I have a plant whose lable is a little hard to read. It looks like it says Sinningia Stranded. "Stranded" sounds like a strange name to me. Is that correct?
Sinningia Stranded?
believe it or not, there is a Sinningia 'Stranded' in the Sinningia Register as an accepted or registered name.
Registered/published in 1987. First publication in a Glasshouse Works catalog. It is a cross between 'Velvet Charm' and S. barbata. "Woody stems threaded by 'strands' of tubers. Unique habit. Soft-haired foliage & salmon-pink tubular flowers."
Thanks! I did get the plant from Glasshouse Works several years ago. It was in a "Gesneriad Collection" of several different plants of the seller's choice.
Could you give me any tips on growing this plant? I've kept it alive for 6 or 8 years, but I think it is probably in spite of me, rather than because of me. It blooms once in a blue moon. It is in a west-facing greenhouse window and gets probably a half day of full sun but still looks kind of leggy. My watering can be erratic, but I try to get to everything once a week. (I check to make sure things need water before I water them, but it's very rare that they don't need water after a week.) I've noticed that you can't let it go dry for long when it has buds or it will drop the buds.
ugh. I typed out this looong post and the hit the wrong key... and lost everything. Here's take 2.
I don't grow barbata and have never seen one in person, so all I have to offer are from books. Barbarta is the one that gives your plant its wierd characteristics.
Anyway, first the other side of the parentage. Velvet Charm is a cross of S. eumopha and S. cardinalis. Both from Brazil, they are compact neat growers that do well under a light shelf - ie, not too tall and compact, and flower with only a little more light than AVs. Cardinalis has red flowers, is floriferous, and has a tuber that is usually partially above the soil line. Indoors at steady temps, it appears to not go dormant. Eumorpha has white to pink/lavender flowers, a tuber that is more buried (at least, mine are), and goes more dormant than cardinalis.
With both of these, I fertilize semi-regularly during periods of growth and give no fertilizer during "dormancy". When the old stems look ratty, I wait until new sprouts show on the tuber, and then snip off the old growths. They have tubers, so I figure irregular watering (which is usually the best I can do anyway) is good - except when they have buds, like you said.
Now, barbarta appears to be somewhat of an anomaly among Sinns. It also comes from Brazil, introduced into cultivation in Vienna in 1860, and to the US in 1956. Formerly known as Gesneria barbata (if you look at the leaves on gesneriads.ca, you can see the leaves make it look like a Gesneria), Tapina barbata, Tepeinotes Carolinae and Sinn. Carolinae. Here's some of what the Register says:
At best, it forms but a poor knotty tuber, sometimes none at all. The thick reddish square stem is erect, growing to about 2 feet in height. The leaves do not form a flat rosette. The leaves are 4-6 inches long, tapering at both ends, shiny dark green with a deep maroon reverse. The calyx has broad leafy segments which cover about a third of the corolla.... calyx lobes triangular....
It's also described as shrubby. And... guess what? I just found some cultivation tips in the book The Miracle Houseplant:
The plant will grow up to 4 feet hight and developt a termendous root system without tubers or with an occasional irrefularly shaped one of small size.
Because of its odd growth, S. barbata is only worth growing as a very large specimen plant or dwarfed by trimming. Propagation is best by means of stem cuttings, leaf cuttings with heels, or leaves. With a humidity of 60% or better, a light intensity of about 800 footcandles, and continuous warmth over 70F, rooted cuttings will bloom quite rapidly. Under lights it is advisable to keep the plant potbound and, if it starts to grow upward, to nip it so that it branches. Fertilize with high phosphate formula. It is quite possible to bloom S. barbata in small pots....
Old roots deteriorate after th blooming season, but new growths appear from the base or from branches brought into contact with the ground. This is probably the easiest way to propagate for the amateur.
I guess yours has inherited a bit of all three and doesn't quite know what it's supposed to do. I see a lot of eumorpha in the leaves and the flower shape seems to be a mix. I think I see leaf buds at the axils which suggests that it will branch if pinched. Also some of those stems look like they could be pinned down to root. I'd be curious as to what the tuber situation is, given the 50/50 parentage - "strands" of tubers, I guess? Too bad we don't know which side was the mother - usually the pod parent's traits are stronger in the kids. I really like the color of the flower and think it's a fascinating cross. Have you tried propagating it?
This message was edited Sep 25, 2005 7:00 PM
The tuber is a round thing that is partially exposed.
I have propagated it by rooting stem cuttings in water.
I thought the inside of the flower was interesting.
That looks like a cardinalis tuber but smaller. How interesting. And yet another instance of the gesneriad register not being quite accurate.
http://www.davesviolets.com/gesneriads.html#sinningia This is a good link for Violets and Sinninigias. Dave has new Sinningia hybrids for 2006 and many classics. I have bought plants from him and he is honest and reliable.......
Your plant is beautiful. Well grown all these years :)) Thanks for sharing.
Here are two of my favorite web sights;
1. The Gesneraid Reference Web
http://www.gesneriads.ca/Default.htm
Fun sight too !
2. Registered Gesneriads
http://www.aggs.org/ir_ges/index.html
This message was edited Dec 10, 2005 11:26 PM
Very pretty plant Kelli.
Patti
Thanks!