Has anyone grown Sinningia from seed?

I received a packet of seeds (more like dust!) of Sinningia linneata in a swap. I love plants of all kinds in the house as well as outside, and being the adventurous type, I decided to go ahead and try. They were sown on Nov 10, and now I have the cutest tiniest seedlings that are about a month old and just starting to show almost microscopic-sized second sets of (true) leaves. They are in a tray of moist African Violet potting mix, under a light about 12-14 hours a day, inside a "terrarium" which keeps in the humidity. Since they have done well so far, I figured this was the right thing to do. Now I'm kinda wondering where do I go from here. There doesn't seem to be a lot of specific info out there for growing these from seed. I do know that they will eventually form a tuber and that it will take many months before they will flower.

But what I'd like to know is any kind of timeline for what to expect when.
Do I just continue to care for them the way I have been up to now?
When would it be the right time to transplant/pot them up?
How long should it take before they begin to develop the tuber?

If anybody has any info, I'd be so appreciative to hear it. These will eventually be beautiful flowering plants, and I hope to have plenty survive to keep and trade, and maybe sell a few too.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Sneirish.They will make gorgeous plants! Come over to the AV and Gesneriad forum and post this.There are many experts there.
Lynn

Lynn, I really appreciate your suggestion. Unfortunately I am not a paid subscriber at this time, so I am not allowed to post there. Maybe you could mention over there that I need some advice over here?
Thanks anyway,
Sue

After speaking to one of the experts,I was told they grow much faster if you pick them up with a toothpick once a week and then set them back down in the same mix.Do not transplant until you have about 8 little leaves.
From my own experience,I can tell you to then pot them into individual containers,1 or 2 ounce size.As they fill the pot with roots they can be placed in small pots or bathroom dispenser refill cups with holes punched in the bottom.Water from the bottom and feed them with a 1/4 strength African Violet food each watering.They will form tubers fairly quickly,but I am unfamiliar with the name linneata and do not know how large it grows.
Lynn

I found this picture doing a search. It's a very pretty flower. You'll have lots to trade in the comming spring and summer months.

http://www.gesneriads.ca/sinnin73.htm

This message was edited Feb 3, 2009 2:28 PM

That IS pretty,Digger.
Lynn

Lynn, thanks so much for the assistance and the advice. It is so greatly appreciated. I will give the toothpick trick a try. Today I noticed that some of the plants have fully developed second leaf sets. I do have some small pots and cups that I can use when the time comes. Apparently this S. linneata is not one of the more commonly found varieties. Which makes it all the more special to me.
Imadigger, thanks for the link to the photos. I had seen a couple others but not these. It really is very pretty, isn't it? I hope I can nurture them to survive to trading size. So far so good!
Thanks to you both,
Sue

Any more advice, suggestions, links, etc are always welcome.

Sue,In your picture they appear to be leggy.How far away are they from the lights?
Lynn

From what I have been able to find,your Sinn. can take a long time to bloom,because it makes extremely large tubers.It has been reported hard to 25F.
Lynn

Right now they are about 4-5 inches away. I moved them closer a few days ago, once I saw how tall they were getting. The tallest ones are about 1/2 to 5/8 inch. Do you think they need to be closer still? I was afraid of them getting too hot and cooking. They are still in the small terrarium, which is a plastic tray with a clear domed plastic cover used for tall bakery products.

They can be grown just an inch or two below the lights,but you have to gradually expose them to air first.In a tightly covered container they could easily cook or damp off.
Lynn