I've had two Streptocarpus plants for a while. I like them very much. They've grown and bloomed for me every few months or so. I purchased an assortment of 8 more. I really like these plants. In looking at the soil mix of the Streptocarpus that I currently have, I noticed that the mix appears to be something like this- 1:1 potting soil and perlite. I did a little bit of research on line and found a myriad of soil mixes. The one I chose was 1:1:1; peat, vermiculite, perlite. This is what I planted up my new plants in. Wish I would have remembered we had this forum back here before I did that. Oops. Anyway, does this potting mix sound appropriate? Also too, my first two Streptocarpus were planted in regular pots. I've been careful not to let them dry out because the few times they did, they drooped and sulked in their pots. I read they like a fluffy well drained soil that is never allowed to dry out. Any reason why I shouldn't have planted them in double AV pots?
Streptocarpus, basic questions
The only one I have that survived is in an AV pot..lol
Everyone's growing conditions & watering styles are a bit different, so the mix might be ok for you. Vermiculite for me makes my soil too wet,but then I kill everything by drowning.
Keyring might be a bit more helpful on the streps & chiritas.
Good lcuk,
MsC
Hi There;
It's actuallt good for the streps to dry a little.Being to wet they will rot. but you must be doing something right as you have had them awhile.I grow quite a few streps & my mix is 1 potting soil 1 verm. 2 peatlite & i charcol.i always put a little pearlite at the bottom of the pot so they don't get to wet as i wick water mine.
mrsbonnie
Thank you to both of you!
Vermiculite does the same thing for me too.
The Streptocarpus I currently have are in regular pots. I keep a small watering can by the sink and actually water them quite frequently. They're not like the hoyas that I only water once a week... that's for sure. If I missed watering the Streptocarpus for a week, their leaves would be drooping major league which is why I was thinking the AV pots might work for them. Streptocarpus don't seem to be too forgiving in the watering department. The two that I have had for a while are in regular pots. I guess I'll find out if the new Streptocarpus like the AV pots or not over the next few months because I potted all but one of the new ones in that stle of pot.
I read about wicking up. I actually have plants here that require that type of watering. Has anyone tried Pinguicula? All of the people back here in these forums could grow Mexican pings if you all are growing African Violets. African Violets actually seem to be a little fussier in that they shouldn't be over watered where Mexi pings can sit in water a little bit. Might be a neat plant for MsCritterkeeper to try! I had a habit of over watering myself and was killing lots of plants but some pings actually like it! If you want to try one, let me know and I'll send it to you along with enough medium for you to try it out. Great plant to have if you have any fungus gnats around. Pinguicula is carnivorous and the leaves produce nice sticky stuff to trap little bugs when they land and then they have nice glands that produce digestive enzymes to absorb insects that get stuck. I don't have fungus gnats so I have to wave my plants over my composter so they get a few juicy fruit flies or I sprinkle a little flake fish food on their leaves when ever I remember to do so. They're really easy plants to grow once you get the system down pat. One difference, they can't be allowed to dry out and they really shouldn't be watered with tap water. Has to be rain water, distilled water, or RO water.
Most of the time I'm watering the plants behind the sink (the two Streptocarpus and the AV's) with rain water, distilled water, or RO water. More so because of the Nepenthes hanging there that need to be watered and those can't tolerate anything but water devoid of virtually all nutrients. It's one of those deals where I've got the watering can out that has the RO water in it and just sort of keep going to other plants that aren't that fussy. I read that many people were using charcoal in their mixes but figured it wasn't necessary for me to add that given the type of water the plants were getting most of the time.
I've got another strepto question. I noticed that my streps have a few crowns in the pot as opposed to the one each they had when I bought them. I'm probably going to have to divide those and re-pot, right? I've not done this to this type of plant before. Are there any tricks? Looks to me as if you just separate the new growth points and pot in new pots? Is this correct? I'd like to do this soon because I'm going to a Round Up and would like to take the extras to share.
what i have been told & am going to be doing shortly is take the plant out of the pot & with a sharp knife divide them up, i am going to bag all of them for the first few days to make sure they will be allright.Once they are established you can take the bag off.good luck, & wish me the same.i have several.
mrsbonnie
Of course I'll wish you luck! You better pray for me though!
Tell me about the bagging deal here. I would have just potted them up in the same medium in separate pots if you hadn't mentioned something.
I've never heard of the plant called Pinguicula ... must go Google it!
I'm new to Strep's - Got a couple in trades since joining DG last October. One has a bloom just about to open! I am so excited! I really need to go back and read up on them. Mine are real small so I'm surprised one is getting ready to bloom so soon.
I am really getting to Love the Chirita's and have about 8 of them now! They seem to be a lot easier than the AV's. Two of my Chirita's are getting ready to bloom too!
You will really like ping-a-lings if you like oddball plants! I find them to be cheerful plants that do a mighty fine job taking care of gnats and such!
Here's a few really great sites for you to peruse-
http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq5440.html
Basics of Mexi-pings
http://www.pinguicula.org/
That one isn't too well designed but it was created by a bunch of scientists so forgive them.
http://www.omnisterra.com/botany/cp/slides/pings/pings.htm
Kinda fun to stroll through here
http://www.humboldt.edu/~rrz7001/Pinguicula.html
Feast your eyes on all the photos of ping-a-lings compiled at that site
Please forgive me in advance if I have just added to your list of plant addictions.
You are familiar with chirtas and they are easy? Good! Please share what you learned with me-
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/720130/
You've got good advice there.
The basic differences between chiritas, streps and AVs - as far as potting mix and culture go - is that streps and chiritas both like a lighter mix and a bit of lime, and both generally prefer slightly cooler temps.
Streps hate staying wet, so a little droop between waterings is ok - they can recover from a total shrivelled state once or twice without much damage. I also find - like you - that while they dislike staying wet, they droop real fast and I water them more frequently than the AVs.
Chiritas like humidity, which is why floridians seem to do well with them (indoors in A/C) even though the northerners have a leg up in terms of temps. They don't seem to mind staying moist all the time.
Some species streps are stoloniferous (short rhizomes between stolons), which is why you get the multiple rosette syndrome in hybrids. Also, there is apparently a quota of flower stems per leaf, so after a while older leaves no longer send out flower spikes.
Interesting thread.I found the streps like more water than the AV's too.
What kind of lime do you use for the streps? Something like garden lime?
Equilibrium the pings are pretty cool looking plants. I have never heard of them.Can you grow them from the leaves like AV's and streps? thanks for any info.Jan
Yes Jan, would you like one to try? I've got an agnata here that needs to be split out into several plants that is bombproof. If you are interested, please d-mail me your name and mailing address (no PO boxes because the box won't fit) and I'll get it out to you this week. I have to go to the Post Office for a friend some time soon. No need for postage or anything. Same offer goes to plantladylin and I think there was one more gal who was interested in pings.
I use dolomitic lime which is sold for the garden - it's a mix of large and small granules and seems to work well.
Equilibrium,Thank you for the offer.I would love to try one.I'll send you a d-mail.I have a few fruit flys that I think the plant would like.LOL.
Ki,I have the powder lime for the garden.Do you like that would work the same?
Tee he, I leave bananas out on the counter top specifically so I can get a few fruit flies for my babies during the winter! During the warmenr months, I wave my plants over the composter where fruit and veggie scraps are so they can grab a few on their own!
Your plant is in the mail to you USPS Priority. I added a little extra Canadian sphagnum peat moss for you. Enough to pot up two plants (left over for when this plant needs to be divided next fall) and all you need to do is add very well rinsed sand to the mix and you should be fine. Beats the heck out of buying a whole bale of Canadian sphagnum peat for one plant. Your plant is currently blooming. When you receive it, pinch off the bloom and remove the lower leaves still present from when the plant wasn't actively growing. I left the lower spent leaves on for you to be able to see them so that next year when the plant begins actively growing in spring and the lowest tier dies back, you don't panic. As far as the bloom, it takes too much energy for a recently transplanted plant to complete the bloom cycyl but I wanted you to see what the flower looked like. It's dainty and I find them to be very attractive.
Have fun!
Jan, I think any kind of lime is fine - it's a matter of how much and how frequently. If I were good, I would test the ph of the water in my pots (in other words, the water plus soil plus fertilizer) but I just simply add a bit of lime every now and then. It's to compensate for peat and fertilizer's low pH. My tap water is also not all that high either, so a bit of lime is good. The finer granules of lime would probably dissolve faster, requiring that lime be applied more frequently.
Thank you so much! I better get reading up on these plants. And get to the store for distilled water tommorow.
Thanks Ki.I'll try it with the lime I have.