Greg: Wow, very nice ... great growing! That first plant that's NOT a miniature is really beautiful, love that foliage ... is it an Episcia? I hope you will share photo's of the bloom on that one when they open! That little Sinningia is so cute too. Is that beautiful blooming plant on your Gessie shelf a Chirita?

I used to have two plant stands (with lights wired to them) for Gesneriads. Looking at these old photo's from 2007 ... kinda makes me want to start growing them again.

Wow Lin!! Great - and also looks like lots of work!
That plant is a Kohleria 'Perdot's Rolo' it is a great one! I was just reading about it and it says they like lots of food, I haven't fed this guy in a while, and also it says they go into a dormancy period and should be allowed to do so, mine just keeps on growing and this is the 2nd bloom its gone through...guess after this bloom I'll let it go dormant
Cheers

Wow a wonderful plant stand

Greg: I didn't even think of Kohleria ... it sure is pretty! I had a Kohleria once but my problem with a lot of plants is the dormancy period; I tend to forget and think something just died so I dump the pots!

Rhamel: Thank you ... there are professional plant stands on the market with the lights already attached and trays for the plants but they can be quite expensive so I figured I'd leave those to the Pro's. I just bought a couple of the inexpensive (at the time) type stands and lights at Wal-Mart and wired the lights beneath each shelf.

Those plants are beautiful and you are now talking about other varieties that I have no clue what they are. I may not live long enough to get to know all of these little beauties. <sigh>

The plant stands are just what I want and I have been looking but can not find them. I do not want them to be high...yet I need the space where I can keep them happy and cared for. Just now I am having a problem trying to keep them the way they need to be kept.

JB: I purchased my shelves at Wal-Mart @ 8 years ago; they were very reasonably priced back then but I see the prices have gone up quite a bit.You should check Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Target as well as Home Depot and Lowes ... and don't forget to ask a manager if any free standing shelving will be going on sale any time soon, they do have it on sale every so often. Also, check out a few yard sales for free standing shelves.

I have two this size that I paid less than $30 for @ 8 years ago:

$69.97 at Wal-Mart: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Whit...

$62.99 at Target: http://www.target.com/p/whitmo...

$79.97 at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/4-S...

They come in a smaller version too:

$34.97 at Wal-Mart http://www.walmart.com/ip/Whit...

$34.99 at Target: http://www.target.com/p/whitmo...

Lin, Thanks so much, that is very helpful and I certainly will look into them. Thanks so much.

Talk about brain dead. I have been so busy trying to figure out how to propagate the standard chimera I have that I never realized I also have a trailing chimera also called Pixie Roundabout Sport. How great is that? I should have known by looking at the flower. Oh well, I am still learning.


It is three times as big now and blooming like crazy. I am so glad it is happy here.

JB: You are very welcome ... just shop around because the prices seem to vary. Wow, "Pixie Roundabout" is really pretty!!

That is a cute one JB!!

I have AV which has eith silver or white border on the green leaves. Is this what you are referring to as varigated? If so, I treat this plant the same as my other av. I've had it for a few months and when I get it I found a leaf had broken off, so originaly placed it in water for a few weeks, then decided to put it into a pot. I'm waiting for plant-lets. I've also cut the lower portion of a leaf off to form a stem when a stem was broken off the leaf and placed the leaf into a pot, waiting for babies to be formed and grow. I havn't tried laying a leaf on top of soil, however, this mothod has been used according to information I read a long time ago. Most of my AV plants have been rescues which the store had drastically reduced for very quick sail. One plant was so rotted, I was able to buy it for 10 cents. I have a few leaves which I hope survive and produce new plants. Another AV was so bad off that it had only one leaf and is just now starting to slowly grow again, or it is birthing a baby, maybe a few, not certain yet. This is my experience with AVs. Safe travels & many blessings.

Ohhh AVs and streptocarpellas are some of my favorites! Streptocarpellas put on such an amazing display and are so simple. I have "concord blue" and "snowflurry" as well as "blueberries and cream."

@Dogpack. I expected JB to reply, so didn't reply to you...variegation can be caused by several different things, and therefor has a different look. I would say that on the AVs that have a lighter border that could be variegation, but a more classic example is where there are lighter green, white or yellow colors blended in on each leaf.
Julianna and Dogpack, I'd love to see photos of your plants!
Cheers!

Greg-- here is my "Concord Blue." The others I need to photograph It's sitting on my patio table which is now inside housing a series of winter-refugees.

Sorry everyone, this is our busy time here on the Christmas Tree Farm and I do not always have time to check on all the sites. Plus my stores on the internet are busy just now. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it.

I put some strep leaves and some Sinningia leaves in soil and absolutely nothing happened in fact they are in the process of dying. I have no idea why, never had that happen before. They must have not been warm enough. I have decided to take the advice of one of the ladies and I have no idea where she is or who she is, but she uses only perlite to start her AV and Streps.
I think I am going to try that along with the Easter Cactus since they all seem to hate what I am doing now. Please show pictures. Mine are not very pretty now, they are blooming but they are really bloomed out. They did not stop since Spring.

I must run. Please forgive me for being so silent and so short. I promise after Christmas I will do better. Hope I can get back before next week.

JB yes I think if they get chilled at all they will die! I have used just perlite and it works fine!
Glad you are busy!! Take care and see ya after the holidays!
Juliana wow that is such a pretty plant! I'd forgotten what a streptocarpella looked like!

I'll have to get pics eventually. Many dr appointments and routein medical stuff to take care of. Also, I'm getting more kinds bionic. This is a process of adjusting, so will have to devote time and energy to this process. Then there is the usual take care of the plants, animals, and the rest of lifes demands.

Now that the above is out of the way, Hum, I'll do what I can asap to get pics posted. If by spring I havn't accomplished this task, it's because I didn't remember I was going to do this, so please remind me, much thanks.

safe travels & many blessings.

Dogpack you make me laugh!
Here are today's photos of my plants... I've previously posted photos - these are updates!
Kohleria Peridot's Rolo

a cutting doing pretty well! (it may live yet! )

And Columnea 'Lava Flow' cuttings that are finally coming into their own! I may get blooms soon!

Cheers

Image

I'm still trying to figure out how to transfer plants from the data base so if the picture doesn't show up you can look under Apache Heartbeat in the AV data base. The variegation some times has light green, white, and sometimes pink. There are several more variegated violets there and I haven't had any more trouble growing them than the plain leaf ones. The dwarf AV's don't get very big even if you put them in a large pot they still stay dwarf. The semi-dwarf doesn't get nearly as big as a Standard but quite a bit larger than a dwarf. (Rob's Love Bite in the data base)
Rob's Slap Happy Semi- Dwarf , slightly variegated.


Lacy Lass Standard.

You can see how much larger both the leaves and the flowers are in the Standard