Gail, stunning photos! I wish my leaves looked like yours too. What is your secret? Mine always seem to have a tiny bit of brown somewhere. I think I burned my Texas Hot Chili to death.(fert. burn). I have a leaf down but it's not doing anything! Fooey!
GL, :))) yeppers, that was me on Asiatica. I lost my POS, by the way.:( It was a beautiful plant. I have Donna Carmen, I believe, from a local nursery. It was gorgeous, with berries, at the time I bought it. Must have been that Florida sun.:) I know it shall never again see berries as long as it lives in Baltimore. LOL
I'm itching to buy strep leaves. Gail, when will you start selling again? :)
Shanika
March Blooms IV
Thanks ibrabec for taking the time to post all that good sinningia info!
GH - I have burned a few baby streps myself and am much more careful now. Those center baby leaves are so sensitive on some varieties. They do grow out thank goodness.
Gessiegail should be doing some listing on DG here soon. She's busy right now but I know she will :)
Goldleaf,
If the center leaves of tiny baby Streps. look a little brown around the edges,but still grow,is that from too much fertilizer? I'm pretty new with Streps.
I would attribute it to that although not being able to see your plant(s), it could be they are too wet? On the babies, better to use 1/8 t./gallon to be on the safe side. Some varieties seem to be able to take the stronger fertilizer better than others. The other tricky thing is if we use the numerous soil mix products that already contain trace fertilizer, it's hard to gauge what we should do.
Another option is to use the Schultz drops as that product is weak on the babies. If in doubt, use less than recommended.
I used the normal 1/4t/gal. on some babies and burned the center leaves out trying to push them.
Ever notice that on most fertilizers, the numbers add up to 60? (20-20-20, 15-30-15, etc.) The Schultz Plant Food Plus 10-15-10 drops only add up to 35 so is a lot weaker.
Thanks,Goldleaf.Actually,I never really noticed what the numbers add up to,just what proportion of each nutrient.That's very intriquing (sp).I don't use products with fertilizer added for Gessies,but I have been using the normal 1/4 tsp. per gallon,the same as I use on larger plants.
What I am actually using right now is Schultz AV food,28 drops per gallon,8-14-9,which is supposed to be 1/8 tsp. per gallon (which contradicts what I just said above)Maybe I need to measure more carefully..I use regular Schultz (the green bottle) on most other plants.
It's hard for me to judge if I am keeping them too wet.My mix is very free draining.Those that are in little Solo cups stay wet longer than the ones I have planted in the squat pots with larger holes and sometimes the perlite that comes to the top looks a little green,which I have always attributed to too much water.
I am switching to wicking over the next few weeks and have made that mixture even lighter,but I am really pretty nervous about losing plants to wicking.My policy has always been to let the top dry out pretty well before watering,except for Episcias and micro mini Sinns. grown out in the open.
I know most of you wick and grow gorgeous plants,but it's new to me.
In the past the only thing I ever burned plants with was fish emulsion.
I am being too long again,but I hate to lose ANY plant,and sincerely appreciate advice from all of you! ^_^
I will try to post a few pictures tomorrow,but I'm pretty bad at extreme close-ups.
Lynn
Organic fertilizers even though the numbers are low can be potent.
You are right. Free draining is important on streps. You'll do fine and will see what works best for you in your conditions.
I went through all the Streps. and this is the only one that looks bad.
On a happier note,here is Alissa.Thanks Susan! I need to practice with the camera.She is much more yellow than this.
One more.
Alissa is darling!
I love her! Goldleaf has a much better picture of her on the new thread.
Another big Thank you to Jim for the leaves that made these two plants: Spiritual Corridor & Night Edition.
Kivit,they are beautiful.
Lynn
I don't know who gave me the leaf of Bristol's Popsicle but she is a fine strep. She has a lot of coral instead of pink........with the red center.
She's a pretty one Gail!
Subsequent bloom color is so pretty....it's trying hard to be a semi bloom!
Another follow-up---Columnea bloom finally opened--looks about the same except lighter red with the light able to get inside the bloom. There are a couple of tiny specks of bright yellow just inside on each side of the bottom lip.
Is there any trick to photographing mini-sinns? I'm having no luck getting accurate color with them.
