be
semi-dormant. Please stop it for now.

Come late spring--put it outside in semi-shade and give it a shot of something.
It will grow nice and bushy and bloom in late summer/early fall. depends on
what it wants to do. It does NOT like to be in full sun!

Blooms will come on all the growing ends--just not all at once.
When the bloom fades, gently break it off the tip of the stem. You may get a 2nd bloom
on the same stem tip--or it may have grown a side shoot to bloom again.

You do not have to cut it back while it is so small. it will bush out nicely the 2nd (3rd?) year.
De "Plume" is a woody plant and can break if it falls down. A sheltered spot is OK.
That is how I found out that the broken off tops WILL root. My Plume got blown over in
high winds and every stem broke off. ALL of them! OMG! What to do....what to do....

So--I stuck all the stem tips back into the pot, around the edge, to see what would happen.
By next spring--they were all rooted. AHA!!! Live and learn!!!

At this time, the mama I cut back last fall, has grown somewhat. I never feed it--just water.
It is sitting, by a curtained window, on the end of one of the twin beds in my guest BR.
It gets some light in the afternoon. It has grown a bit....will take a pic.

Besides the "PLUME" there are also asst. Begonias, including my 2 big "Beef Steaks"
on the end of, and by this bed and, on a separate table nearby, is my monster AW Begonia
I bring in every winter. It will drop all its leaves from the long stems (not the growing tips)
and exist--waiting for spring. It is SO tall and lanky--but that is how it is--every year.

Approaching late spring--I will take it out, cut all thew stems back to nubs (saving the top
growths--discarding the caanes ) and root them to share as new plants.
Then--I will completely uproot it--remove all the older roots to toss--and save the fresher
roots to re-pot after I get rid of all the old soil and start with fresh, adding some Osmacote
to feed it through out the summer. This is an annual routine for me.
It will sit on my front door landing in bright shade until October. No sun! Fed now and then.

It is seldom it blooms for me--as I am always cutting the tips off--where the blooms would form--
but it blew me away last summer! It bloomed so beautifully. I never got to re-pot it last year.
Maybe that was the 'secret"? This year--OH, yeah! Back to the ole routine.

And-BTW-I have had this same AW Begonia for over 20 years as well.
Just keep propagating it through cuttings and root-pruning. Don't even remember where,
or when, I got it. Same as my Amaryllis and my old CC's.

SO--Here are some pictures from today: Jan. 19, 2015.

1--De "Plume" on de bed growing some new leaves
I cut it back pretty severely. Nothing green left--except ONE new stem-shoot.

2--De old AW Begonia hanging in for the winter

3--Behind de Plume and de AWB--live my 2 Beef Steak begonias.
Must say--they are doing pretty well all things considered..

4--Last year in August--the AWB ahowing off...

5--Also last year in August--De Plume in bloom.

Thanks for the tips G. I'll cut back on feeding the little guy.

A bowl full of Amaryllis

life is just a bowl of...Ammies!

Today it is. LOL

Holly--

Your A's are blooming on such short stems????
Are these brand new bulbs? Very curious....

Hope you keep them all in this bowl for years--like my big bowl-full..

Reminds me--I better get downstairs and trim the necks and re-pot mine.
Don't want them to start growing and not have this done.
G.

Pretty pretty blooms!

Vera, Rosita, and a couple of the others are "Hadaco" varieties, bred for shorter, sturdier stalks. :-)

OTOH, I have no idea why my 'Red Lion' is blooming on stubby stalks!

Still in awe on the size of the bulbs, even those that weren't "jumbo." Nice to have those multiple bloom stalks.

Amaryllises on Parade (Christmas photo)

I'm not sure why Holly's 'Blossom Peacock' and 'Dancing Queen' in that bowl are blooming on short stems... maybe a result of blooming them in water?

I read a couple of places that 'Bolero' (which we got from ADR) was the same as 'Susan', but I don't think so... 'Susan is a different, lighter shade of pink -- more like "pink ribbon" pink, while the one we have is a deeper, rosy pink. We might have another mis-named one, but I think it's more likely that those two are different varieties, not different names for the same variety.

Wow, look at those shorties! Never seen such a thing.

Very nice!

Minerva is a smaller bloom and shorter stalk than the standard Red Lion et al. It worked well and is working on its third bloom stalk. I would have made the pot a little smaller had I known

Not sure why some of these are such short stalks. Sure are pretty though,
Critter, I have them growing in potting soil and dancing queen in the other container grown in water and stones is twice as tall.
These were the last ones that I got potted and I wonder if that is why they have the shorter stems.

I think this batch of amaryllises was just a bit odd... I had several that blasted on shorter stems. I think it's probably due to some stress in the growing conditions last summer.

I ended up with 4 Dancing Queen - 2 were really tall and 2 were much shorter. The taller 2 were the ones shipped as Dancing Queen and the shorter 2 were the ones shipped as Double Dream (or it could have been vice versa). I had them potted in separate pots, but I just bought a pretty square pot big enough to move all 4 bulbs in to for next time they bloom. I think I'll repot my other multiples from separate pots to single pots too - 3 Marquis and 3 Red Pearl.

I really liked the Rosita which is one of the ones that critter mentioned as bred specifically for shorter stems. Vera was ok too, but the color on Rosita was more vibrant.

The only weird "blasted" out of all of the ones I ordered was Blossom Peacock.

Huh, and my 'Blossom Peacock' bulbs (I had 3 pots) all performed normally (and beautifully).

I agree, 'Vera' literally paled in comparison to 'Rosita'. They'd probably be able to show off more if I put the pots here and there around the house... but I kinda like parading them across the kitchen counter when I have a bunch in bloom, LOL

Repotted two streptocarpusses, and found a crop of mealy bugs explaining why the one plant was struggling so. It should be on the rebound now, and the other one had already started a couple new big leaves.

My Blossom Peacock is just now waking up. It's probably going to be another 4-6 weeks before it blooms. Can't wait!

I still don't know what to do with the 4 boxes of Amaryllis I bought at Safeway
for $2,50 each. Three whites and one red. They are just barely showing the bloom buds.

I already have 7 pots of Amaryllis....need to decide soon...Don't have a white one, though.
They are not potted yet--still in the boxes.

Think....think...think....G.

Put the 3 whites together in 1 pot. :-)

Yes--I was thinking of that too.....that was the "think...think..think....
After all--my old big pot has 6 ted bulbs in it. It keeps on trucking..
20+ years.

I have a bunch of 'soil gnats' or something that are infesting a few of my plants. They look exactly like the annoying gnats that fly around your head when you're outside in the summer. Any idea how to get rid of them?

Common problem, I would scrape off the soil surface first to cut down on them where they hatch. Keep soil surface drier to prevent them. I haven't dealt with them much but I know others have and will offer a dissertation on what to do.

Lol...I'm not sure I can scrape the soil surface on the one amaryllis because the roots are coming out of the soil.

Jeff--

You can remove the whole Amaryllis from the pot and shake off as much
soil as you want--even all of it. It won't hurt the roots. They are tough!
You can then rinse the roots off to make sure they are clean--then re-pot it.
It is good to do this every other year or so.

Then--mix fresh soil and carefully, start re-potting it.
Put some of the soil on the bottom first. Then hold your Amaryllis in one hand
and start dribbling the new soil in the pot, letting it settle well between the roots.
Press the soil in so there are no air pockets. Continue this way until it is, once again,
solidly in the soil. Water well to settle it in. You can cover the exposed roots on top
with some soil as well--just keep the top of the bulb 1/3 exposed.

It will thank you for the fresh soil and bloom gloriously.
To prevent Fungus Gnats from entering the soil--you can put a 1/2" layer of sand
over the top. The Gnats will not go through this--as it is too sharp for their tiny bodies.
No harm to the Amaryllis either.
I use Systemic Granules--but I know you do not use them.

It is, pretty much, what I did to all my Amaryllis last winter--and they bloomed
with amazing vigor and size of blooms. ( I mean the re-potting).


As we speak--I need to do this again. I already cut the "necks" back.
If you have not done this--DO IT! Take a sharp knife and cut straight across the
"neck" about 1"+ above the bulb. Do this ONLY if there are NO new leaves
or bloom buds showing yet.
Pic. #1
Pic. #2 shows the bulbs growing afterwards.
See pic. #3

Dug pic #1 and #2 up from Feb. 2011. My big pot of bulbs just cut back.
They have already scabbed over. This is my 20+year old pot of Amaryllis.

I have since removed the bigger "pups" and put them in their own pots.


Hope this helps....Gita

To mostly prevent those gnats, water from the bottom... they like to lay eggs on damp soil surfaces. Some cover the surface of their soil with gravel or chick grit. You can also add a capful (per gallon, or even half a cap) of neem, murphy's oil soap, or pine sol when you water... seems like anything scented discourages them. A squirt of dish soap would probably also work. Diatomaceous earth will discourage egg laying and kill the soft-bodied larvae.

How's that for a condensed dissertation? LOL

I liked it Critter :)

Thanks G also. My Amaryllis are brand new and were just potted in the beginning of November. The roots on the one are growing like crazy though. This particular one has put up it's leaves already. I'll repot it in the fall when it goes into dormancy. I have no issue with systemics, I just try to use them where they won't kill bees. Being inside, that's definitely not an issue. What do you use?

Seq, there are also quite a few gnats buzzing around in my house, mostly because all the house plants are inside for the winter. So the gardener in the family is the guilty one. Nobody likes gnats, but my husband really hates them and never fails to let me know every time he sees one, which makes it rather difficult to decide which is more annoying, gnats or my hubby's complaints, haha!

This is how we catch gnats - Put a small amount of fruit smoothie in a glass. Cover the glass with cling wrap and punch a few small holes in the cling wrap. Gnats find their way into the glass through the holes, but do not come out. I use smoothie because I make it regularly. Some people use red wine (very happy gnats) or apple cider vinegar with water. This will catch a few dozens of gnats in a few days, but will not eliminate them.

Nice idea Donner :) I too would find it hard to figure out which would be more annoying. Luckily most of my plants are on the empty desk on the opposite side of the room from me. However, my coworker's desk is right next to that one so she gets more gnats than me....Lol She's easygoing though.

I have become more of a lurker on DG these days.... just so busy with work, three teenage daughters, and my own streptocarpus collection which has taken on a world of it's own! I have around 130 named strep hybrids, and I am hybridizing my own now, and have over 300 seedlings growing out!

I gave a talk on growing streptocarpus at Behnke's last October, during the National Capital Area Gesneriad Club Show and Sale. It was way out of my element, but I had fun doing it and it seemed to be well received.

I do want to say that I enjoy everyone's photos and conversations... even though I don't get on much. I grew my first Amaryllis this year, from a box bought somewhere for the holidays. it bloomed pretty, but had an extremely short stalk, which did not make it very attractive! It is now growing the strap-like leaves in the window.

I wanted to share a few photos of some of the streps I am currently growing. The new hybrids just keep getting better and better every year! My own hybridizing will concentrate on fantasy, and I hope to have some babies blooming by Spring.

Theses are all Dimetris streps, hybridized by Pavel Enikeev in the Ukraine. His streps are very vigorous growers. These are all fantasies too.... my favorite.

DS-Meteor Shower
DS-February
DS-1051 (not given a name yet)
DS-Little Furry Arctic Fox
DS-Swallowtail

This message was edited Jan 29, 2015 9:57 PM

DS-Lena Suite
DS-Rainbow
DS-Harlequin
Helter Skelter - an American hybrid
HP - a Polish hybrid

A couple more unusual ones....

UA-Joker
Mirage
DS-Solar Eclipse

Hope you all are well!

Don't forget you can also get rid of fungus gnats by crumbling up a mosquito dunk and sprinkling in the tops of your containers!

Karen, simply lovely!

And what a treat to hear from you.

ditto- your flowers and your photography are always a double whammy of beauty, and these even more than ever

Karen, They are just beautiful. So very good to hear from you.

Woke up early this am so I had time to pick my faviites of the streps. UA Joker. Meteor Showers,Rainbow and DS 1051.

Karen, are any of the hybrids you are working on (Ooo what fun when those babies start to bloom!!!) crosses from any of those you have pictured above?

I remember Little Furry Arctic Fox! Love the name. Must be some kind of story behind it?

Karen, how beautiful! I ordered 5 streps from Violet Barn a few weeks ago to help me get through the winter doldrums. I have you to thank for my interest in streps because I first became aware of these beauties from your wonderful photos last year or the year before. I really am starting to lose track of time LOL. I'm interested in hearing how you display such a large collection - are they all in one area or spread out around the house? Shelving? So glad to hear from you - and thanks for the tip on the fungus gnats too.

What beauties those are!!!

Karen, It's good to hear from you, and as usual your photo skills and streps are outstanding.