The little streps I received from gessiegail are doing beautifully. I know when to transplant violets into larger pots, but I'm clueless with streps. How do you know when it's time to move them into a larger home? Do you wait until the roots are comming out the bottom?
Right now they are in solo cups and I know they'll be there a while. I just want to be prepared for the future. I haven't found any posts about pot size for streps anywhere. What is the normal size for them?
When should I move up to bigger pot?
Hi Eileen,
I know nothing about Strep's ... can't seem to keep one alive for very long but I googled and found this info at Brennan's Orchids (apparently they sell Strep's too.) Read rule #4 about potting and repotting Streps: http://www.brennansorchids.com/strep.html
Imadigger, there are no hard and fast rules for re-potting streps but as a general rule of thumb, I find about every three months is good if they are growing actively. When I pot a plant, I label the plant with the name and date. I noticed on my last re-potting, it was about 3 months.
Hi Lin, I just read that Brennan's article you linked to. 9 months? Maybe if it's a mature strep growing in natural light and being hand watered. But still, mine need it more often for sure. Some of mine seem to grow like weeds quickly but they are under lights given constant moisture and feeding.
I am looking forward to other strep growers weighing in. Good topic.
It is a good topic. I don't grow em' so I don't really have experience with repotting Strep's!
LOL, shows what I know about growing - I thought 9 months sounded too soon, I was thinking you could let them grow for a couple of years before repotting ... but then, about a week ago I did post a photo of my Chirita Kazu with roots growing way out the bottom of the pot! I got that one two years ago, and have only repotted it once. ^_^ I found a couple of other Chirita's in desperate need of larger pots too ... repotting is on my list of things to get done, hopefully before another six months passes!
I think this may be one of the reasons mine are not blooming:(, I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject, I did read, and I will find where....it said when you get a bloom in the small pot (2 1/2 in), then move up to a 3, bloom etc etc???? Is this correct?
after they bloom for me i move them up to a 3 unless the plant is really big,then i move to a 4 inch pot,rarely do i go higher unless i want the plant to get huge,ive got hototogishu in a 5 and ive got blue weisemore in a 6 and a seedling in a 6 that i like but isnt mine,
its just one i enjoy growing,
Your Blue Weismore must be a whopper, Jim. I'll never forget the first time I saw a Weismore years ago at a nursery and it was mammoth size and full of bloom and I was floored at how gorgeous it was. They had it on the counter and it wasn't for sale but I will never forget it.
I wasn't sure how often to move them to new pots. I'll try every 3 months. It makes sense, since I read to 'jiggle' my seedling pots. Every time I remember to jiggle, they seem to grow some more.
Lin, thanks for the site. good info.
Just my two cents worth............repot every 3 months but do not go to the next size unless you have to. Streps like to be potbound. Often I repot just by jiggling the roots around and maybe some trimming and back to the same pot with new soil.
Also, last night at our african violet club meeting, the door prize was a Spin Art strep with 21 giant blooms. Here was my problem with all the beautiful blooms. The foliage was a light green and no substance to the leaves.............the plant had been fed nothing but 12-36-14 since the beginning.
If I were going to show a strep, I would disbud it from the beginning and 7 weeks (maybe 8) before the show I would start blasting with with the bloom booster fertilizer. I find that during the growing process when they are babies, they need more of the first and 3 rd numbers on the fertilizer to make for beautiful foliage (which to me is almost more important than the number of flowers)
That is all I have to offer.