My New Planter

My Episcia 'Pink Panther' was so large I thought it would look nice hanging over the sides of one of these planters (as in pic). So I planted it and it looked kind of bare so I decided to throw in my whole episcia collection, alsobia (or episcia dianthiflora, I can't tell the difference) and my Episcia 'Chocolate Soldier'.

It's kind of bare now, especially since the alsobia isn't flowering and b/c my Pink Panther is ailing b/c I had to keep it in a sealed bag while I was on vacation. But after it fills back out it should look pretty nice. I'll post pics.

To give you an idea, my pink panther used to look like this:

Gosh, I have an itsy bitsy pink panther. Happy to see what it will look like when it grows up. Thanks for posting the picture.

What a great idea to combine them in a planter . I like the idea of them complementing each other in the planter. It can save a lot of space, too .
Your Pink Panther has blessed you with tons of stolons you could trim off to fill in the pot, too.
Thanks for sharing your photos, they are great.

MsC

Hey, nice to see you over here! Your Pink Panther looks just like my Silver Dust did after 2 weeks of 65F temps and no water while I was out of town last winter. LOL. I stuck the stolons back in the pot and let it fill back out this year. Love Episcias - thanks for posting.

The Pink Panther is NOT filling back out, I don't know what to do with it. Take it out and replace with a new plant??

Hiya CaptMicha...
Did you cut off the long stolons on it and root those back in the pot with the main plant? Cutting it back might rejuvenate it to send out more new growth from the crown area.... kinda like an ivy.

Try that and give it a while to put up some new growth... I'd plant the cuttings in fresh potting soil and wait before planting them back in the pot with the main piece...just incase you have something "unwelcomed" going on in the soil. Maybe get a grow light and add a little warmth would stimulate it into new growth.

keep us posted..
MsC

I did, well I did cut it back but I didn't do the other things. It gets medium light from the window behind it and it's growing at room temp.

The other ones aren't looking so well either. I have a few more options until I take them out and put them back in seperate pots. I'm going to add more perlite/vermiculite to the mix and use a watering cone to water so the leaves won't get wet. You know, those things you put the soda bottles into.

I hope it'll work!

Mmmm,
I'm only guessing here but if the top has defoliated due to loosing it's leaves from the water getting on them, then it may not have enough top growth to use all the water the root ball is getting in the urn type pot... I think I would back off the watering and I'd probable separate them all & repot them.

Did it take a chill lately?

I know they are shallow rooted, but it came out of that hanging basket so it probable already had a pretty good rootball ... maybe Keyring will check in later and offer some other suggestions...


Keep us posted...

Prayers:)

MsC

I agree with MsC. Especially with winter coming along, I would separate them into small pots. If you have some leafy portions left on the pink panther, cut them off and root them - in a terrarium or propagation dome if you can. By spring, they should be ready to go back into a bigger pot and start growing at summer speed again.

If you really want to keep it in the same pot, pin some growing tips onto the empty soil and let them root while still on the mother plant. I think it would be better if you plant something in that space, though, so that the soil doesn't get water logged. They are shallow rooters, so if you want to use a deep pot, it is important that you have enough active roots in the pot to control the moisture level.

Water on the leaves should not damage the plant - I spray/pour water onto mine with no problem. Make sure the water is not cold, and that the plant doesn't get cold while wet. How is the insulation on that window? Some windows get pretty cold at night.

I'll try putting a calla lily into the pot, maybe some other things as I think of them. If all else fails I'll do what you guys said and repot into smaller pots. I was looking for something anyways episcia trailing type to put into a shelf planter. I bought a columnea for the shelf planter (sp? goldfish plant) but it doesn't seem too healthy and I couldn't provide the humidity it needs in that kind of set up.

Any idea on how I can help spruce up my colemnea? I'm following the requirements but I guess I just bought unhealthy stock. The leaves keep falling off, it's limp. It's a mess.

ok, help me out here. What is a shelf planter?

Assuming you are sure that it's a columnea (gold fish plant can sometimes refer to an Aeschynanthus - some look very similar - egs below), most of them will grow in normal humidity conditions with bright indirect light. They are infamous for sulking in a new pot - takes a year or two for them to get comfortable. Mine are very pot bound in a loose mix (some people grow in long fibre sphagnum) and I let them go slightly dry between waterings.

What do the leaves look like? Glossy/fuzzy, thick/thin, dark/light green? This will give you an idea on culture.

Some examples:
Columneas
http://gesneriads.ca/colum190.htm
http://gesneriads.ca/colum006.htm

Aeschynanthus
http://gesneriads.ca/aeschyn2.htm
http://gesneriads.ca/aeschy75.htm

Sorry, when I write something I just assume people know what I mean. It's a bad habit.

http://quicksitemaker.com/members/rgarden/images/27075.jpg I meant a shelf like that and then a pot on top, or a wall planter. Flat on one side so it'll hang against the wall.

I know it's a columnea. "Early Bird". I bought it off ebay. Here's the link if it'll help: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4327399872&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

looks like a nice spot for a columnea.

Early Bird is a good grower. Someone sent me some cuttings in the spring, which I rooted in a terrarium. A few months ago, they came out and got potted into a 3" pot with a peat-based mix. It's perched on the edge of a light shelf, about 18" from two regular fluorescent tubes. It's blooming well, even though I thought the light level would be too low.

So what do you mean by not too healthy? Scraggly? Dying back? If you've got some growing tips, maybe propagate a few? In the spring, you want to pinch them to encourage bushiness, but this time of year you just want to coddle it through the winter. Again, don't over pot it and use shallow pots. Let dry a bit between waterings - I let mine go almost bone dry, which is overkill, but they still grow well.

I meant to mention about temps. These things grow best for me when the temps are 75-80F - we are talking warmer than the usual house temps. Of course, they are ok at 70F, but they really grow when it's a bit warmer.

CaptMicha,
I haven't seen too many people mention alsobias on this forum and notice that you have one in your planter. Have you gotten yours to bloom? I have one that I think is Cygnet (hope I spelled that right).It 's bloom is mostly white with some lavender in it. Very pretty.

It had a bud on it or two but it lost them b/c I transplanted it into this planter. I was really disappointed but now I'm really glad that I did b/c both my Chocolate Soldier and my Alsobia have increased dramatically in size and fullness. Once it flowers I think it'll put on a really nice show b/c the plant is just so much happier now.

Unfortunately, my Pink Panther hasn't recovered. I decided against propagating it b/c it looks like the new stolens have repeated the same growth pattern, which is bare and branchy at the top of the plant and growth lower down.

I really like the pink flowers but I'm sure I can find another pink flowering variety with nicer more lush foliage unlike the pink panther with the bareness and rather ugly brown coloring in the leaves. Any recommendations?