That lady I bought a lot trailers from yesterday was telling me that she has given up on Buckeyes here in hot Texas as they just won't bloom here. So maybe there really is something to which plants grow best in each geographic location. Now, trailers seem to be happy anywhere. I have a lot of trailers..............
Do You See What I See?
I was passing through and noticed the most adorable photo of little green specks !!! How could I not stop and say hello? Looks like y'all are having fun :)
KEYRING! There you are! Boy where do you go? *lol*
SO nice to see you here :)
Welcome "Home", hope you stay a while :)
Kim
Keyring, we miss your 'knowledge' and your fun personality...........hang around or come back and visit more often!!!!
eh, just been busy. I did manage to sow some seeds a couple of weeks ago. Oh wait, it's been a month already LOL. I cleaned out my old seeds and pretty much sowed everything.
http://flickr.com/photos/ki/2355947619/ Not much else going on, gesneriads-wise....
Woo Hoo, Keyring is back! Welcome ... we've missed your great advice and lessons!
Wow, you have been sowing seeds! My goodness ... I haven't worked in 16 years and I can't seem to find the time to sow one teensy little packet of strep seeds! What's your secret? That seed tray looks awesome, all neat and organized and individually labeled! Great job ... hope you will keep us posted as to how they do!
keyring, that is impressive to say the least!!! I ordered from Mauro this year again but I have two that didn't germinate at all. One I really wanted was Sinningia Guttata....bummer! I haven't planted the other half of the kinds yet.
Hey keyring good too see you again : )
Kim...up to 21 little green dots thismorning..they just keep a comin' up!
edited to add: I loved that lessons on how to hand pollinate to cross streps..some pretty amazing stuff!! I am definitely ready to try..just need to decide which ones OK ..this is probably going to sound silly but I was taught there are no stupid questions..lol.. .Is it possible if you have alot of different streps blooming at the same time on a stand that they will possibly cross pollinate on their own especially the way I am usually bumping my stands all the time??
This message was edited Apr 27, 2008 9:38 AM
Well, you all are brave and dedicated growers! I'm soooo impressed!
I might just take you up on the seed offer Kim & Gail, in the future when I'm back down to working one job! Thanks!
Keep updating on progress, please and thanks!
Glad to see you too, Keyring....the fountain of Gesneriad knowledge is back! (Ü)
Nancy, I'm SO happy your seed count is going up daily :)
Yes, you can accidently "bump" the flower and they MAY pollinate which would be "Strep Flower Name" X Self. The only way to cross pollinate 2 streps would be to do it by hand OR....a bug can do it such as a fly, bee etc. BUT to be safe, always assume it's a selfing unless you do the cross yourself :)
GOOD LUCK and I hope you get LOTS of successful crosses my friend!
Kim
Thanks Kim..I was almost afraid to ask that question..lol..thought maybe I would get laughed right out of here.. OK now I have everything straight I think.Definitely anxious to try this....think of the possibilities!!!
Didn't quite know where to post this as they aren't really blooms but since they are SO small, I thought I would post them here with our tiny seeds.
Look at these TINY pots with the TINY AV's in them *lol*
These are called thumb pots and I had NO idea how small they were actually going to be. I literally used a tiny baby spoon to fill them with *lol* and a medicine dropper to water them with (as I don't wick.......yet......it's still the one thing I haven't given in to yet *lol*).
The thimble is there for comparison as sometimes I find our pictures really make things look bigger than they actually are sometimes.
Kim
how cute is that! you are really getting into this growing thing, aren't you!
I took a 2 hour nap and have been filling reservoirs and watering everything.
Oh Gail, they are SOOO tiny but I just love them!
It seems like everywhere I look there are more babies, babies, babies......so no blooms, blooms, blooms *lol*
BUT, I know that sometime SOON I will be blessed with flowers and I truly am enjoying the babies :)
Today I was so proud. I had 3 more chirita babies graduate from a 1 oz cup to a 3 oz cup *lol* and 3 more chiritas that were taken from the mom leaf to fill the 3 1 oz cups *lol* It's like a merry go round *lol*. I say to myself........will I EVER need a 4 inch pot? At this point a 4 inch pot seems like a monster pot *lmao* Too FUNNY!
XO
Kim
Kim..those are too cute.I loved your using that thimble for comparison..You are right without that thimble I would have thought for sure those were bigger plants!
So are they plants you got from seed, or leaf cuttings or did you buy them? They are SO cute! WOnder how the size compares to my little pots- Which are probably a little over an inch. Hope I'm telling the truth about that as I've never actually measured them....
The two at either end are babies I grew from a leaf and the 2 in the middle are minis that won't get much bigger than that which Pier shared with me at the last AV meeting :)
I think they are so cute in those little pots and I was thinking that I am going to save those tiny butter containers (the ones that are single serving) the next time we go to Bonanza to use as saucers for bottom watering *lol*
Too funny huh?
Kim
Hey, good thinking, Kim! That'll work, won't it?!!
I think I might have a few of those 'thumb pots' that are clay.....If I can dig them up, would you like to have them? I really have no use for them.
What a nice offer Nan. I would love to have them if you don't need them :) I'm hoping to have a "thumb pot garden" at work eventually as I have a great place to put them at my desk where I can admire them during the day :) I have so many "long term goals".......now if things would just hurry up and GROW *lol*
Thank you so much for the offer Nan :)
Can't wait to go to Bonanza and "shop" *lol*
XO
Kim
Those tiny little containers that like Shed's Spread comes in at restaurants?! You are creative! Or as a friend of mine & I say- 'crafty'!
Diane, that's exactly what I was thinking :) Those tiny little butter cups would make GREAT saucers for bottom watering don't cha think? *lol*
Check it out Kim..I put a few in their own cups about a week ago...the green dots are growing bigger!!
WOW Nancy, you have already moved yours into their own little cups?
You're my inspiration *lol*
I started mine before you did and I'm SOOOO chicken to even touch them yet *lol*
That is just AWESOME!
You grow girl!
XO
Kim
Wow is right! I have streps that are fully grown in their solo pots as I am so far behind potting up...............I will NEVER grow this many plants again, my dear friends!
Kim and Gail..remember now..they look alot bigger in the pics than they actually are..LOL..but they ARE growing and that has me Happy Dancing : )
Waaaaa,Waaaaaa,
None of my seeds came up.I planted half the package on 4-9 and then planted the rest of the seeds on 4-20
NOTHING,,,,NOTTA ,,,,,,ZIP.......What am I doing wrong?
I STILL haven't sown mine yet! I really need to get on the ball here. Doesn't seem to be enough time in the day anymore!
Jannich, I NEVER had good luck with seeds until Pier told me about the way she starts hers. I tried this method and am REALLY seeing results for the first time!
She told me to use those jiffy peat pellets, pour BOILING water over them, ,let them absorb the water and then take the netting off them. Then mix with equal parts of the FINE vermiculite.
I REALLY like this mix, real light and fluffy, hardly needs water, no mold, ,no dampening off :) These are all areas I struggled with until I learned of this method.
Here is a picture of some sinningia seeds I started on 4/4.
Jannich, did you get my D-Mail about Rob's Collection? I never heard from you :(
XO
Kim
Here is my "sea of streps" started on 4/6.
This is the same cross you have Nancy :)
That is amazing Kim...........I am not having much luck either, Jan.........even with my seeds from Mauro this year. Some of them didn't even come up.........last year every single pack came up. Maybe we can try Kim's method with the peat pellets and vermiculite............how much vermiculite (the fine stuff) for each peat pellet do you use, Kim?
Jan, did you do anything different this time? Was the mix a little less wet, the brand a bit different? something else? It might be something as simple as the seeds not sticking to the surface of the potting mix and drying out. I have better germination if I mist after sowing, or gently drizzle water.
I mist the first time , Key, but do you keep misting every day?
Heavens, no. I am infamous for sowing seed, bagging it, and then ignoring them for 4+ months. I've bloomed things in bags without ever opening them up. (not recommended culture, but it can be done.)
Sounds like me with the mixed gessie seeds from the Gesneriad society I sowed last fall. I forgot about them. The container was in a zip lok bag on the back of one of the plant stands under lights. When I remembered them, I thought for sure they would all be dead ... they actually are looking pretty good. I really, really need to get them into their own pots ... whatever they are!
I also mist the seeds down after I sow them.
The 2 bottom left hand side cups are actually seed from the Gesneriad Society that hasn't sprouted yet :(
I'm not going to give up on them yet as one of them is Chirita Flavimaculata but it's really NOT looking good yet.
I have done the same thing to all the cups in that container so it must just be the seed :(
Gail, I don't really measure but yesterday I used 4 peat pellets and about 4 handfuls (I have small hands) of vermiculite.
Kim
Morning!
I didn't do anything different in starting these seeds.Same thing I do as planting the sinningia seeds.Sterlized mix, scatter the seeds and a lite spray .The first set of seeds are in a baggie and the second set is in a deli box with a lid.
Kim,next time I plant seeds I will try your way.
The deli container might be the culprit. Most of the deli containers I get around here are not airtight, so when I use them for seeds, I enclose the container in a Ziploc freezer bag. Otherwise. They dry out on me pretty quickly.
I just taped the deli container closed on all sides. LOL.Maybe the seeds didn't dry out,there was quite a bit of humidity on the cover and I gave the seeds lite mist.The container is to big to even go in a gallon size baggie.Only time will tell if they will grow.Got my fingers crossed Kim.
Jannich............I don't know if I am right or not, but I take the lid off every day for a minute or so and then put it back on as the humidity gets so high that I think the seeds rot before they can come up...........I don't know......
Jan, you can't tell how wet the mix is by looking at the cover. If the cover is wet, all that moisture came from the potting mix - if too much moisture moves from the mix to the lid, the mix can become dry. This is more of a problem when it is warmer or brighter because of the faster evaporation rate.