I have some variegated leaf avs. Most of them are new and the variegation ranges from white to dark pink. I even know the names of all but one. The one is an Optimara plant. The original (no longer here) had beautiful pink variegation throughout the entire leaf and pink flowers. I can't remember the type of blossom. The original plant only bloomed once. I have two small plants in two inch pots from that original plant. It has taken over a year to reach this size. Most of the gowth has occured since September when I purchased a light stand. They are just about ready to move to 4 inch pots. One is going to bloom. The variegation is not as vibrant as I remember the mother plant being.
What do you'all know about variegated avs? Do you fertilize with a different blend fertilizer? Do they need special care to keep the variegation plentiful? The other variegated plants I have were purchased just this summer. I want to keep the leaves at the peek of variegation. Two are growing very slowly and haven't yet bloomed.
Please share your experiences and knowledge.
Nanna
Share Suggestion about Variegated Leave Plants
I spent some time this morning researching varigated avs. Here's what I found out.
1. light: They like it and need more of it because of the lack of chlorophyll. If they are on a lighted plant stand they should be in the center where the light is more dense. (Dark flowered plants also like more light. White and light flowered plants should be at the ends of the plant stand.)
2. temperature: The warmer the temperature the greener the leaf will be. The cooler the temperature the more variegated the leaf.
3. growth: They are slower growing and slower to bloom.
4. fertilizer: They should be fed with low nitrogen fertilizer; 0:10:10: or 5:50:17. If the leaves become all white or cream colored they should recieve extra nitrogen and be kept warmer for 4 weeks or until the natural color returns.
5. They will not survive if there is no green in the leaf.
6. Types of variegation: Tommy Lou--narrow white edge on leaf. Chanpion--young leaves are white and turn green when mature. Mosaic or Jarret--speckled with white.
I couldn't find anything about pink variegations. Please share you experiences.
Nanna
the tips you gathered are the same as what I do/did. I don't bother trying to grow the really variegated ones anymore because my temperatures are too warm.
I'm thinking some of my variegated ones should be relegated to the light shelves in my cooler basement (where I start seeds for spring planting). Of course, when they're bursting into bloom, I'll bring them upstairs so they can be properly admired!
In case you're thinking basement because of my comment, I think most homes have normal temps which work for the variegated ones. I just happen not to use much air conditioning because I grow a lot of hot climate orchids, and since I live in an apartment, the temps the orchids want are basically the temps I live in. It's a lot of fun, lemme tell ya.....
I thought the Rob's site (read it somewhere, anyway!) said AVs liked it at about 60 for best variegation, and we heat the upstairs to more like 65 to 72 in winter... I'll have to check.
Main reason for thinking basement is that is where my big light shelves are set up. If they start looking poorly because of the cooler temps, I'll bring them back up.
I'm thinking a slightly cooler basement with lights would be optimal, too. I have several variegated leaves/plants that were gorgeous when I got them - - and slowly but surely, most of the varigation disappears. I have always just attributed it to my "average" (68-72 degrees) house temps. And unfortunately, we don't have a basement. So I'm at a loss how to grow them "cooler". Makes me sad, too, cuz I love the variegated ones!
If anybody has suggestions, please let me know. =O)
Betsy
Is it really 60F? wow. In other words, pretty much impossible to grow episcias (which start sulking at 65F) and variegated AVs in the same place. Interesting.
Variegateds are so off my radar as my summer temps go up to 95F (and maybe higher) under the lights - good thing I'm usually not home during the day :P
From what I gather fertilizer has a great deal to do with it as well. To keep the variegation you need to have a very low nitrogen content. I am going to try using a different fertilizer with my variegated plants. I'll keep tabs and let you all know what happens.
Nanna
Nanna,
just posted a pic on another thread, of a varigated AV I've had for years, I do absolutely nothing extra or special to it, and it grows great leaves, but never blooms! I keep it just for the leaves - here's the pic again - has pink in it, too!
What a beauty--beautiful variegations.
Nanna
2zeus, that is a beautiful plant.