Streptocarpus seedling progress

don't forget to tag the plants as they bloom so you know what's what. Blue and white string, and another for a "best pick" perhaps? Or number them and take pics and note comments - two flowers open at once, flower smaller etc etc.

I'm just curious to hear if your results are similar to mine. I see that I noted (I don't remember any more, of course) that I even had one with 3 flowers open on one stem.
Apr 17, 2006, 9:09 PM

If I had the space, I would have put the rest in a group pot and grown them as an annual outside for the rest of the season.

I like the string idea. Thanks for reminding me to mark and take notes. I see you noted thicker petals on one of them. I've never paid any real attention to petal thickness, so that characteristic would be more subjective for me. Otherwise, color, number of buds per stem, number of flowers open at once, flower size, leaf shape and size, growth rate (though I've completely messed that up from the beginning) - anything else I need to take particular notice of? This is fun! Recall my saying I'm a science nerd? LOL

I don't think you have..? I like to keep ones that grow best in my care, not the ones that would grow best in someone else's excellent care.....

As a general comment, second blooms can be different/better than the first round, so if these were real potential new hybrids, you would want to cull conservatively and grow them on some more.

Oh yes, they're probably almost a year old now, and just now coming into bloom. Yours bloomed at 4 months, I believe you said. It's my fault, though, not a flaw in the seedlings. Not enough water or food, I'm certain.

I'll continue to keep an eye on them for a while, then, regarding the second blooms. I did notice on 'Kitten Face' that the number of blooms per stem really increased with the second and subsequent bloomings. Color, I would assume, doesn't really change much, does it? Perhaps slightly darker or more vivid, but still quite close to the first blooms?

If I learned nothing else from this thread I have learned:

as much as it is a pain in the behind to change soil often, I know it is true!!! To hear a veteran grower say it confirms what my suspicions have been......

She also confirmed what i was beginning to learn....that plants kept watered regularly tend not to be burned by over fertilizing in the spring and summer....

thanks everyone!!!! Ki, you are simply amazing!! and helpful to boot!!!!

I've been studying this seedling for a few days now, and as much as I like the bloom, I think the flower stalk is too short. With them planted all together, it's hard to get a good picture of it, but you can see that the one to the right is taller, and doesn't even have buds open yet. I know you said something about short flower stalks at one point. Is this genetic or cultural?

it can be genetic, of course, but someone told me that on streps it's a symptom of being too root bound, or inconsistent watering (no, don't comment... lol). Now, I don't know if my source is correct, as she was just repeating what she heard.

Inconsistent watering..well, nevermind then. LOL I'll try to do better and see how the next round goes. I don't know if it would be rootbound or not. In that pan pot with all the others, it might be, but then again, the one next to it is taller, and clearly it's in the same situation as this one. But if they stay that short, I don't like it.