Columnea

I have a much better home environment for various gesneriads due to the move that we made last fall, and I have gotten several Columneas, Aeschynanthus, and various other gesneriads this year. Most of them are doing very well, but it seems to me that certain Columneas are kind of finicky. Has this been your experience?

Plantladylin sent me what she thought was an Aladdin's Lamp, and that poor thing dropped leaves and just generally looked miserable for quite a while. I moved it all over trying to save it. I finally have it hanging in a west facing window and it seems to be happy there, as it is starting to put on new growth. I have to say though, that it gets afternoon direct sunlight.

I also have a Sundancer that is threatening to commit suicide, but my Apollo, Cascading Beauty, and Midnight Lantern seem to be doing very well.

Are some Columneas just easier than others? If so, what are the easiest ones?

Also, what do they require as far as light, temps and water are concerned?

Sorry to fire off so many questions, but I really like these plants and want to grow them well.
Thanks in advance for any advice!

They are all new to me (from RainGazer) but they seem to be happy on the gro light shelves............I don't know anything but maybe someone else will come along who does know them well.

The rear right one is a Codanthes devosiana 'Paula'
The others are columnea and you can see that I am still rooting cuttings in 6 inch baskets.

a few more babies growing

One more of Light Prince

^_^ I still have a couple of Columnea's just barely hanging on. Seems like they do real well for me for two to three years and then for some reason begin to flounder and die. Everything I read in Plant Files: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=columnea&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=SearcregardingColumseems seems to say they require light shade to full shade.

I have 2 that have darkish colored leaves, Gail, I think you told me it is Aladdin's Lamp? One I ended up hanging on my front porch which is on the east side of the house and it gets morning sun ... it seems to be looking really great while the other one on my back deck that is in the shade is looking really pitiful.

Indashade: I don't remember what the one looks like that I sent you so it may well be something other than the Aladdin's Lamp Columnea.

I have been bad about fertilizing my plants and would probably get blooms more often if I did better at feeding them.

I found this info that says they do well in an Eastern exposure: http://www.gesneriads.ca/gencolum.htm so I think I will leave mine on my front porch.

Lin, the one you sent me has the reddish bronze colored leaves. It hasn't bloomed yet. Midnight Lantern also has the same reddish coloring of it's leaves. My Midnight Lantern seems to like it on my plant stand.

I also have C. Krakatau which has plain green leaves and is an upright grower. After sputtering a bit, it caught on and is doing well. It seems as though I have to keep this one on the dry side or it rots.

Sundancer and Apollo both have green leaves, but my Apollo is doing MUCH better than my Sundancer. I think Sundancer is trying to put out flowers at the expense of new growth. Apollo is both blooming AND putting out new growth.

I absolutely LOVE Cascading Beauty, and it is doing well for me too.

I think I scored a Broget Stavenger at Lowe's in PIttsburgh this past weekend. It was marked as Columnea microphylla variegated, but I found online where it really is BS. It looked horrible in the store and needed watered badly, so at my husband's urging, I dunked it in one of the store's fountains. :-) I took cuttings and put them in a four inch pot, and the basket that I bought went up into the greenhouse in the hope that it will recover from it's mistreatment.

Edited to add: Gail, Light Prince is very pretty! I like the variegated ones.

This message was edited Jun 17, 2008 1:12 PM

I think Gail is the one who identified mine with the reddish bronze leaves as C. 'Aladdins Lamp'. I still have the one with the yellow blooms that I think is C. 'Carnival' ... it looks really pitiful right now, I hope it survives. We have a lot of work going on with the house right now ... the new roof finally went on the end of last week and now they are working on the pool and deck so all of my plants got moved out into the yard underneath trees in the shade. Hopefully all the work will be complete by the end of next week and I can get plants moved back and settled onto the deck and in the screened pool area.

Mine are tiny because I keep taking cuttings and putting them in the same pot. But I won't take anymore from the baskets you saw. I can't wait until fall so I can hang them outside on the porch during the winter months. I think the cooler period over the winter is what makes them bloom about February for me.

I've done a little experimenting and I'm posting this here in the hope that it will help someone else with their columnea troubles.

I repotted all of the columneas that I had in what is refered to as "dirty moss". This is a mix of one part long fiber spaghnum moss and two parts of peat-based potting mix. I also added one extra part of perlite for drainage. This seems to have helped with them needing to be dampish most of the time, but wanting to dry out a bit before the next watering. They all seem to be doing much better in this mix.

I also discovered that they seem to like two to three hours a day of full sun, if you can believe that. Not mid-day sun, but early morning or late afternoon.

I moved the repotted Aladdin's Lamp that plantladylin sent me into an afternoon sunny spot, and it is growing like crazy now!

These have been my experiences, but I'm interested in what others may have to contribute.

That's the experience I had too..I lost mine in the move and haven't replaced them but I did find they really liked the mis you used. Really good info.
Thanks for sharing it.
MsC

I was told that columneas need 14 hours a day under light so I can see that yours likes some sun.
I have one blooming under lights right now and all are happy campers in a very light soil.

I just received some beautiful Columneas and Nematanthus from LL......can't wait to start propagating them..............look at the cuttings Nan sent me.........and they are rooting!! Yea!!
so far, so good........once again the soil less mix is the lightest I could get.

I think (i have it saved somewhere) that this is Columnea Champagne Jam
She was such a giant hanging basket and Nan sent me lots of cuttings for the houseplant exchange

she has been under the dome for maybe 3 weeks now......

Gail that's a beautiful leaf form! Good growing both of you.

MsC

Isn't that leaf from Nan a real beauty. I can't wait until she is a big big basket.

Last summer this same lady sent me cuttings of Aeschynanthus Black Pagoda and let me go take a picture of her now. They must love our heat. (but she has never bloomed and I am hoping the cooler temps in the fall might help her set buds)