Here are my 1st 3 streps and my dying chimera :-(

HI everyone, I got my order in from Rob's violets. I guess this is why they will not guarantee plants unless they are overnighted.

The streps look very good, the chimera is on it's last leg. I removed the totally dead leaves, these are the leaves that are barely alive. I hope I can save it.

I got:

Aunt Eater (strep - the blooming one -- gorgeous)
Bristol's Hey Mei strep
Bristol's surprise party strep

Rob's Hand puppet chimera

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I can't blame Rob's violets for the dying chimera, it was my fault for ordering this time of year. The temps were moderate and I thought it wouldn't be a problem (they insulate very well when they pack the box). But I've noticed that all the av's I got from Bluebird greenhouse do much better for me than Rob's av's. Does anyone else notice this?

Anyone have a chimera baby they can share?

HOpe you like the pics.

p.s. Allison, where are you??

Here's a close up of the bloom of

Ant eater strep

Here's a close up of my chimera :-(

Do you think it's going to come back, or is it a goner?

Maureen, that is why Allison told me to order streps and episcias from Gary Out of Africa.....Gary Mitika that is....
she also told me to order AV's and chimeras from Bluebird

Wow, you have some nice starter plants!

Maureen those streps are fantastic.What a beautiful bloom Ant Eater has : ) I wouldn't throw in the towel on Hand Puppet just yet.It might surprise you and start looking better in a few days.As long as there is some green there is still hope.Thats what I have always been told anyway .I will keep my fingers crossed.In the meantime I will try and start a chimera for you ...just incase,but don't give up hope.
Nancy

Bettygail - I'm not familiar with Gary out of Africa, is that the name of the company?

Achoo - yes, I'm happy with the streps, but not my sick chimera with frost bite bad;-(

Nancy - I'm hoping that it will survive. My fingers are crossed. Thanks for starting a chimera for me (which one is it?? ) Thank you so much.

I couldn't find his site in the vendor thing here at Dave's......trying to do it the right way but can't...here is his site....fabulous
http://www.garys-out-of-africa.com/
allison gave me his name after she left...

This message was edited Mar 6, 2007 7:07 PM

Thanks Betty. What a great sight.

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The chimera above was bigger when I got it, but as the leaves turned mushy and died I removed them. It was not this small when I received it.

Maureen,Is your chimera looking any better? I took a sucker from Ness' Dream Maker yesterday and am trying to root it for you just incase. Keep us posted ok?

Gail,I don't know whether to hug you or kick you in the keester for that Gary out of Africa site LOL. I think ((hug)) Its another great site! Thanks : )

HI Nancy, it's looking really bad. All the leaves are now totally dead, I've removed them and want to see if anything will grow back from the part that's under the potting mix (the stem?? I don't know what it's called). I'm off to look up Ness' dream maker. You are so sweet to do that for me.

Isn't it a wonderful site. My understanding is the guy who grows this never wanted a website and knows nothing about a computer!!!! He is good, though, about emailing back and forth....I just ordered the seller's special in both streps and episcias.

I am so sorry, maureen, but most good growers will replace without a fuss, won't they???

Maureen,

I'm so sorry about your chimera. I looked at your photo and it looked like the soil was pretty soggy. Was it? To me, it looks like the plant could have died from being too soggy when put in the box. It also looked very tiny. I know you took off the outer leaves, but still, very tiny. If it was due to the cold, I believe some of the leaf edges of the streps would be affected. Is it still within the time period to call Rob's? I don't order from Rob's anymore because of this problem--tiny, tiny plants. My last order was placed late fall, early winter about 2 years ago and I had to use the expensive express shipping and I lost at least half of the plants I ordered--quite a feat for me since I've had AV's since I was 15 and somewhat know what I'm doing (I'm 38 now).

I received two chimeras yesterday with no heat pack and they were great. One plant is 11" across. Of course, blossoms are shot, but that's to be expected after flying halfway across the country.

Again, I am so sorry. I know too well what it's like to be disappointed with a plant.

Dry your sick chimera out, then put it in a baggy with the top sealed. It will either grow or rot. But I have saved many a plant this way.

thanks for the tip, astates!!!

Hi everyone, thank you very much for your input here. Yes, the chimera was very soggy when I got it....and I did take a lot of dead leaves off. They are all dead now -- the streps were not affected at all (and were not soggy either). I'm debating if I should call and ask for a replacement. If it was cold related I feel it was my fault, it if was too wet it's their fault, when I got it in the box, it was saturated.



Does anyone else think that the streps would have been affected by the cold the same as the chimera? If yes, I'll give them a call tomorrow and ask them to replace the chimera.

Maureen

Also just my opinion--if it was the cold, bloom of the strep would be affected.

Thanks PlantMomto3. I'm going to call them tomorrow and politely ask for a replacemtn.

Thanks
maureen

Great suggestion PlantMomto3.Thats what would do if I were you too Maureen.I am sure they will replace it without any problems,They are usually very good about that.Please let us know how it goes.
Nancy

I just realized I never updated you guys on this.

I did call Rob at Rob's violets. I explained what happened, he said it was from the cold weather and would not replace. I was quite disappointed. I didn't ask him to replace the free plant I never got because most of the plants I got from him over the past several months have not done very well.

Plantmomto3 - I also questioned Rob on the fact that the strep bloom was fine and wouldn't that be affected by the cold and he said not like the chimera.

Oh well. Thanks for all of your suggestions.

Oh that breaks my heart Maureen.I thought for sure he would replace them. The chimera I am starting for you is looking good so far in its pot and baggie : ).As soon as I see that its rooted well I will send it off to you.Hope it helps to take some of your pain away.
Nancy

Maureen,

I am so sorry to hear that Rob didn't replace your plant. It's a shame that he wouldn't do it just to keep you happy and a customer. I still don't believe that the cold caused the demise of your chimera. You saw my chimeras that were in the mail at the same time as yours with no heat pack and no damage--My plants still had blooms! I would definitely leave feedback about this. I just wonder how long your plants could have been in the mail when you live in the same state as Rob's. My plants traveled half-way across the country with overnight temps in the 20's and 30's.

As for his plants not doing well as a whole, I find that his soil is too heavy. I always transplant immediately upon receipt of the plant in my own soil mix, which is much lighter. You might try this to see if it revives your plants. Streps like an even lighter soil, so I add even more perlite. Streps do not like to sit in soggy soil. I have to water more often, but my plants do better.

Right now I have an extra Granger's Desert Dawn--a chimera. It's yours if you would like it--it's already bloomed true. You can see a photo of it at www.avsa.org. Just d-mail and let me know.

Thats so kind of you PlantMomto3.Since it has already bloomed true that would be much better for Maureen.Mine will take a long time before it sees it first blooms to make sure it blooms true to the mamma plant.Wonderful idea and so nice f you;
I also agree with plantmom that robs soil is too heavy.I usually repot everything too shortly after receiving them.I don't know why but I haven't been too happy with Rob's quality of plants for sometime now.They sure do seem to take a long time to get over the shock of shipping even tho he packs well.They used to be alot larger when I received them and grew well from the start.
Maureen,a few of the av's we bought during the Christmas Special are still pouting.How are yours doing?

I am glad to know that Rob would not replace the plant................i won't be ordering from him.....there are other good vendors. A lot of people don't like Park and I can understand why, but they quickly replace anything.....no questions asked....

Betty, the safest thing is not to order in winter from the cold north. As Maureen noted in the first post, Rob's site is clear that they cannot guarantee plants shipped in winter unless you pay for overnight shipping. It seems a reasonable policy to me - realistically, the alternative is to not ship at all which is what many other northern vendors do. I haven't heard people complain about them not replacing plants during the rest of the year, so I'm withholding judgment until I do.

My streps were not replaced and they were shipped express mail. All of them died--they were the tiniest streps I had ever received and sent sopping wet. I really should have changed the neutral to a negative.

I haven't ordered since then--Fall 2005.

This message was edited Mar 22, 2007 2:33 PM

Ah, that's good to know. Thanks for posting.

Cedar - thanks for your concern, that is really sweet of you, and for starting that chimera for me.

Plantmomto3 - I noticed his potting mix is very very hard (almost like compacted and the water takes forever to drain through). Because of that I did repot them into my own mix which works well for all my av's . However the chimera was so bad from the beginning I didn't want to repot it up till it got better, which never happened. You are so nice to offer your chimera to me. I would love it, i'll dmail you:-)

Cedar - the 3 a/v's I got from Rob's are all pouting. One, with the severly spooned leaves is on it's way out - I'm thinking about putting it out of it's misery. The other 2 are still struggling along. -

I find it really interesting that on another gardening forum, a woman was asking to trade her av's and streps for other but she specifically stated "Rob's av's do not do well for me so I am not interested in trading for any of his av's". It wasn't a mean spirited post about Rob's plants (didn't seem to be anyway) but she very frankly said his plants don't do well for her. I find it interesting that me and you Cedar are having the same problem. I wonder what the problem could be???