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komi_gw

strep bloom stalk height

komi
18 years ago

Do you know if the height of a strep flower stalk is influenced by environmental or other factors? I have some from Park's Royal series blooming for the second time, and this time the flowers are only 2-3 inches above the soil. This is less than half the height of their first blooming.

First blooming was indoors under a bank of fluorescents. Warm apartment.

Second blooming is on a windowsill, obstructed SE, cool (because of air conditioning vents overhead and we haven't been getting much sun recently).

Any ideas? These are funky looking on their stubby stems.

Comments (8)

  • maureen_ottawa
    18 years ago

    Bloom stalk height is definitely affected by culture conditions. I have found shorter stalks when the streps are too potbound.

    In your case, it could be just the change in environment. It should straighten out in the next blooming.

  • komi
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Actually, they are very cramped - I think you've hit the nail on the head. Thanks for the tip !

  • komi
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    I've got a bunch more buds and the next one is shorter than the last. It's going to be very strange when they all try to open up. LOL.

  • maureen_ottawa
    18 years ago

    You can try dividing it now, if you like. Just don't try to divide it into single crowns -- maximum three pieces -- and it should do fine. And don't let the transplants get too wet.

  • Bergit
    18 years ago

    I have grown some Streptocarpuses from seed. One of them got a few brown leaves, probably due to too strong sunlight. I cut away those leaves about 1 cm from the emerging flowerstalks ( kept the flowerstalks ). The stalks on this plant are distinktly lower than on the other plants ( half length ).

    The question is ; Should I have cut the leaves closer to the soil so that also the flowerstalks were cut away, they were only 2-3 cm when their "hoast-leaves" were cut of.

    Growing theese plants from seed has been great fun. They are now 10 months and really lowely !

  • jon_d
    18 years ago

    I don't think it was necessary to cut the stems off entirely. It is thought that allowing very young plants to flower will weaken them, as cause them to mature at a slower rate. If the leaf tips are damaged you don't need to cut the leaves off entirely. They can easily be trimmed with scissors or even with one's finger nails. I use a pair of scissors that cut in a decorative pattern (Fisker's Ripple Cut ), which mimics the natural outline of the leaf. Once the leaves have been trimmed they generally do not brown from the cut ends.

    Jon

  • Bergit
    18 years ago

    Thanks for answering, Jon D !

    It wasn't only the tip of the leaves that were damaged, the whole leaves looked sunburned at first and then withered away. I'm sure it was caused by too strong sunlight, it happened only to "outwardfacing" leaves.

  • Bergit
    18 years ago

    Should I also have removed the emerging flowerstalks from the leaves I cut of ?
    Are the flowerstalks shorter because the "hoastleaves" are removed ?

    Yesterday I broke a leaf from one strep by accident, just beneath the emerging flowerstalks, so now I have this dilemma again.