Those are good idea Critter ! Thanks... Plant just love bathroom and kitchens too.
The pebble trays are good . They also like daily misting and foliage feed. The link above covers every area needed for growing healthy lush plants with flowers. They said not only daily misting but fans are important too.
Also " Humidity of 40% to 50% is adequate, but 70-75% humidity is much better. Humidity is important to episcia culture. "
They also said their roots should never be allowed to go dry.
If you have time check out the article it's a few pages long but interesting nice pictures. It also tells which Epicias are easy ones to grow for beginners, which ones need more humdity and light, Like they said " Episcias with blue, magenta and pink flowering varieties should be kept on the wet side and can stand as much water as possible without drowning them. "
I was given Blue Heaven and it likes to be more moist than others. ~
It explains about potting " Potting:
Shallow pots are better than deep pots since roots like to grow up nearer the surface of the soil. Episcias placed in expositions are often grown in large saucers. Episcias do not like to be pot bound. "
If there is a question there is an answer in this article. One of the best ones I have read. Hope you get a chance to read it. Has some good pictures to.
Episcia are easy an fun to grow ! Fun to share my way !
I'll see about getting a shot of it... but bear in mind that everything up there really need repotting at present! The episcias are getting leggy, with lots of little stolons that I think I might clip off and use to start the plants over.
You can take crown cuttings of leggy plants and start it over... keep the Mom plant also even without crown leave leaf or two on it it will grow you a new beautiful crown like a full stolon or and maybe also a baby plant.
I think I saw on Rob's what to so with leggy epsicas also yes stolons make fast new plants.
You can ship stolons unrooted just like leaves too.
Yep, that's my plan... root the stolons for new plant pots, maybe try taking the crowns from a couple of the leggy ones.
Does anybody know if Episcias are subject to Cyclamen mites? There have been no AVs in that bathroom, so I'm pretty sure they are "safe," but I would want to put them through a course of treatment to be really sure before sharing them with anybody if it turns out that they could be hosts.
Critter the article from link above say " Pests:
http://groups.msn.com/AfricanVioletNotebook/yourwebpage.msnw
Episcias are able to become infected with the same insects, pests and diseases African violets have. When your plant room has a pest or disease, treat with homemade remedies or natural remedies first before resorting to chemicals which often destroy episcias before they cure them. New centers grow in extremely slowly if at all when burned out by chemicals or affected by pests. Episcias, especially younger cultivars, may be more sensitive to certain chemicals and may react badly.
Episcias are especially subject to foliar mealy bug. Look on the back of young leaves on spent leaves and flowers, on stems and crevices.
Symptoms of mite include centers of the stolons or main crown appearing dusty, curled up and hard. Sometimes when centers turn brown and leaves completely shrivel up, it may not be mites. These symptoms may be from too high a percentage of nitrogen in the fertilizer which makes it too acid. Or it may be a symptom of salt build up. Top watering once each six weeks is recommended. This could also be from lack of humidity.
What does it mean when plants wilt although well watered and seem not to be growing? Back in the '50s it was usually a sign of nematodes, a pest we don’t often get these days because of our use of soil-less mix. In the past many growers used a soil mix which contained garden loam and this is probably where most nematodes were picked up. Nowadays, these symptoms may be considered a sign of soil mealy bugs.
Crown rot is caused when soil mix is too heavy and keeps water in the plant. Make sure your soil-less mix is light. Most growers recommend using a variation of one part peat moss, one part vermiculite, one part perlite with additives such as charcoal and other organics. Serious growers also use live sphagnum moss.
Mildew is caused by poor ventilation and lack of air circulation.
http://groups.msn.com/AfricanVioletNotebook/yourwebpage.msnw
Well, I have seen absolutely no evidence of mites in those plants, but that's not the same as saying it's impossible for episcias to get cyclamen mites... I think I will wait at least until fall before sharing material from any of my gessies, just to be sure I've got them licked.
I fount these on Violet Barn
REPOTTING EPISCIAS
http://www.robsviolet.com/repotting_episcias.htm
Grooming Episcias
This one will be helpful I think for you Critter ?? or both links ?
http://www.robsviolet.com/grooming_episcias.htm
Thanks... those culture pages on Rob's are great! I refer to them a lot.