Mindi Brooke
Blooms from the past to cheer up January!
Wrangler's Pink Patches from First Class
Wrangler's Jealous Jewels
Apache Dynamo
Silverglade Oyster
Orchid Trail
This is one I am trying to enter?????????????? Tiger
later I will take pictures of my plants with no bloom but put the First Class bloom on them. I am still pinching buds.
Evening Splendor
Oh Gail, Tiger is one of my favorites ... a REALLY Beautiful AV! The lady who is president of our local AV club has one ... I had nevr seen one before hers ... Love it! She entered hers in a show awhile back and one a ribbon!
Well, I need to learn to think for myself.......and quit just doing what someone tells me......this plant is gorgeous and the article the ladies gave me to read said to lower the lights the last 6 weeks........guess what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bummer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tiger has such delicate foliage that a couple of leaves got burned. I knew better than to do that.......so we will have to see what happens.
Let me go take a couple of pictures of some that might make it.........it is all a big gamble and I don't think I want to ever do this again. I just like to grow and not have to worry about trying to make a perfect plant bloom perfectly, etc.....BORING!
she didn't all get in the picture
That's odd ... they said to lower the lights? The info our local AV club gave out to us for the upcoming show in March has us increasing the time the lights are on by an hour or so each week, the closer it gets to show time! I will have to go dig out that paperwork and re-read it. I'm not entering anything in the show so haven't paid a lot of attention.
well, that makes more sense than what I read..........i put the lights at the regular height and am going to do what you said and just leave them on longer each week as time goes by..........
I am trying so hard to get this Kohleria 'Black Dragon' to bloom as she has so many possibilities if she does........for anything from a dish garden,e tc..........
I am not going to show any more as you can't even see the symmetry at this angle...........
Gail- You're plants are always so pretty.....
Variegation on that last one is beautiful
I really have some big pretty ones but the blooms may or may not come right on time!
thanks
I love that Kohleria, Gail! Very pretty foliage! And, that AV looks to be the perfect symmetrical shape for show to me!! Beautiful. Are you using a bloom booster fertilizer with the high middle number? You could try orchid food. I've used it for lots of blooming plants in the past!
Your plants are always Gorgeous! Everything looks so professional. You may be new to Gesneriad's but you've been gardening for so long - you really have the touch! And two green thumbs!
I just rotate fertilizers and even mix them sometimes............try to use a high nitrogen one time and then go to the high phosphorous one time............now that it is getting close to needing blooms so badly, I may have to use only 12-36-14 all the time.
I read in an article about showing that some people use the hyponex green little sticks in an african violet starting 8 weeks before a show to keep the foliage green and then only fertilize with a high second number every time you water?????????????
I am trying to get this petrocosmea to bloom and it won't!! (lol) I have it in a big 5" pot........but when the leaves touch the top of the pot, they fall off......I hate to go to a 6" bulb pot but I think I will tomorrow.
Well I'm back home and have my new Chirita leaves soaking in water....
It's really wierd Gail- That Petrocosmea looks just like my mini AV. Wonder if that's waht it is or do they just look a-like?
Diane: Why are you soaking the leaves?
Can you post a pic of your mini AV?
I have only one Petrocosmea that I bought from the Violet Barn last spring. It has grown but has not bloomed yet.
This is P. barbata, photo taken 12/11/07
Lin, I kept leaves for begoniadude as he doesn't have all of his lights up yet.......when I went to plant them tonight (they were cut up on Friday night) they seemed awfully dry, so I told everyone to just soak them in water for a few minutes ...............i did and then I domed them after I stuck them.
That is a darling petrocosmea............mine is a different kind.....
here is one that just bloomed called flaccida
Gail- I'm potting up the leaves but how deep do they need to be? Leaf base to the soil level or is it OK for a little stem to be showing? Hope I'm doing this right....
I planted my stems pretty deep hoping that I will get more babies that way...........if only the stem is showing, you probably won't get but one baby. I just put that stem as far down as it would go in the solo cup..................just my thinking.............probably about 1/8" of soil is covering the bottom part of the leaf.
OK thanks- gotta re-do a couple. Going to have to trim the stem. Was I supposed to be doing that anyway?
I left my stems long..................if you have to trim it to make it fit in the solo cup, so be it........
Here's my mini AV I noticed it seems to be getting bigger leaves since I started fert.
Diane, I fertilize every single time I water......just different kinds of fertilizers all the time....
She is a cutie. I don't think I have any minis right now except the leaves growing. I do have mini trailers though.
Have to find a picture of a mini from this past year............if I can find one!
I had actually forgotten about mine. I used to have 3 only 1 is left.I don't remember which one I have left but I do remember not all the blooms were typical AV looking. What size pot are yours in? Mine is in MAYBE a 2inch pot.
Some I had in a 11/2" and some like Ness'Crinkle Blue in 2" or 21/2" pots..........
I really like the pink one in front. Mine were a blue, a white and a pink. I hope mine left is a pink. So you think it is an AV? It does look more like one now. It used to be more that flat growing look.
Oh, I LOVE that pink one in the back right of your photo, Gail. Do you know the name of that one? I've always loved pink but am really loving purple blooms now too! I think you gave me a mini purple noid like the one in your pic, I will have to look around and see if it's still here or if it was one of the sick ones that died.
I don't even have the pink one any more, Lin.........bummer.........remember, they all came from Optimara without names.........