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| Hi,
I got a baby Gloxinia ("Merry Christmas") from The Violet Barn but it has not done well since. It has yellowish leaves and if growing at all is just getting taller. Are they supposed to grow tall and skinny or don't the leaves reach out more and grow big like a violet? Mine just keeps getting a taller stem with small leaves on each side. Makes me want to break it off and start over near the bottom. Any ideas, suggestions? This is my first but I have a ton of A. Violets. I read they need more light than AVs but I can't tell if I've given it too much or not enough. I keep trying new locations for it but nothing is helping.
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| I would say they need 1.5-2 times more light. They do well for me if I add milled NZ sphagnum moss in a soil. Actually I kept my Merry Christmas on a NW window and it did well there. What you can do - you can take the tip off - and root it - they do it easily in a very light soil and with a baggie on the top. They send roots from the leaf nodes - so take long enough cutting so you can remove the lower leaves and stick this node in a soil. You shake the pot out - get the tuber.Remove the rest of the stem leaves, roots...wash it up and put in a baggie with barely moist vermiculite or sphagnum moss - and watch it - in a month or 2 - it will send new shoot - you will pot it in a fresh soil and put it either on a window or under the lights with your violets. And I think they are heavy feeders - so do feed them 1/4 of a teaspoon per gallon of water with AV fertilizer. SO - in no time 0 you will have 2 plants instead of one - and eventually you will find a good spot for it. This plant is floppy anyway - and just wait until it starts blooming - the flowers are so double and heavy - they always droop. WIth more light - the plant will grow more squatty - but probably you will need some support for the stem. Just don't hurt the tuber. I. |
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| Thank you very much! I will try this. Tricia |
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| I have mostly north and south window space. Can the Gloxinia sit directly in a window or will the light be too direct that way? I would like to ask that same question about Kohlerias and Streptocarpus'. With the violets, it seems I either give them too much or too little natural light. I am having a hard time with these relatives that are supposed to tolerate more light. |
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| Tricia - put something between your south window glass and the plants - shear curtain or a piece of white plastic - and it will probably be just right. Thing is - if it is too much light - it won't kill your plants - it will make bleached spots on your leaves - and then you will know that it is too much. They will take more - if you adjust the light gradually. I. |
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