Episcia & Kohleria

So some of my Episcia is taking over in my humidity domes, rooting itself into other plants, rooting itself into the thin layer of water at the bottom, pretty much rooting itself into anything it can. So to make more space (it's always about space....lol) I decided to root some in a bit of sphagnum moss in a jar.


I also decided to try and take some out to live in my home environment, on a humidity tray.....but within 24 hours, that batch threw a fit, and started drying up, shriveling up......whatever it could do to show it was NOT happy. It got what it wanted and it had to be moved back into the humidity dome. I am going to have to figure out another way to keep it tame, possibly by putting more in covered jars. This is when I always think, I need a terrarium.



Now that I am over the Kohleria rhizome scare, I have been noticing that my Kohleria seems to be growing quite well since all 5 pots were moved into the humidity domes. These guys are pretty finicky when it comes to the humidity. Too little, and they get crispy, too much, they rot. They are growing nicely, most are over 6 inches tall. I pictured this plant to be bigger in leaf size, but maybe they will get bigger by the time they bloom. I have no idea how long it takes before they bloom, grown from a rhizome, I am going to have to look that up, because for such finicky plants, they had better start proving themselves, or they will lose their premium space.



Like many other flowering plants, Episcia and Kohleria like to be snug in their pots before they send out flowers. Well I am thinking they are quite snug.......what do you think?? LOL I refuse to repot them into something bigger until they grow a little more......or at least until I have tortured them into bloom for a little longer. Bigger pot means more space, and I am not going to give them more space until they give me a good reason too......like flowers.

What the HELL is That?? & Happy Bday Cacti Seedling!!

I get creeped out pretty easily when it comes to bugs.....I can handle small insects, but anything big, fuzzy or weird......and I am outta there. So far it hasn't caused too many problems with my plants, but I admit that each time I find a mealy bug, I love my plants a little less for a couple days because they gross me out. So today while checking out the plants in my humidity dome, I found the grossest looking caterpillar-y things. I swear my heart stopped for a second or too, and I dropped the plant pretty fast.


So once the plant was out of my hands, I of course had to take a closer look. The plant in question......a Kohleria plant. Well stupid me.......it was a rhizome coming up from beneath the soil. I was equally creeped out when the person that sent me the rhizomes, sent me little baggies with what looked like worms. So now, I am not as creeped out by these things, but it did give me quite the scare.


A Happy Birthday is due in my little world of plants. It was a year ago this month that I planted some 12 pots of cacti seeds. Most germinated quite well, but as time went by and space became a rare and valuable resource in my house, I got rid of all but 2 pots of the cacti seedlings.


They are still really small. The one in the pic below is just over an inch tall, whereas the other 2 in the above pic are no more than a half inch tall. They are really, really, really slow growing plants. I don't think I would grow them again. It was cool to try and say I did it, but I am not a cactus fanatic, they are just too slow growing to keep my attention. Maybe if the cacti I had in my house would flower **hint hint**, I would pay more attention to them, but in my house, they barely do anything but exist. Either way, Happy Bday Baby Cacti!



On a final note......I have to give recognition to my Hoya Kerrii. For what you ask?? For growing 2 leaves on the same node. Now normally this isn't a big deal, most Hoya's grow their leaves in pairs, but this guy always seems to start with 2 leaves, and then drop one, and grow the other. This would be why, in the pic below, there is only one leaf per node. For the first time, since I received the cutting last year, it has decided to grow and keep two leaves on the same node. I can't believe this of all things gets me excited, but it does. Go Kerrii Go!!

Kohleria humidity problem

I bought some Kohleria rhizomes a while back, they have all sprouted, but some are doing better than others. It seems that some of them are going dry and crispy at the bottom. The picture shows the lower leaves going brown and crisp.


I am thinking it has to be a humidity problem, as the couple I put under humidity domes seem to be doing much better than the ones that are not under my dome. I was under the assumption that they grew in much the same conditions as their cousin, the AV, but I am finding with a higher humidity, they grow much nicer.


The picture below is of some Kohleria Texas Rainbow. It was having some really problems until it went under the dome, and now it is starting to look really good. The ones under the dome are not getting the crispy brown leaves like the others, so I think I am going to have to move all of them into the dome. I have to be really careful as to what I out under the humidity domes, because I have found that plants that don't require such high humidity rot quite quickly.

I bought some Kohleria rhizomes a while back, they have all sprouted, but some are doing better than others. It seems that some of them are going dry and crispy at the bottom. The picture shows the lower leaves going brown and crisp.


I am thinking it has to be a humidity problem, as the couple I put under humidity domes seem to be doing much better than the ones that are not under my dome. I was under the assumption that they grew in much the same conditions as their cousin, the AV, but I am finding with a higher humidity, they grow much nicer.


The picture below is of some Kohleria Texas Rainbow. It was having some really problems until it went under the dome, and now it is starting to look really good. The ones under the dome are not getting the crispy brown leaves like the others, so I think I am going to have to move all of them into the dome. I have to be really careful as to what I out under the humidity domes, because I have found that plants that don't require such high humidity rot quite quickly.

Kohleria & Annual Plant Shuffle

Well its that time of year where I start to see some of my plants go into decline because the sun just is not around as much. This year I have more plants than I ever had, so I have been doing the houseplant shuffle. I only have so much window space, and some plants naturally need more light than others. This is the time of year I am happy with my various pothos around the house and my heart leaf philo's. They can go absolutely anywhere and still be happy enough to make it through the winter no problem. One of my poor hoyas hanging just off from my North window just went into instant decline when the day hours got shorter, it's vines shriveling up into nothing. Luckily for it, a pothos in a South window can take it's place. I have had to add a couple fluorescent lights around the house to accommodate these plants, but yesterday, finally I think I got it. Here is a couple pics of my house right now.
So a few months ago I ordered a few Kohleria rhizomes from eBay. Never having grown them, was a bit nervous. But soon after planting and watering the rhizomes I got growth. A couple have been pickier than the others in regards to the humidity, but other than that, they seen to be growing quite well. A couple are growing in clumps with a few crowns, one is quite large with only one crown, and the other couple are still small and single. I can't wait to see what these look like when they flower. I have seen pictures, and they resemble the flowers on my alsobia dianthiflora, except these have vivid colors unlike the alsobia that is more a plain white with a couple little pink flecks on the inside. Anyways, here is a couple pics of my growing Kohleria.As I was uploading pics for this thread, I realized I wanted to put this in as well. I have a large alsobia dianthiflora (gesneriad) and for a few months I have been trying to propagate it, and I have failed a couple times. Well I finally got it. In a little deli container, with the lid on the whole time until it was rooted. I would really like to be able to make more hanging baskets of this one, as the momma plant is beautiful, hanging down almost a full foot. It looks like a net of tiny rosettes cascading down from the pot. It is just gorgeous whether it is flowering or not. So here is pic of my successfully rooted alsobia dianthiflora.