Some more of my bloomers
Ma's Corsage
Please share your named AV's or others in the family
Miss Lily
Penny Lover
I'm in love!!!! thanks for answering our questions nananavarro...
Wvdaisy, I am new to this and have become addicted with plants just like you have picked up....
Debsroots, you know that with every picture we see, WE WANT...
thanks for the photos........soooooooooooo verrrrrrrrrrrrrr pretty!!
will someone please tell me what a sucker is??? I have an AV that has baby leaves coming out the bottom (on top of the soil) everywhere. If this is a sucker, what do I do???? I didn't understand what Lin is going to do about it????
A sucker is a new plant that grows from a leaf stem. If they are large enough you can gentle remove them (usually with your fingers). A little tug will do it. You treat them just as you would a leaf that you want to propagate. Nestle the bottom of the sucker in planting mix that has been moistened and put it is a plastic bag. It will soon root and you will have another plant. Some varieties can only be propagated this way. If you go to the sticky at the top of the forum you will find more detailed information including pictures and "how to do" steps.
That was the bright side. The other side of the story is that suckers can cause the main plant to become over growded and lose its shape. The suckers can take all the energy from the plant and prevent it from flowering. I usually remove suckers from plants when they are tiny. I use a pair of tweezers and just pinch them out as close to the main neck of the plant as I can.
Hope this helps.
Deb, Your blooms are wonderful. I'm in love with Ma's Corsage. Could you show a picture of the whole plant. I would love to see the shape of the leaves as well.
I'm a leaf nut. I think the leaves are as pretty as the blooms.
I have to leave for a few days....if I remember when I get back I'll post a pic of the entire plant. The leaves are pretty...I just don't like the overall structure of the plant. To many open spaces.
Deb
nannanavarro, here is picture of Ma's Corsage(my gift leaf from ebay). I like the edging on it alot and the bloom is beautiful.
Melissa
It's a Tommy Lou edge. That would be beautiful with the blooms.
thanks for the info., nannanavarro!!!
How is a Tommy Lou edge defined? I'm still a newbie at this.
There are basically three types of variegation on the leaves. At first the variegation was green with white but now cream, yellow, tan and pink are also factors in the variegation.
Tommie Lou variegation is a white (cream, yellow, pink) edged leaf.
Crown variegation is when the young leaves on the crown are white (cream, yellow, pink or any combination.) As the leaves mature they become more green.
Mosiac variegation is when a leaf is speckled with white (cream, yellow, pink or any combination)
There are also plants that have have both edged and crown variegation and those that have mosiac and crowned variegation. There are many possibilities.
I'm sure there is more information with pictures or drawings in the stickys at the top of the forum. To add to the beauty of the leaves there are other combinations such as ruffled, wavy, scalloped, serrated, heart-shaped, ect. All of which can be variegated as well.
Like I said I love the leaves. They can be a beautiful as the blooms and sometimes even more beautiful.
Thanks, nanna!
You are great, nannanavarro!! I am lazy and it is so much easier to learn from other members...I just learned a lot about my variegated ones. I love the foliage every bit as much as I love the blooms...
OK, everyone's AV are so beautiful. Is there a tried and true fertilizer that will get my AV's to bloom? I have my AV's on shelves with lights on the middle & bottom shelves. I fertilize with almost every watering so I can't figure it out. Any thoughts? Thx
I use Schultz's AV food, but let the experts hop in and answer....and when they do, I will copy them!!!
May not be the fertilizer. How much light do they get and how long are the lights on?
Hi Betty Gail can I add a picture of some of my blooming NOID's I love all of them they are in my front window...I use 20-20-20.in 1/4 teaspoon to a gallon of warm well water
My spring song the only one I have named..lol
beautiful plants ladies! Thanks for sharing your pictures.
Beautiful Bloomin Beauties!
Gingerrose: What direction is your window facing ... those are sooo pretty! I think I need to get some 20-20-20 fertilizer! What Brand do you use?
Gingerrose, I remember when you found these!!!!! They are doing great....we have a lot of them alike......shopping at the same places, eh???
nice thread!
Here's one in the family - Epsicia Unpredictable Valley. Has everyone sent in their orders for the light pink variegated episcias yet? cuz, you know, it's STILL too cold to ship them... (They are the most cold-sensitive of the bunch.)
A note on fertilizer. There are threads and threads on fertilizer, but a reminder that over-fertilizing is worse than underfertilizing, so don't over do it! And don't forget your trace minerals - many fertilizers don't have them and yet the plants NEED them.
okay, here's the pic. Just a close up of a leaf.
so glad you are here, Keyring, for the epsicia family. I ordered 10 from Gary Mitika on his Out of Africa site but haven't gotten them...oooh I hope I get a leaf that color.
I didn't add fertilizer today when i watered as i decided I was over feeding mine!!!
Oh Key ... that is so pretty! I love anything Pink! My favorite color .... and those leaves are gorgeous. I have never tried Epsicia's - are they as easy as AV's? And is this the plant I've read likes cooler temp's? If so, would it do okay in the air conditioned house year round?
Now, about those Trace Mineral's you referred to. What are they, and If many fertilizer's don't have them, where do you get them and how do you give them to your plants? Is it a differen't kind of fertilizer that is more well balanced than just your generic kind, or what?
Over feeding is one problem I have NEVER had .... my problem has always been more of NOT feeding at all. I am becoming a better "Plant Mommy" since joining DG though! I'm learning so much about all different kinds of plants and their likes and dislikes as to water, light, food etc.
I am just guessing, Lin....but i think she is talking about zinc, manganese, etc....it will tell you on the side of the food...but I am not sure of anything...
Just one more word about fertilizer. Make sure it does not have urea acid in it. The roots will burn.
I heard that on this forum some time ago Nanna, so I immediately checked the liquid fert. I was using and sure enough it had urea in it, so I threw it away. I am now using the VF-11 stuff ... haven't seen any great changes though, hopefully it will work well for my plants.
OK, ladies, mine has urea acid in it, so where do you get the VF-11 stuff?????
Gail: You have D-Mail!
I just pulled a giant mistake....I thought we were supposed to pull all those baby leaves growing underneath the main plant.....just read Rachel's reflections and found out those were suckers used to be new plants....oh well, at least I am learning with Wally World AV's...
A picture of my shelf can be found here: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/660848/
My bay window faces south but through a screened in porch. The top shelf gets the natural light and the middle and bottom have the plant lights. Unfortunately, the only other place I can put the shelf is in my front window (which faces north) which is shaded by the front porch.
I have been using the Shultz and VF-11 fertilizer but see no difference. I had heard such great things about the VF-11 so I emailed the lady and she sent me a free bottle! How's that for customer service! I have also added a small desk fan to keep the air circulating on the two bottom shelves and believe it or not, I see more powdery mildew than I had before.
I have so many great plants now that will have great blooms - if I could just get them to do it.
Thanks for any thoughts!!
Jeannine
There is a lot of difference in bulbs....I use the full spectrum bulbs which do produce heat and the violets love the warmth...............maybe one of the pros will step in here.
Wow - I love your shelves! The bulbs I am using are "kitchen" lights and I only have about 4-5" between the plants and the bulb. I think any other kind of bulb might produce too much heat and burn them.
I will add to my previous post and say that the leaves and baby plants love the lights - but no blooms... :(
yes, you need an answer from the gals that know.....mine are about 9" above the plant....
Phew. taking a break between work and work.
so......
Fertilizer is important, but it's only ONE of many cultural considerations. For example, if the light level isn't right, then Increasing fertilizer or changing fertilizer will not solve the problem. So, it's good to look at general care tips and look at each one - light, temp, age of the plant, age of the soil, etc.
And remember, those gangbuster blooms you see on show plants (or photos of show plants) are usually the result of grooming and pinching off blooms for a while to store up some energy.
As for lights, I use 48 inch fluorescent light tubes - the normal hardware store type variety. I alternate warm (low Kelvin number - the packaging should have this K rating) and cool (high Kelvin number), so a shelf with 4 tubes will have two of each. I've found this combo to be better than using full spectrum, but the results can vary depending on brand, I guess. It's not like I've done solid experiments with all of them.
The amount of light required for an AV to bloom also depends on the temperature. At lower temps, they will bloom with less light.
Also, watering will have an effect on whether the plants can make good use of all the light they're getting. This gets back to my earlier comment that you want to try to get all the factors "right". But you know, often it's a matter of finding a good spot for the plants and then being patient.....
With spring around the corner, most people in the north in anything but a highrise will probably start to see more growth and more blooms. (Highrises tend to be a bit immune from nature.)
You are a wealth of Great Information Key! Thank You!
Lin
LOL. Please stop with that or I'll be too embarrassed to post!
Oh, I hope not Key .... I for one, really, really appreciate all the knowledge and advice! And, I know others do too!