Chirita and some prop/shelf pics

This is the first chirita I've ever managed to prop from a leaf.... and of course I lost the tag. I think it is from the gemella leaves I got from bcrazii....??? It's in a 2" square pot, which makes the whole plant about 2" in diameter - cuter than anything !!

another shot showing leaves.....

My Eucodonia species mix seedlings are coming up in two colors this year.

The darker one has this fuzzy thing going on....

I've been meaning to replace the long fibre sphag in the "temporary" micro sinn pots - see how it's grungy? Well, too late.... there are seedlings popping up. This is pusilla (or it could be pusilla 'White Sprite') and it's growing in the open.

Apparently some sort of rhizome (Eucodonia? Phinaea? Diastema?) got mixed into this AV pot.... I don't usually re-use potting mix, so I don't know how this happened.....

..maybe more pics later. I'm just ecstatic about the Chirita, as the whole family (except tamiana) has been my nemesis.

Wonderful!! Such a cute little dude. I would love to see a group shot of your growing area...everything looks so healthy!!

Wonderful!

Love the lil fuzzy guys...very cute.

MsC

group shot? no way, LOL. It's a mess around here.

Here is a hoya that hasn't read the warning label.....

I *still* haven't adjusted the light levels on a couple of my shelves. This is what too much light can look like.

Some gessies can't be propagated from leaves, but they can be propped from small cuttings consisting of one or two leaves, the petiole (the "stem" attaching the leaf to the stem) and a bit of stem (it must have some real stem, not just the petiole). I had only a little of this Aeschynanthus to work with, so I took a cutting with 4 pairs of leaves. I cut the bottom two pairs off and put down each pair. With the remaining section, I cut off the lower leaves and put down the tip cutting, burying the one node.

In this pic, you can see that there will be two shoots growing from this pair of leaves.

I usually do these kinds of cuttings for codonanthes as well.

I'm skipping the festivities today because I have a cold - good thing too as we just had some serious thunder roll through!

I'm also going to try sinningias from flower stems... never done this before. The water has a bit of aspirin in it. Anyone have success with this method? Is my water level too high?

Most of this thread is over my head but I am trying to figure out how that baby chirita is already blooming???? It looks the same size as the ones I order from Rob's...

Here is my sinningia 'White Sprite'........doesn't appear to have the same foliage, but I certainly could be wrong....I don't have my old pictures to show you in her glory days but here she is now along with a purple one....

What is the advantage of growing from stems of flowers as opposed to leaves?? I would love to know.........

Someone sent me pepperomia leaves and I now have two new plants from a nice looking plant of hers....

I love growing houseplants from leaves........fun!!!

Beautiful pictures....if anybody knows of a place that will ship that nice looking long fibre sphagnum you all get up here to Canada, please do let me know!!!!

You can't find it in just any good nursery, threegardeners??? I know that Violetshowcase has it.........so does Selectivegardeners....

Nope, I've checked them all......I guess it either sells out fast, or they don't bother to get it in.....I'll find some someplace though....

threegardeners - do you have a big home improvement store called Lowes? I have seen the LFS sold there in the garden section.

Keyring - how cute is 'gemella'. This is an interesting internet photo showing chirita 'gemella' with stolons.

gessiegail - love the little 'White Sprite'. Do I see some seedpods?

Amazing! I learn so much from you Ki. Whats the plant posted at 5:39 with to much light?
I just read about doing the flower stalks in water last week in a old gessie magazine,so I tryed it with a florist glox.It also said you can root sinn.leaves in water too.So I had to try that too.LOL

Snowrose, what is that plant????? it is beautiful........also, you said I might have some seed pods????????????? I will have to go look.........I forget what to look for with these plants............

I have that form of gemella too, but I'm burning it up under the lights.

(The reason it's taking so long to adjust the lights is because it's part of a series of projects including converting the current compact fluor shelf into a shelf with an automatic misting system.... and it's taking forever for me to get started on that...)

Jan - that's gloxinia maculata with a sun tan.

gail, that is an internet photo showing chirita 'gemella' with stolons. After seeing keyring's plant, I did a search for more information. I really like it. The plant and the bloom.

I forgot to post this one.

I sowed a number of seeds in regular seed mix (peat-based) and LFS this year. The sphag ones sometimes did really well, but I've since learned that at a minimum you *must* fertilize the ones on LFS, while you can get away with not fertilizing the ones in the peat-based mix. (Of course, if you're good, you would jostle the roots and fertilize regularly after 6/8 weeks....)

Here's a comparison of peat-based and LFS, about 3-4 months after sowing. I am ashamed to admit that I really did not open the bag for that period of time...... (Although it's a rather common thing for me - leaving the seed pots for months without care... .) The pots are marked Sinn eumorpha x ? - I must have tried a cross but not marked it or something. oops.

Cross posted, Keyring.

gail, it looks like a seedpod at 3 o'clock in your photo.

Big size difference in those seedlings. Interesting.

I wonder if the dark Eucodonia is going to be something like this? woweeeeee
http://gesneriads.ca/eucodo11.htm
Another variety (not as much fun, imho...) http://gesneriads.ca/eucodo08.htm

Very nice... those haven't graced my shelves yet...I've been giving them lots of thought though...lol

MsC

great pictures! ; D

oh boy,I'm off to see if i can find seeds of that eucodonia.
It's awesome. Ki your adding to the addiction.LOL.

I got the eucodonia seeds at Chilterns. Since they are a commercial source, the packet has several hundred seed.... and I shared the extra with people here. (I forget who, but there must be some floating around....)

They offer a number of interesting gessie seeds including alpines (which I can't grow here, of course...).

I really like the chirita gemella! I love the uniformity of it! Snowrose, that photo you posted is awesome!

Karen

Your baby chirita is the cutest thing Keyring, I'd be so happy with it too!!!

And the photo Snowrose posted is just enviable!!!

So what are these Alpines your referring to Keyring???? Something maybe I should "try" to grow here in Idaho??? I could stick something needing really cool into my laundry room during the winter, it gets plenty cool in there :))))

~Brenda

Love that Chirita gemella, Ki! I recall that Pam wanted one of those...did you ever get one, Pam? I don't often see that one for sale. The one with the stolons is amazing!

The fuzzy Eucodonia is great! What is it about fuzzy plants that I like so much?? Must remind me of my dogs... LOL

I've got seedlings on the spagh of my S. pusilla, too. Quite a quandry...I can't remove it til they're bigger, but they're growing so slowly being on the spagh. Seeing your pictures of the Sinns on the LFS tells me why they're so slow, so I guess I'll have to fertilize a bit more regularly til they're big enough to repot.

I like the way you're doing those Codonanthe cuttings. I had been just using the whole long cutting, but your way is much better. Think I'll put down some like that today. And fertilize the plants while I'm at it, since they've stopped blooming in protest. :oP

That Euco. 'Tinctocama' is amazing!! Where would one find one of those? Would it come true from seeds?

Ki, remember that plant I showed you a picture of that was an alpine? Hang on...I can't remember the name... Jankaea heldreichii http://www.gesneriads.ca/jankaea01.htm http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/plants/plantportrait/Jankaea%20heldreichii/29 Suppose Brenda could grow that?

all of you growing from seed, you must see this site i accidentally found.............it is called "What happened to this thread"........i posted last night and there must be some kind of rule about how many threads you can start in a day..........it is awesome and soooo helpful on the sinningia seeds..........

I saw that thread. Very neat site. Lots of great pictures and good information. Thanks for posting it! :o)

I honestly don't know all that much about the alpines, except that the term "alpine" is used very loosely in the gesneriad world. VERY loosely.

Supposedly they do not like hot summers, and need a cool winter. Cold with snow is reportedly better than cold and no snow.

http://www.gesneriads.ca/alpine.htm

Some are offered by a few nurseries along the northern end of the US and Canada, like a Ramonda or two. Seeds are also available from 1 or 2 commercial seed sources. Chiltern is one.

Thanks you Key and Rain for the info!! That is another very cool "furry" plant!

I'm going to see how I do with fuzz and with some hoya seedlings that I have growing and maybe branch out from there.
Don't want to go any crazier with all this than I already have. LOL

~Brenda