So pretty JB. I really love the color as well.

I thought I posted this before but I can not find it. This is my new little miniature sinningia called Heartlands Double Dilly....so dainty and cute. Miniatures fascinate me.

I am a proud "grandmother". These are my first three Sinningia babies from Bristol's Love Potion.
Here is Mama and babies. See how they have grown. My observation on this little experiment is that they like LOTS of water. Must make a note of that.



Mother plant side view of two blooms:


Babies are 3 months old


Mother's beauty is spectacular!

Very nice JB! Glad you're enjoying these plants! They do tend to like regular watering! And humidity, I use pebbles on their water trays.

Hi Greg, I miss you. I found that they do need plenty of water and it is almost scary how much. I was afraid I would over water them, but so far so good. Do you have any miniatures of the streps or AVs? I am wondering about repotting them. I got two actually by mistake, they were not marked when I bought them or I did not see it, but I am learning. They are growing and I am not sure about repotting them into what size pots and will they stay miniatures if I go into larger pots? Maybe you could point me in the right direction for the info.

Also, do you wait until they are finished blooming to take cuttings from your streps?

Hi JB Good to be back on ATP!! So I know nothing about the mini's I had a cute little fuzzy plant (gesnariad) that someone gave me, it was in a little plastic "tartar sauce" container, very mini and bronze colored I felt bad that it was all crowded into this container so I potted it up in a regular 4" pot, and its gone crazy, its still a lovely plant but it is no longer a mini at all!!
I'll get photos tomorrow and share on here! Streps can be cut anytime, they're such amiable plants!

While I love AV's and think they're lovely - the 3 separate times I've had one given to me, they died on me every single time.
So I gave up.

I think some plants are just not for me! :

They do need that mix of humidity and moist soil but not damp, so that can be tricky!

Yes, but remember how I used to kill them until you all taught me how to keep them alive. It works, Peggy....keep asking questions and I bet if I can do it you can too. I can even propagate them now. It has not been a year since I started asking questions about AVs and Streps, etc. Speaking of Streps, look at these Greg
they are still blooming, all staked since they are so heavy. You really think I should cut them now? I am afraid to do it since all their strength is in the blooms just now. I think?????What do I know?

This is Sashenka, Salmon Sunset and Keigetsi


I am not a fan of miniatures so I am thinking of putting them in bigger pots and let them be normal. I really am having fun and meeting some nice people doing my research on the AV Chimera....that is one strange plant to propagate. I hope I can do it right.

JB what a wonderful display!! And another exciting thing about streps is their amazingly long bloom time!!

May I ask please... what is a "Strep" plant? I don't think I've ever seen one, or if I have I didn't know what it was.
JB's are beautiful!

Peggy

Streps are streptocarpus. Not sure if I spelled that right - there are so many different gorgeous flowers with streps.

JB --I am not familiar with Chimeras, can you fill me in please?

I'm not sure what JB meant but in plants it usually refers to a specific type of verigation (which can happen in AVs)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...)

Here is the gesnariad society's webpage which has lots of info about all the types of plants within this family!
http://gesneriadsociety.org/
'Streps' are pretty easy to grow and larger than African violets (AVs) with sometimes very huge blossoms!

JB: You are a pro at growing these Gesneriads! Your plants are really beautiful ... love the mini Sinningia Heartland's Double Dilly and WOW, those Streptocarpus are stunning!! I have a couple of miniature and micro miniature sinningia's just hanging on by a thread .. they haven't bloomed in a year! I've tried Strep's a couple of times but they never did well for me. I've been told they prefer cooler climates than what we have here in Florida. Even though I grew them inside I still could not keep them alive for very long!



I used to have this micro miniature sinningia ... was one of my favorites, bloomed all the time:

Lin those are lovely!!! I especially like Taurus! They can be tricky, I think I just happen to be lucky in the environment I have here - west facing windows with trees so partly shady in hot summer and sunnier in winter (because the leaves are off the trees!)
Cheers

gg5 said:I'm not sure what JB meant but in plants it usually refers to a specific type of verigation (which can happen in AVs)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...)

Here is the gesnariad society's webpage which has lots of info about all the types of plants within this family!
http://gesneriadsociety.org/
'Streps' are pretty easy to grow and larger than African violets (AVs) with sometimes very huge blossoms!

Morning Everyone,
Greg I am not sure what I said that confused you. I may have been rambling and I am sorry. The AV 'Chimera' is the one I am trying to learn how to propagate. It is difficult to propagate with a leaf and needs to be done by a sucker or a stem cutting, which is what I am trying to learn to do. I only have one stem to work with and I do not want to mess it up, so I am holding off until I am sure I have what I need to do it properly.
I think I am ready since I have gotten information for the AV Society and the Gesneriad Soc. (joined both at your suggestion) and on Yahoo there is a great group for African Violets...one lady did a paper with pictures...I love pictures since I am still learning the parts of these little darlings.

I will keep you all posted on my progress. I do not feel that I am a pro at these things but I sure am giving it my best try. The location they live in is about 70 deg. with humidity between 30 and 40. The streptocarpus get watered everytime they are dry. I water them all from the bottom and actually let them sit in the water until they drink it. They just thrive on that. I never let them get too dry...every three days I check them with the water wand to make sure they are thirsty.

Hope you all have a great day and survive this crazy weather change. We are to be in the 90s here again. A few days ago we were in the 60s and 70s. Very difficult to keep plants and Greenhouse at the same
temperature when the sun is so very hot at times.

Hi JB! Best luck regarding your cutting!! I know isn't this weather crazy!! I don't mind though since even night time temps have been mild and I love that!! So glad that you have a new plant family to be passionate about - isn't that what everyone needs every now and then
meanwhile I'm still crazy about my sempervivum!

Thanks Greg!

I used to grow a bunch of AV's, Chirita's and a few Sinningia but my plants ended up suffering from lack of care due to me having to travel a lot. I finally dismantled the light shelves and slowly got away from Gesneriads ... except for the couple of little half-dead Sinningia's that are hanging on. I also still have two miniature Chirita tamiana (shown below) that I've had for @ six years now. They still bloom a couple of times a year even with my lack of care.


JB: I know there used to be an avid group of Gesneriad growers on the Daves Garden website and I believe someone from there started a Yahoo group, which may be the group you were referring to in your earlier post. I remember one of those folks grew Chimera African Violets quite well but I don't remember her name. There were a few very knowledgeable growers in that group so I know you will get good advice and I hope you have great luck with propagating your Chimeras!

Lin, I have no idea who these people are and I do not go back to DG anymore so I am not up on the posts there but these people are really seriously into it and I hope I am not too overwhelmed. I can not get too involved because of my own business and of course ATP, FB, Pinterest...you know how it is I am sure.

Your little sinningias are adorable. I think they are so cute. So tiny. With my poor eyesight I need to stick to the standard size, not the teeny weeny ones.

Very pretty Lin!!
I've been waiting for one of mine to bloom to get an unpdated photo, for you all, but its taking so long so, here are a couple of my plants. This first one was the mini one I was talking about - I got it when it was in a little plastic 1oz cup, now its in a 4inch pot!! Its less than a year old - it just loves my house!! You can't tell from the photo but the leaves actually have a copper coloration to them!

This is a sinningia that I love because it has waxy leaves, yet they're still fuzzy
Sinningia eumorpha 'Saltao'

And a photo of my gesneriad shelf!