Aviolet -

the streps can take twice more light than AVs, but if they get as much light as your violets they do OK too, just wouldn't be as floriferous as they can.

The critical difference - they prefer lighter soil - add 1/3 coarse or medium coarse perlite to your violet soil - and they need to dry between the waterings. Do not water them until the pot gets light. They are not as successful on wick watering as violets. When you repot them - be sure that you never plant them deeper than they were before, better to make them grow onthe top of the hill in your pot.

Good Luck

irina

what about brown spots on leaves? & how can I tell if they are getting too much light? I tried them under lights with the violets but some of them turned yellowish or got brown on leaves (not just the tips) so thought maybe it was too much light. put one in the window, it bloomed lots but then the leaves curled up & quit growing. not sure that is a sign of too much light or what. & I may not have the watering right. I'd love to learn what I need to do to get them growing & blooming frequently. thanks for your help!

A violet, sounds like you may have given it too much water. Streps like irina has said prefer lighter soil. They rather be drier than wet, too much water will cause the plant to look great one day then suddenly collapse or curl their leaves. This recently happened to one of my plants I just repotted. Looked good one day then the leaves curled and looked limp. When I took the plant out of the pot the roots just fell from the plant. This is what will happen if the soil is too wet. This was the first plant I lost in 3 yrs. It was a small starter which are more suspect to these conditions.

I use a soil mix with 60% perlite to 40% AV soil (Miracle Gro's) and melt 4 holes in the sides of the pot near the bottom to allow air flow into the pot. Works great for me and I have done this for the past 2 yrs.

I grow in natural light only and do not have any direct sun. I use aluminum foil to line the shelves to help reflect light for the plants. I have grown plants in a north window this way and they bloomed like crazy. I presently grow in a south window with a porch overhang which acts like a north window. I have some in bloom and many others in bud. These are not mature plants, I start mine from leaves.

If you are growing under lights a sign they maybe getting too much light is the yellowing of leaves. The brown spots could be they were to close and started to burn but I can not be sure without seeing the plant.

These are tough plants and will bloom their heads of with the right conditions. Remember they rather be too dry than too wet. If they are too dry and wilt they will recover once they are watered. Too wet they will die! Stick your finger in the soil when in doubt. If wet or damp, don't water. If the soil feels dry then water.

Hope this helps you grow these beauties. Be careful though, they are as addicting as violets!

Dave
I use

Thanks for the tips Irina and Dave! I will hang in there a little longer and see if I can get these plants growing / blooming.

Aviolet -

Dave nailed it - too much water.

Mine live on a drown-drought regime. I have them in cheap black trays - and wait until all of them dry before I add 1/2 inch of water on the bottom. They soak it up in a day - and I do not water them again until the leaves start looking ... not shiny - usually it coincides with bone dry pots. If you wait until they start drooping - it is a bit too much, but not mach harm done.

I also put a half inch layer of a very coarse perlite on the bottom of the pot - and stick a wick through so they can absorb the water better when I flood them .

My guess that the natural habitat for streps is much drier than for AVs and they dry up between the rains and they survive through the dry season in South Africa so this is kinda built in their system.

Irina

Thank you, I will do some repotting & water them less often. If I can also get the lighting right maybe I will finally have the winning combination!

aviolet, just following up. How are your Streps doing?

Dave

Hey, thanks for asking! They quit getting brown spots on leaves since I stopped watering as often. They are greener but still not growing or blooming. I did repot several of them and added more perlite. In the past if I provide more light they start turning yellow or the leaves get stiff and curl down or brown on ends. If I give less light they just sit there. Right now they are getting window light in various locations, but not right up next to the window. And there they sit. . . I'm really not sure what to try next.

How often do you feed them? I feed mine every watering with 1/4 strength orchid food. They get an occasional plain water flush. Mine get bright, indirect Sun. They also like cool temps.

They actually love fish emulsion - you can use half teaspoon per gallon every time you water.

That's a problem with windows - it is very rarely you have just right amount of light. There is a contraption to measure the light amount - lightmeter or something - cost about $34 - full light outside is 5000 foot candles, AV range - 400-800, streps - probably up to 1000. So if you are desperate enough - get the gadget and play with it.

Irina

aviolet, you said you recently repotted. What size pot did you plant them in? Were the pots they previously in full of roots? Streps, will preform best if the roots are developed. Many of my starters start blooming with only a 1/3 rd of the pot full of roots. I keep mine in 3 oz solo cups as long as possible to let the roots develop as much as possible. Without a good root system no plant will perform their best. I have some varieties though which will produce more top growth first then roots before blooming. It all depends on genetics but generally if the plant's roots are developed then
the plant will turn it's energy to producing growth and flowers. As Tommy said regular feeding @ 1/4 strength will help tremendously to produce
these results. Using a low urea based fertilizer helps keep the roots
absorb more of the available nutrients.

What window exposure are you growing iIn and how far from the window are you growing? I have grown Streps as far as 3' from a window in a
north exposure and they bloomed like crazy. People could not believe it,
they got nothing but the lights in the room when they were on and the natural light.
The trick I used was I grew them on a Baker's rack and put aluminum foil shiny side out toward the plant on the back and on the shelves where the plants sat to help reflect the light. I also grew violets ion the same rack with the same results. Two of the shelves were below the window sill so the light was reduced even more. Aluminum foil is cheap and can be replaced.

Here's another tip I learned years ago from someone. Put your hand about a foot away from the plants. Move your hand up and down, if you see a distinct shadow on your plants your getting enough light for them to bloom. Then you know the problem is not light related, it probably is the plant does not have a strong enough root system to support flowers yet. Remember, Streps like violets preform best when their roots are snug in the pot. You don't want them completely root bound to the point your watering everyday or every other.

Dave

a violet, I recently went to growing under lights as I have too many plants and my wife has allergies to flower pollen so I moved the to the basement on my work bench.

I use 2 T-8 lights 14" from the bench to the light fixture.I use the T-8's because they will phasing out T-12's in the near future so the bulbs will be harder to find. You can adjust the lights anywhere from 12"-18" but no higher. I got this tip from Dale Martens who grows under lights. I leave
mine on for 12 hrs a day. I have put a link for you to see how it looks. I
recently took the foil out because it was reflecting too much light causing
the leaves to grow downward. The flowers shown have bloomed so far under this setup. They have been there for 3 weeks now.

http://s282.photobucket.com/albums/kk261/davioletman/davioletman%20under%20lights/

Dave

Hi all! Thanks for the suggestions.
My streps get fertilized every time they are watered. I think it is the amount mentioned previously. When I repotted I kept the same size pots or went down a size due to previous leaves lost. Most of them are in 2.5 inch pots. I just added more perlite and wicks to soak up the water faster when watered. I do not have fish flakes but have thought about trying them for violets before. I don't know where to get any. In the past I tried the streps under lights - T-5 Jump Start, and a light stand with 2 T-8 bulbs. They grew leaves but no flowers and / or got brown spots and stiff curled under leaves. My violets also got too much light, but I have finally adjusted the time and distance on the plant cart I kept, which has 2 sets of 2 T-12 bulbs per shelf, so that some violets do okay there. It is possible I could try the streps there successfully now that the lights are not on all at the same time as much or as long as before. I also have a T-8 grow light with the clear plastic covering over it, which is dimmer and the violets do well under it but the streps don't grow at all.
Since moving into a new house I have tried window light. One about 3 feet from an east window with partially open blinds, several about a foot from a south window with blinds adjusted so it isn't overly bright or direct. I have a north window with bright indirect light but the violets I tried there got brown leaves so I was afraid to try the streps there. I couldn't seem to get the light and distance adjusted right for the violets I tried there, which kept getting brown leaf ends, so I was afraid to try the streps there. I may give the aluminum foil idea a try.
I have had so much trouble with grow light stands and now with natural light it's disappointing. I remember having violets that bloomed constantly when I was a kid.

Tricia

Tricia, Streps will do fine under lights. Do you have a place where you can suspend the lights? Keep the lights 14" from the bottom of the bulbs to the shelf. If you are using T-12's maybe a little higher if they throw more heat than T-8's. Mine are in a basement and they are all in bud right now 3-4 weeks after putting them there. I have some brown spots on mine but that was from being in the greenhouse when it was 95-100 degrees. The leaves got burned from the heat and them drying out.

The plants a foot away from the south should be fine. You may need to adjust the blinds a little to allow just slightly more light. Streps will handle a little direct light but it would be better if it is bright and not direct.

The East window should not be a problem as far as light. You state you have them with partially open blinds. Try putting foil under them to help with the light as the blinds and them being 3' away may not be quite enough for them. This sounds like it might be the case. When I grew mine in the north window it was completely free of blinds or curtains.

North windows tend to be cooler and maybe the violets got too cold. Streps like it a little cooler, so unless it is really cold it should not bother them and they should bloom with no problem. If it gets below 65 consistently, they will slow down and may not bloom. I have not had that problem when growing in the north, temps at night got around 60 and did not bother them.

What troubles me is the brown spots and stiff curled leaves. The stiff curled leaves could be too much fertilizer build up. You may want to flush the pots with clear water until comes freelyout of the bottom of the pot. Then wait a few weeks before resuming fertilizing. See if there is a difference in the plants. Brown spots are they light, almost tan colored? If so, this maybe cold water spotting. Try watering with water at room temp. Cold or water too warm will cause these type of spots. Brown leaf ends usually is caused by fertilizer build up in new leaves.

Trying to help you sort thru the problems. OT can be frustrating but don't give up! You will find what works for you and can't wait to hear the good news, that they are growing and blooming. If you need a few Streps let me know. I have a few extras that I can give to you.

Dave

Anyone growing this plant? I just got one, and it looks like it's supposed to stand up right but it won't, it's too tall and heavy and flops over. It's in a tiny pot so I can put it in a bigger one and tie it to something to lean on, but want to make sure first that it is actually supposed to stand upright.

Tricia

Tricia. I do not grow this one but from the pictures I have seen it should grow upright. You could repot it into a bigger pot and stake it like you said. Or you could cut the plant down a bit just above a set of leaves and that should cause it to bush out more. If not sure for now I would do the staking.

These little guys will go dormant at some point so the growth will die back. When it starts again you'll be all set as the plant will adapt to your conditions.

The plants have tubers so do not repot it any deeper than it was in it's previous pot. Be careful not to overwater as the tuber will rot.

Dave