Do you think that I could ship the DH's favorite plant by cleaning the bulb off and shipping it with our household goods to Korea? I'm shipping out in May and hope my stuff gets there by the end of August - middle of Sept. (they seem to use the slowest ships they can find) I'm thinking/hoping the packers/movers won't see it in a paper lunch bag in between sweaters. I've heard of folks that forgot about their tubers for a year and had them grow again. So what do you think?
Question about gloxinia bulbs
If it's a favorite, why not try it? mrsbonnie would be able to give you a definitive answer as to whether the tuber will travel for 3-4 months but my guess is, it would. She is down in Florida vacationing and having lunch with Lin today I understand. If she doesn't check in here while on her trip, ask her when she gets back.
So, you are going to Korea?
Yes, just this morning the Hubby e-mailed the timeline and that we definatly would be selling the house and stay over there for 2-5 years.
I'm in such a tizzy right now that I can't get anything done - perfect time to hang out at Dave's Garden....
Yes, it is. Wow, that's a big move but it may be a very interesting life change. I wonder what can be found in Korea in the way of gesneriads?
I think you should take the chance. I think you could regret not trying it later if you can't find plants. It will be dry and in the dark, probably the worst - it would get leggy, and you could fix that. Good luck with your move. tish
Thanks, I'm starting as many babies as I possibly can of one of my grandmom's noid violets. I had done this when we moved to Hawaii, and 3 years later there was only ONE plant amongst the family/friends group to get some leaves from. I think that I gave out about 20 plants then, so I'm trying to make as many as I can this time. Sure hope that I can supprise DH with his fav. plant.
I agree that you should try to pack the Gloxinia tuber! Since they go dormant like a lot of other bulbs, it should be okay in a brown paper bag packed amidst clothes for the long journey to Korea! I think it will be fine as long as it is kept dry.
I'm assuming your husband is in the military and y'all are going to be stationed in Korea for a year or two? I hope you will still be subscribing and able to access DG so you can keep us updated on how the Gloxinia fares!
gloxinia is just a sinningia. Put them in vermiculite in a zip lock bag......they will stay dormant for up to a year if need be.
I'm not sure about the zip lok plastic bag though ... isn't there a chance that too much moisture would build up in the plastic, or would the vermiculite keep it dry? I know a lot of folks over-winter and store bulbs in brown bags with vermiculite or straw or even shredded newspaper. I guess the most important thing is to keep them dry. I wonder how long your luggage, etc. will be in transit aboard ship to Korea?
DH is retired Army, still working in the same feild -supply and logistics for the civilian side of the house. A lot of jobs are now being done by civilians to free up the Army guys.
Had to get offline for a couple of minutes while a technician worked on my internet connection - sure glad he called when he saw that I had activity on it.
Shipping to/from Germany and Hawaii took 3 months, so I guess that it will be about the same amount of time.
DH & I decided to stay here when he retired from the Army 'cause the people are great, the climate varied enough to keep it interesting and the cost of living is sooo low. And it isn't too far north of our families. After 13 years of living in the same place he got "fiddle foot" and started looking all over the world for a job that would get him a promotion and pay for moving us. He got the job that is one building away from where he worked back in '80.
I think the paper bag w/vermiculite will be the way to go. What if I have to "force" it into dormancy? How do I do that? When should I start? It is actively regrowing right now - the biggest leaves are just over 2 inches and I stuck 2 of the inch long ones into the mom's soil about 10 days ago.
It is not a big deal to store sinningia tubers, honest ladies. Put them in vermiculite in whatever you want, keep them in the dark and they won't start to come back until they see light and moisture.
I just sent some to Jan that had been in zip lock bags in vermiculite since last summer................
When it comes time to move, do I just clip off the stems and roots, dry off and bag it up?
I would leave about 1/2" stem on it..........throw the rest you cut off away if you are leaving........if not,send the cutting to someone to root. I usually go ahead and roll it good in vermiculite and leave it out for a few days to be sure it is dry enough..........then bag it............and seal it.........with something........I usually leave about 1/2 cup of vermiculite in the zip lock or whatever.
Here are some pic's of it and it's bagel shaped tuber. I am shocked at how much it has grown since I last saw it 5 or 6 days ago!
tuber
Nice big tuber! Someone told me to leave at least 1/2" of stem or you will damage the tuber and she won't come back...........
Thanks for all of the advise! He is going to be so suprised to see "his baby plant"!
I went to a gessie workshop in Jan. Something was said about cutting off all sinningia growth could put the tuber into permanant dormancy. Ok, he said "could", not would. Are supposed to cut off the dying foliage after it has died off, not while it is still green and dying off. I know a lot of you ladies have more experience with tubers going dormant and you have something to say about this trimming them off too soon. I would just start watering it less and see if the foliage will start dying off and then maybe it will go dormant. Good luck with that! tish
When I went to see Dave Harris last week he gave me a copy of the sinningia culture brochure he is working on-- it definately said to leave one leaf node with a leaf when cutting back.
Gran, I wonder if leaving the one leaf node is so the tuber/bulb will still get some nourishment? Would love to have a copy of that brochure when he's done ... do you know if he is going to publish it? If you hear of it going on sale anywhere I would love to know about it! I truly would like to learn more and try my hand at growing more sinningia's. The two little micro mini's I originally got in trades here on DG have done so well the past couple of years!
He said it is so you don't damage the spot where the new growth will emerge. I think(but don't know for sure) that he has done it to take to plant sales-- If you email him-- he might send ya one. I for one am hooked on the micros-- they look so hard and are so easy. I have 6 now and want them all!!!
I adore the micro's and they work for me since they take up such little space! I was looking at Dave's Violet's website last night and making a list for spring ... all micro's and a couple of mini's!!
I would be ahead to just look at his site instead of going there-- I NEVER come home with less than 5 plants-- got 9 last time--3 micro sinns--3 mini sinns, a variegated sinn, a Smithiana and an AV :-} My logic, however faulty-- is that I can go see my DD AND Dave and the cost of gas is little more than S & H--plus I get to se my DD and grandkids....If I stop to think how much I spend at Dave's on plants my logic gets a little skewed tho
oooh, oooh ... a variegated sinn? What's the name? I never knew there was a variegated sinningia! ^_^ I like your way of thinking, Gran! Good excuse to go visit the kids and grandkids ... wouldn't Dave get mad if you didn't stop by to say "hi" to him while you were in the area?
It is sinningia(speciosa) Aurora borealis. Can't find a photo online that does it justice-- so here is the one I got:
Wow, what a beaut!
Gee ... I've been browsing Dave's Violets site again and that one is not listed! :( Wow, it sure is a beauty too!
Had to google ... doesn't look like this plant! http://www.gesneriads.ca/sinnin33.htm
He may list when they are ready-- they were just sprouting when I was there. Lin, there are some bigger sinningias that are s'posed to be hardy z8 and up, have you tried them?
Nope ... the only Sinningia's I have are two micro mini's received in trades here on DG a couple of years ago. One is micro mini S. pusilla and the other is rio das pedras I got in a trade from Jannich. They have never gone dormant and died back. Last year I did a trade with somebody (can't remember who) and got one I think was called mighty mouse but it died shortly after I got it, not sure what I did wrong ... of course now I know they go dormant and it wasn't dead at all ... I am such a dunce sometimes and forget about things like that ... they disappear and I just assume they are dead and gone and then the pot gets emptied out!
Here are a couple links--actually they may even be hardy here-- i am rooting them like crazy so I can try them outdoors, lmk if you want to give 'em a try.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/48893/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/56463/