At what size does a mini become a micro-mini?

Barbara

Those listed with Little in the title are actually Optimara Little..... While these are miniatures, some are not necessarily very small.

Optimara Little Moonbeam can get very large with large leaves. I doubt it could be miniaturized to a micro mini because of its propensity to grow large leaves.

Almost any miniature can be miniatureized into what we call microminiatures.

There is no quoted size for micro minis. Miniatures, of course must be less than 6 inches across (for shows).

I once miniaturized a Champion plant. It grew in a tiny thumbpot (1 inch)and beside it grew its litter mate in a 2 1/2 inch pot.

Results were that the plant in the 2 1/2 inch plant flowered twice. The miniaturized plant finally flowered with three flowers after about one year. I gave up after that experiment.

Certain plants will naturally grow extremely small; others won't.

Nancy

Glad to see my list is getting around.
WHOOHOO MICROS!
(Still wanna petition the AVSA to make them an official class...)

Nancy, when you where talking about the Optimara Little Gems series did you maybe mean Little Moonstone?
So far, (fingers crossed) my Little Moonbeam is doing just fine as a micro mini in a 1" pot. I think it would just look spindly in a bigger pot even though some of the leaves are close to an inch in length.
There is no hard and fast rule that I can find that defines a micro. The info I have gathered is available on the internet, but none of it is recognized by AVSA, which doesn't have a special class for micro minis.
Based on the information I found, a semi mini is less than 8" in diameter when full grown, a miniature is less than 6". So, ?logically?, a micro would be 4" or less in diameter when full grown. There, now it should all be clear as mud. :)
Go, Mermaid, if anyone can make them listen, its you!

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum. I grow most of the Optimara Little Jewels. I have them all potted in 3-ounce solo cups (2-inches across), partly because I don't want to repot them so often, and mostly because I think they grow better. Some of the Jewels stay small no matter what they are potted in and others tend to be larger. Of the ones I am growing, these stay under 6"
Azurite
Aquamarine
Blue Topaz
Coral
Crystal
Diamond
Fluorite
Jade
Kunzite
Lapis
Rose Quartz
Ruby
Pearl
Sapphire
Turquoise

These stay tiny (3 inches)
Opal
Tourmaline

These want to be semi-minis (over 6", under 8")
Apatite
Moonstone

Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of my Little Jewels

Welcome to the forum, candyt.
Lemme know if you wanna do a trade when the weather warms up--I'm trying to get all the Optimara Little Jewels. I have almost half of them now I think.. (I dunno, I'm not at home and don't have my list with me.) Anyhooz--Maybe we can talk about it sometime :-D

My very first AV was an Optimara called "Little Rose Quartz". I bought it in the 80's while on vacation in OK at a convenience store check out. It was planted in a tiny pot that probably wasn't an inch across the top. It was so cute and had beautiful shiny pink blooms. I had it for a few years before I lost it to unknown causes. I never thought to ever propagate it. Now that I've developed an interest in AV's, and know from this list of Micro Mini's what it was and that I remembered the name correctly, I can start looking for one again.

Thank you for the list,

Terry
in Arkansas

Terry,
I have about 8 of the Rose Quartz growing in cups. When the weather warms, I'll share with you if you remind me and have something to swap.

I'm saving another Optimara Little for mermaid too. I can't remember the name of hers but I have it in a cup with her name on it.
Dora

Awwwww

Thank you for the welcome. I am looking for Optimara Violet Sapphire. This one is driving me crazy. I have two plants from different sources and neither looks like the one on the Optimara website. They show a star flower with long, narrow petals and a cute cluster of anthers in the center. I have seen a couple pictures on the net (also on the AVSA website) of this plant blooming true but I cannot locate one!!

Candy

Here is a link that might be useful: Violet Sapphier listed as Little Sapphire

Here is another photo.

Have you noticed some of these Little Jewels get mixed up under different names?

Candy

Here is a link that might be useful: Listed as Optimara Sapphire

They are two different plants--Optimara Little Sapphire, and Optimara Little Violet Sapphire.

Also I think I should make a note that I no longer believe the Optimara Little Jewels series are truly "micro" like I used to think. I'm gonna write Steve Reed and ask him to take them off that list of micros we made, 'cos I'm pretty sure from seeing/growing them, that unless maybe you try to bonsai them or something, they're just miniatures. (That doesn't make me love them any less, just sayin') :-)

Dora thank you so much! I'll make a list of all the plants I have to see if your interested in trading for any of them. If not I'd be happy to buy one from you. I only have one that may be a mini. It has small leaves and sports green flowers. I've lost the original plant and tag but I think it was called Irish Flirt. I had given some leaves to a friend and she shared some back with me when my plant died.

Terry

Here is Optimara Little Sapphire as purchased from Optimara.

Here is a link that might be useful: Optimara Little Sapphire

And here is Optimara Violet Sapphire, the one I'm looking for.

I agree, the Little Jewels are NOT micro-minis. I don't think a micro mini is a true if you have to grow it in a 1-inch thumb pot in order to keep that small.

Candy

Here is a link that might be useful: Optimara Violet Sapphire

Candy,

You have caused Envy to raise it's ugly head.......

Barbara

Barbara,

Oops!! I'm sorry!

Candy

Ah, my favorite subject. I've been away forever, sorry.

Here are some more names you might want to investigate;

Jim's Christmas Bell
Precious Pixie
Precious Purple
Petite Pet
Rob's Choo Choo
Rob's Bunny Wabbit
Snuggles Tiny Baby
Snuggle Bear
Dainty Dynamo

Korina

Korina!! Missed you :-)

If no one minds me asking, is Dainty Dynamo a trailer?

"If no one minds me asking, is Dainty Dynamo a trailer?"

Yep.

Dainty Dynamo (8088) 07/13/1994 (J. Stokes) Single pink bell. Medium green, plain, pointed. Miniature trailer

Thank you.

Candyt, thank you for the personal information on how big or tiny those Little Gems get. I will update my list. And thanks Korina for the additions. (The few with the tilde in front are the one's I have so far. Have one extra Fruit Fly and two extra Rob's Twinkle Blue for sharing/trading this spring. It's been in the single digits at night here so no trading right now. BRRRR!)

I love Spunky Trail, too and hope to get that one soon.

Here's that list:

A Work in Progress: Micro Miniature List
Amadie Trail
Amoeba
Bellawood Trail
~Chantaspring
Dainty Dynamo
Deer Trail
~Fruit Fly*
Jim's Christmas Bell
Kindergarden Kid
Krystal N
Lil Periscope*
Lil Ballerina
Lil Snowdrift
Lil Thornbird
Linds's Toy
~Little Chippery Trail
Little Jayhawker
Midget Bon Bon
Midget Gumdrop
~Midget Lillian
Misty Miss
Optimara's "Little Gems" Series
Little Opal
Little Tourmaline
Peppermint Girl
Perk Up
Petite Pet
Pip Squeek*
Pixie Dust
Pixie Runaround
Precious Pixie
Precious Purple
Rainbow's End*
Rob's Bunny Wabbit
Rob's Choo Choo
~Rob's Twinkle Blue
Rob's Twinkle Pink
Rob's Voodoo Blue
Skagit Toy Nugget
Snuggle Bear
Snuggles Tiny Baby
Spring Peach
Spunky Trail
~Teeny Bopper
Tiny Moon Goddess
~Tiny Wood Trail
Tsunami
Tundra Snowflake
Tundra Trumpets

Great list; I've killed several of those.

On a personal note, Tiny Moon Goddess is the coolest, toughest broad around. You'll love her.

If you can get ahold of a copy of 'Growing to Show', the author has an interesting and informative story about Optimara's Little Gems, from when they were introduced. I don't have my copy nearby or I'd just quote it.

I used to have Little Rose Quartz and Little Apatite; Rose was a *very* pretty little plant, micro or not. Apatite... Hmm, how to describe Apatite? A bit like a rambunctious little boy; it would throw suckers *everywhere* when it was young, and became a little mini in a larger pot. It did get more agreeable when it got older (thankfully; I had trouble keeping up with it). Both were great plants (wouldn't expect anything less from an Optimara), but they weren't micros.

/blather]
Korina

I've killed several myself. :( I call it "gaining experience." But, really, I just feel awful about it. The ones that have managed to survive me are just really determined, nothing I've done I'm sure. I've been salivating over Tiny Moon Goddess for some time. She's always just out of my bidding range on eBay. Just hoping to get the chance to trade for one this Spring/Summer.