It all started from here -
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/638514/
Today I separated and kept 24 seedlings from Iced Canadian Sunset x Self of which 7 were variegated and 17 were plain green.
All the seedlings together before separation growing in chopped sphagnum moss -
Here are the 7 variegated seedlings with one husky green one in their new nursery container. The other green ones are in another container. I cut small pieces of plastic to set behind the leaves to avoid them touching the moist medium in order to prevent possible rot.
I was amazed at the extensive healthy root system these little seedlings had.
I found this little pick to be helpful when lifting the seedlings. The teaspoon was a miniature shovel. The long nozzle squeeze bottle was perfect for watering the very weak fertilizer solution.
My tools -
Wow, I'm impressed!!
My prayers tonight will include a wish that my leaves will put out healthy babies like yours. I like that idea of puttin a liltte something behind them to keep them dry..strep diapers...lol
That pic of the mother is gorgeous! I think that's a beautiful strep.I really like the variegated leaves, they make the color on that bloom POP!
Way to go Snow~
MsC
now you are growing the seedlings in spaghnum moss.............how did you start the seeds? what was the medium you used? This is amazing, Snow!!!!
Thanks, MsC, for the encouragement and all the best with your strep leaves.
Gessiegail, I planted the seedlings in a stratified medium consisting of perlite on the bottom, then some of my wick mix... topped off with fine vermiculite.
The seeds were started in chopped sphagnum. I took long fibre sphag and chopped it dry in a food processor. I took a container with drainage holes, added some chopped sphagnum, moistened it with warm water and sowed the seeds lightly on the surface. Covered the container with plastic wrap and waited. The seeds sprouted fairly soon but the seedlings grew slowly for me. I think they would have grown faster if the temps were a little higher than what they had.
Just a little while ago, I checked on some pods that looked ready to harvest. Sure enough they were. The pods and stems were brownish and the seams of the twisted pods were opening ever so slightly. I untwisted the pods over creased paper and here they are with countless dustlike seed.
This seed is up for adoption if anyone would like to try their hand at growing them -
me first, please Snow!!!!!!! I hate to be selfish but I will trade you for the seeds of my varietgated strep.....even if these seeds aren't from the variegated streps, I just want to try so badly my hand at growing like you did......
I don't care what color the mother is!!!!!!!!
thanks,
gail
Okay, Gessiegail, the seeds are yours. I will put them in an envelope and mail today....
I have many more seedpods nearly ready and will offer them to my DG friends as soon as they can be harvested.
What a great tutorial on the dividing and plating of the strep seedlings. The tools were simple yet great. That mother plant is just gorgeous and the babies are just too cute right now. The patience of waiting nearly a year to get to this point is amazing. How fun it will be to work at progressing to this ability level some day! Thank you Snowrose for sharing.
Strep diapers MsC? You and I are doing too much baby sitting. LOL Loved it!
~Brenda
Thanks, bmedel. It has been a fascinating process. Things should progress along much faster now. As soon as these seedlings get a little bigger, I'll give them their own individual pots. The best part will be to see the flowers and what colors they turn out to be.
Waiting for the flowers will be yet another exercise in patience (at least for me it would be!) but in the meantime you have the beautiful foliage to admire, these are really the best of both worlds!
Please up date again when they go into their own little pots!
~Brenda
Wow.Great growing Snow.The mom plant is beautiful.I love the var.leaves.
Those are just beautiful, Snowrose! I love the variegated ones. Don't we all? LOL I'm quite excited to see how they bloom, so please do keep us up to date on how they're doing. Thanks for showing the tools you use, as well. I'll have to get some of those picks.
