I grow it. Maybe it is getting too much light? The leaves look awfully light too if it is Witch Doctor. It is a dark pinkish burgundy.

{{gwi:369503}}

B-Man's Irish Red (lavender)
Cajun Heritage (pink)
Jeff Smith's "Genetic" series
Lilian Sparkler

I just got a new FC2 and those are some of the mosaic foliage plants that it could be. I skipped ones without photos and ones that seemed unlikely or rare. There were more listed there than I expected though.

Diana

Thanks Diana,

Lilian Sparkler was in the running, but i decided against it because of color...
i know my source treated the plants with forbid and nicotine (because the vendor she got it from gave her mites amongst other pests - yuck)
so it is possible it will take a while to recover and bloom "correctly".
Ah well, pretty noid for now. i was hoping to cross it with alan's fallen angel though :-) that'd be an interesting combo....

Karin

Here is a link that might be useful: witch doctor same plant - different bloom cycles

Diana,
I also thought of Jeff Smith's Genetic Series, one of my favorites of the variegates. Karin, the Genetic series are small standards. The theory behind how and why he hybridized them is fascinating. He is trying to develop a more stable and symmetrical type of variegation.
I have Genetic Gem that looks much like your photo.
It grows perfectly symmetrical and the variegation is very symmetrical, something very difficult to achieve with mosaic variegation. Now that you are interested in hybridizing, and Jeff Smith is an accomplished hybridizer, this might be a wonderful one for you to own and grow. It looks fine to me, the Genetic series are pale. They look delicate, but they
seem to be sturdy and more resilient than the usual mosaic variegates. Joanne

Karin,

FC2 describes Lilian Sparkler as having dark green and pink mosaic foliage. However the one leaf I have and the FC2 photo show darker green with lighter green. Witch Doctor is described as dark green with silver and it is. However with too much light, the silver will bleach because there's a much paler baby under the light in my bathroom.

There's no way of asking? My Magic Charms leaf was labeled something else and I asked if she grew Magic Charms (long time ago). That is a fairly distinctive looking one.

Esp. if you hybridize, it's important to know what they are and although I found more than expected, there aren't that many mosaics around.

Joanne,

I grew Genetic Blush for awhile. Nothing really wrong with it.

Diana

Thanks, Diana, for your feedback, I was thinking of getting more of the series. They seem hard to find.

No, you don't see them too much. It wasn't much feedback. It was a perfectly fine plant that just didn't do much for me. I don't think that one was really small though.

Bluebird has some stuff of his, but I don't remember if they have other Genetics.

Diana

i was looking at the genetics, they look interesting :-)

she remembers it was NOT witch doctor. but can't recall the name. apparently she had a labelled plant and gave it to her sister - if it is still alive, she'll get back to me.
maybe i should try her with all my guesses and see if anything rings a bell - trincket terrific? lilian sparkler? etc. and there i thought mosaic variegation was something you only saw on mac's.

she's sent me two more ID's: Ness's crinkle blue, and buckeye sarsparilla (she had it labelled only as sarsparilla, and it didn't fit with the description of rob's (and there i thought similar names were off limits).

so now i just have a handful left that i don't know what they are... two of them are pink mini trailers. and there are oh, only a few thousand possible matches around :-p

have to tell you though, the more time i spend looking to ID the ones i have, the longer my list grows of plants i want to have....

Karin

Oh, Diana, I may have misunderstood. It was interesting to know someone else grew this plant. Mine is very petite, not a mini.
Karin, I know what you mean, seems the more you know, the more you want to grow. J

Karin, This is Genetic Gem. J

... And one more of Genetic Gem ... J

Hmm, that looks close, Joanne, I can't wait to get a proper ID on this one. I'd like to cross it with some of my new trailers :-D and there I had thought maybe it was trinket terrific.... Goes to show even 'distinctive' plants are easily confused...

as for crossing it with anything, i guess not just yet. the blossoms appear deformed - no pollen sacs and the pistil is fused with the petals. Not sure if its a pest or pesticide issue, or the variety itself...
Ah, who am I kidding, I just took three suckers off the plant and it has a lot of growing to do before I can even think about growing seed pods on it. I should really remove the blossoms too....

I am having a hard time not pollinating everything that is in bloom... It's just so amazing to see the baby plants grow :-)

Joanne,
Genetic Gem is very nice looking. It's not registered and neither is Genetic Blush. Genetic Blush is a fine plant but I just found it kind of dull.

Karin,

Yes. I know - cameras, conditions, lighting, yada yada, but it didn't quite look like Witch Doctor to me. I was surprised at all the mosaics listed, but the number readily available is smaller.

Hope you figure it out. I have had one or two small ones in my day and they are LITTLE. I wish I could get Midget Silver Fox again. It comes up but I can't afford it.

At least Lilian Sparkler is available. I have a leaf.

Diana

Hi Karin
The plant for which I posted a photo does not sucker.
So your plant is probably not Genetic Gem, after all. Do post a photo when all the blossoms open.

Hi Diana
I had wondered if Genetic Blush was dull, as it appears to
be a lighter version of Genetic Gem. I am happy with Genetic Gem. The blossoms are
variegated also. I will post a more current photo. Joanne

This post was edited by fortyseven on Wed, Jul 23, 14 at 13:20