Wow, I don't quite know where to dive in here...LOL...I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion happening here since I peeked in here last this afternoon!! So much to learn about the whole light thing. I'm cutting and pasting Ki's post about all that...I already have Gail's measurements saved for when I get shelving....
Rose I had not even noticed the "fuzz" until you pointed it out!!!! I went and climbed up to take a peek on top of the fridge and sure enough both the one on the far left and the one on the far right look furry, even to the naked eye!! Yay!!
So cool to know that they are busy growing tubers Ki!! I'll try and be more prepared for the sight of those 'grubs" when I do pot up, don't want to drop anybody..... LOL I'll be saving the instructions on how to pot the babies up, it'll be awhile for that I figure...
Guess your kids aren't into "fishy" suppers Rain... LOL I could tell stories on my poor kids when I went through a vegetarian faze...lift the lid on the main dish at dinner and have the youngest start sobbing at the dinner table.....still makes me LOL when I think of it....
We are off to Denver tomorrow and for the rest of weekend for some business DH will do. Best part is I get to see my younger DD that lives in Denver now. I'll have the laptop so we'll see if I get to check in...
~Brenda
This message was edited Jul 18, 2007 11:17 PM
Little Fuzz
Brenda... I will post a photo this evening of the "tool" I used to pluck out my seedlings, and re-plant them. It works really well, but you'll probably laugh!
Amy... you made me laugh about the kids supper thing! When my girls... ages 7, 8, and 9... ask what's for dinner, I'm always coming up with stuff like... "Oh! We're having something special tonight! They had a sale on frogs legs at the grocery store, so I thought we'd try some!"
Then I get these horrible looks, and they either walk away with their heads down, or they say, "You're joking right???" They always breathe a sigh of relief when they find out it's taco night or spaghetti or something! Too funny!
Karen
Brenda, your mention of trying out being a vegetarian made me think of a book I read when I was a child. 'Toad Food and Measle Soup' The child's mom put everyone on a vegetarian diet and when he/she (I can't remember) asked what was for supper, they understood mom to say toad food and measle soup. It was actually tofu and miso soup, but the appetite was already ruined! LOL
Karen, I'm actually a pretty good cook, but on occasion, I've tried a new recipe that, well, just didn't turn out quite like I meant. When trying a new recipe, I used to tell the kids we were having supper surprise. Talk about striking fear in their hearts! LOL That one single phrase causes a look of sheer terror on their faces, followed by "I'm not eating!!" ROFL
Ha!! LOL! Yeah, I'm a good cook too... but as you know, with kids, they can be picky eaters. I have two that are VERY picky, and one that will try just about anything. It can be challenging at times to find that happy meium and compromise, so that everyone eats.
Oh good I'm not the only one to send the kids running from the kitchen in horror! LOL
I still get that look of fright from my husband when I say I'm trying a new recipe though!!!! You'd think after all these years he'd know that most of them turn out well, but he still HATES it when I try something new on him. I remember him scraping some home made egg rolls out to the dog and then laughing so hard when the dog wouldn't even eat them!! It's funny now ....LOL He would have definitely called them "Toad Food" :)))
I will be waiting to see that "tool" Rose, I'm going to need all the tips I can get with these babies!!
Rain how will you separate yours out, or will you?? They are so nice and thick and getting big! Not a problem I'm going to have this time around LOL.... but maybe in the future....
~Brenda
I'm by far the pickiest eater in our family, so I only really have to worry about myself. The rest of them will eat pretty much anything. LOL
Brenda, I have no idea how I'll separate those. LOL I'll wait til they're big enough that I feel comfortable handling them and then I'll figure it out. They'll probably be just a big wad by then, but that's alright. I never plan ahead...that takes all the fun out of it! LOL
OK Brenda! I'm going to show you my top secret tool collection for handling small plantlets and seedlings!
Are you ready??? (Drumroll please...)
It's a cuticle-pushy-thing, and a pair of manicure scissors (both from an old manicure kit)
The quarter is for size...
One end of the little cuticle-pushy-thing is like a spoon, and that's the end I use to scoop up the seedling. The other end is kinda pointy, like a tiny trowel, and I've used it to separate a sucker from an AV before. The little scissors I use to trim leaves, cut stolons off, etc. I use them all the time with my indoor plants.
My secret's out!
;*) Karen
I had to search waaaaayyy back to find this thread... but I had an update from my end. It's a sad story...
Hubby was cleaning the house while I was a t work yesterday... he was vacuuming in our bedroom, when his elbow hit my "little fuzz" container and a similar container with Sinn. 'Rio' seeds... knocked them clear off the windowsill, and they landed face down! What can I say??? How do I actually get mad at him for cleaning house??? He felt ssooo bad, he called me at work... saying how sorry he was. It wasn't like I had even gotten one seedling to sprout yet. Maybe, this is the "jostle" that it will need to actually do something! LOL!
I won't give up yet. Just waiting for the stuff in top to dry out a bit, so I can scape it back down.
Here's a photo...
I am soooooooooooo sorry about that , Wild Rose...................bet you are, too!!!!!
Yeah... but like I said... he was cleaning the house! Not one of my strongest points, especially now with my back... so I appreciated all the help I can get!
Oh, that's sooo bad! I'm sorry! :o( But you're right...how do you get mad at him for cleaning? You know what's going to be funny...they're probably going to sprout stuck up there on the lid! ;o)
That would be funny! May even start a whole new way to prop! LOL!
Wow, been awhile since I updated my pictures here. I transplanted the four "Fuzz's" I ended up with into their own pots today. There "home" was getting so green that I thought it time. I'd love any advice from this point on, probably should have gotten some before repotting them!! I don't know what to expect but I do know that eventually I want to end up with a plant that looks like it has Kitten's Ears :))))
Here is a picture of my Fuzz plants from August 1st, my camera makes them look way more yellow than they are. they are a light green.
~Brenda
This message was edited Aug 29, 2007 9:38 PM
Here is a top view from August 1st...
I forgot to take before pictures today so I just have them after re potting them....
Before I potted up the smallest one I rinsed off the roots really well so I could get a look at the tuber (it is called a tuber right?) I didn't want to mess too much with the bigger ones. I did pull a leaf off this poor little guy messing with him but the tuber is cool!!
Here are my four guys (out of at least 100 seeds!!) in their new baby food container pots :))))
And a shot from above.........
Those are adorable, Brenda! They look so good! Yes, it's a tuber, and a fat one at that! LOL
I potted a couple of mine up the other day. Let me go find the pictures...
And in their new home...they are back up on the fridge under the same grow light they have been growing under all along but they are in this dome with a bunch of strep seedlings now.
Please advise on what to do from here....
Thanks, Brenda
Oohh! Your babies are bigger than mine! :o) They're growing like weeds!
Here are mine before I pulled a couple out to pot them up. This was August 25.
Well when you only get four to come up they have lots of breathing room!! LOL
I just love that tuber, I think it is so neat! Wish I was brave enough to have checked them out on the bigger guys. Maybe when they are more mature....
Another tuber shot that is not a close up, it was a little plant...
~Brenda
Here's a baby. The tuber on yours is larger than the one on this one. They must really be happy where you've got them! Maybe I need to clean off the top of my fridge... LOL
Oh my goodness, it looks like a lawn!!! You have lots of tubers to check out...LOL
How fun it will be to split them all up and have a zillion baby sinn leucotricha!!!
~Brenda
I may have been a bit overzealous when sowing the seeds, Brenda. It's a habit I'm trying to break! LOL
And here are the two potted up on their own.
They always look more yellow in the pictures than they really are, don't they?
LOL Do you actually realize how tiny those roots are and how intertwined they grow? It's a mess! I'd need a microscope and a comb sized for a flea to actually separate them without breaking any! I'm having a ton of fun with them, though! :o)
I really, really like those mini greenhouses. I've got to go take a closer look at them...
Karen, any luck with your seeds? Do you have any seedlings hanging from the ceiling of your container? :o)
When the seeds are smaller than a grain of powdery pepper I don't know how you'd control the planting!! I just pinched part of the little envelope to hold some back and let fly with the rest...LOL
This has given me the desire to try some others though! I'm going to join the gessie society and then see what they have to pick from! It's been so fun watching them grow.
~Brenda
The Gessie Society sends new members a packet of mixed Gesneriad seeds! There are quite a few in there, so you could potentially have a lot of seedlings. Unless, for instance, oh I don't know, maybe you knock the container over and it lands upside down. Then, you might only get four seedlings. Don't ask me how I know... See Karen? You thought you were alone in that boat, didn't you??? LOL
It would be such a kick if Karen got some seedlings after her mishap!! Of course something like that could never happen to me! Hah, only it usually involves food down my shirt, but only when I wear white of course!! LOL
Mixed Gessie seeds, do you have to wait for them to grow up to know what you have??
~Brenda
The mini green house shown here on the Fuzz thread is very inexpensive. It is a thinner plastic but works very well. I found it in a hydroponics store (where I bought those clay pellets..) There are two bottom pieces, a solid one and then another with holes in it so you can fill it with water and then lift out the tray with holes in it and dump the solid tray if need be. Both of those pieces are only a couple of bucks each. And then the nice high plastic dome lid was $7.95 I think. I have three of them and they are so handy for just about everything, especially things that are taller than the norm!
Let me go see if there is a name or label on them....The name imprinted in the lid says Altitude... and the label says Optimum Hydroponix with a phone number 800 489-2215. Maybe you can find a dealer near you......
~Brenda
OMG!!! You girls have done great!!! I am envious! No... no seedlings sprouting in the top of the container. LOL! I left it that way for a bit, but then used my spray bottle and washed it all back down into the bottom. I haven't given up on them, but I don't hold out any hope for them either. *sigh*
That tuber is a trip!!! I can't believe it already makes one at that young age! Wow! How cool is that? You both have really done well. I am watching the plant I bought on eBay with a hopeful eye, that there may be buds forming... keep your fingers crossed ladies! I can only hope I will get blooms off of it this year, before it wants to go to sleep!
We need Keyring to chime in here on what you do next. Has she ever responded to this thread? Yes, she has... so she will get the update and may be able to offer suggestions. I'mm thinking that you'll want to keep them frowing on through this winter, and not let them go dormant for the first time until next winter.
And they even have fuzz this early!!! You go girls!!! I am indeed in awe, and envy!!!
Karen
Rose I too am hoping that Keyring will check in with any tips she may have for us! I'm not quite sure about the whole going to sleep thing although there is probably a whole thread here somewhere I can find if I put my mind to it!
Please be sure and post pictures when your bigger Fuzz blooms!
~Brenda
This was fun rereading this thread and seeing the final product..............good going Brenda!!!!!!!!!!!
hi to my fellow fuzzheads :-)
There is really no real trick to these things. I can tell you how I grow them, but my methods are more a result of laziness than "best practices".
I let them grow while they're growing, and let them rest when they look like they need it. When the growths start looking ratty, then they might like a rest - I cut back on the light and water, but I do not snip off growths. I've let some of my Sinn seedlings grow through their first winter, while others decided to take a break. I don't force anything.
While growing, I feed them regularly. I put a tiny bit of slow release fertilizer in there - 2-3 pellets to a 3 or 4 inch pot - and then also fertilize them weakly with the other gessies. That adds up to a bit more fertilizer a bit more regularly than my other gessies.
Amy, you might try potting some of the ones with thinner stems a bit deeper as you did with your ges soc noid. When seeds are sown in a clump, often the seedlings will be lanky for lack of light. (Or, if you are like me, you can just leave them alone to figure it out.) I think I've said this before - if you think separating them will break the stems, just pot them up in clumps but try to tweeze the apart a bit to give them a bit more growing space. (This happens to be my usual method for the first potting up, as it's just soooooooo much faster.)
I often keep my Sinn seedlings in compots (3-4 to a pot) for a few months to over a year, depending on how long it takes that type to bloom. BUT, it is recommended that you split them up as soon as possible so that the tubers develop evenly.
At some point, they can be weaned off the high humidity. I usually do that when their second stems appear. At that point, I start growing them drier as well.
Even as adults, they like to be pot bound - pots are often only 1-2 inches wider than the tuber.
Brenda - yes, the mixed seed from the ges soc are mixed and can include species (which can be IDed) and hybrids (which will forever be noids). It's fun :-) I got some good things out of it.
compot pic, probably a hybrid with leucotricha as the mom:
five months later - may not be the same plant, but definitely the same batch of seedlings. They've been out on the balc in a window box.
It is fun isn't it Gail, those little tubers are just too much!
Thanks for the comments Keyring, I didn't know if they should be pinched back or not as yours always look so compact and close to the pot. Interesting about weaning them off the humidity too, I was wondering about that. Love your pictures, as usual! :))
~Brenda
oh, these ones were grown in super high light (almost cactus light) by mistake. Don't pinch them back - leucotricha doesn't branch (at least, not in its normal growth pattern) and you'll just set it back some.
I just got my seeds when i joined The Gesneriad Society...............but holding off on those to see what happens with these other seeds I planted...................