Hi, I'm not growing these myself but I had an inkling of the problem and have done some checking. One, they germinate best from fresh seed, "in the green" I believe. After that, germination is irregular. I also thought they don't like disturbance, again I got that right, but interestingly the advice is to pot on as soon as the first true leaves appear..I would have said give them a while then pot late..just as well I checked!
Finally, sino-ornata according to one of my texts, really doesn't like pots.

Thank you, MarkG, that's exactly what I experienced: no pots for the G. sino-ornata and no disturbance. I saw your very beautiful site. The Calceolaria..... how do it survive in the winter? I have in culture the Calceolaria biflora. They have been nice until two weeks ago, and now all are brown, perhaps....dead?
Thank you once more,
rosacentifolia

Hi, the Calceolaria is now long gone..virtually all the alpines and bulbs were in a greenhouse. I am trying to rebuild my collection which has had to be in remote storage for about 6 months following a house move. I've lost many plants and this season there are fewer flowers. I'll reply to your e-mail when I get back, just going away for Easter now!