A "TIGER" Tale for AMY...

Amy here's the pic you've been waiting for...

I wanted to see how large I could grow just one AV after seeing all the large show plants in the old AVSA magazines a friend gave back several years ago.
I loosely followed the advice in one of the AVSA magazines articles & this is the results.

This is a pic of my largest grower so far...it's got ok shape & form but would you look at the size of this tiger!
It does have a few marred leaves on it from the move and it's way to green but it does have blooms coming up. All in all it's a keeper...lol

If I can find the old pic or two I'll add it for comparison. I purchased this as a baby plant in a 2 in pot and have been moving it up into a new pot every 6 months or so. It has always been potted in a self watering pot and mildly fertilized "when I remembered" with Peter's 20-20-20 and whatever fertilizer happened to be in the mix when I potted it.


Enjoy,
MsC

Here's another look different angle...
I'm going to see if I can find a baby pic or two

This message was edited Jun 5, 2007 3:36 AM

And here is the baby pic...lol
I think this was July 2004

Amy I'll find Wrangler's & post that one for you too....


Hope you enjoy???
MsC

oh my goodness. That plant is huuuge! :) and beautiful too!

Wow!! Just...Wow!! I'm speechless! That is an amazing plant, MsC! Thank you so much for showing us those pictures. You *know* I enjoy seeing them! That is what I aspire to have one of my AVs look like. Just one, and I'd be thrilled! LOL Is that a 6 inch pot it's in? I've really got to get a self watering pot. I think I'll pick my favorite standard AV and see if I can come anywhere close to your 'Tiger'. You've really inspired me. You will post more pics when it blooms, right? Please? LOL And I love the butterfly! :o)

Wow, beautiful and perfectly shaped MrsC. Can't wait to see the blooms

Ok MsC .... Tell us HOW you got that plant so big? Are you saying it was by just potting up to larger sized pots? Did you get that "Perfect" shape by using those leaf ring thingys? I just ordered some leaf rings, but don't even know what to do with them or exactly how to use them! hee hee ... WOW, I would be thrilled to have a plant grow that huge and be soooo perfect! You really are a Good Plant Mom MsC! I am inspired by a lot of y'all to try to get better at this "Perfect" AV growing!

'Tiger' is a real Beauty!

love that variegation.....I see names above who might like to play June Bingo....Rain's thread

Well, I'm so glad ya'll like Tiger..it's my pride & joy...lol
This is the one that rode on my lap 1600 miles when we moved the first time.

I wish I could remember who the author was of the article about "growing them bigger" so I could give them proper credit because it was great encouragement & spurred my lil experiment.
I kept looking at those pics of these beautiful huge AV's & thinking no way could I do that... but I did & YOU can too!!!

The short version of the info given in the article was the following:

~start with a large growing type.
~pot up one size often & before the outer leaves start to fail
~ fertilize gently & often
~give consistent light & humidity (no small feat in AZ)
~carefully clean the foliage

Now, I did use a leaf support ring for a short while but the leaves on Tiger & another one I was experimenting with kinda curl some. As the leaves would grow they would get caught in the holes in the support ring & tear, so I took it off when I placed it in the pot it's growing in now. It has a nice smooth leaf support built into the bowl.
One of the other Av's I used in the lil experiment had more flat type leaves and it did fine on the support ring. It was about 2inches smaller than this one in the pic. I choose 3 different plants at the time when I started and they all did great.

MsC

I'm so inspired and encouraged by this, MsC! I'm going to try it, really! I can't even remember what all I've got, but I'm going to look through them and pick a couple to start really working closely with. This will be fun and I'll keep you updated on how it's going...once I get started... LOL

Well, I can gladly add a leaf of Tiger to the seed package since I've not sent it out yet??? That will surely help your success!!

You gotta try it even if you only grow ONE big one it's so much fun watching them get big.
For me personally, after killing so many in the beginning, it was a real confidence booster & kept me in the AV game.

MsC

Oh yes, I'd love a leaf of Tiger! Clearly, it comes from good genes, so maybe I could grow it to be just as purdy as its Mom! :o)

Thank you so much, MsC!