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lucillle

How big do streps get?

lucillle
9 years ago

I saw the thread on streps/AVs and am thinking of buying some streps. I have a small growing area, how bid (tall and wide) do streps get? How big of a pot do they need?

Comments (6)

  • dbarron
    9 years ago

    Streps are shallow rooted, general rule is that a "individual" (bearing in mind some streps offset/cluster/clump a lot) plant would need is 4 inches when mature. I, myself, use usually 4 inch pots, and fill the bottom half with porous drainage materials (I use flint rocks, it's what I have,..but broken pottery is good too).

    The top size varies just like violets and you have some that aren't much wider than that 4 inch pot, and some that are 3 times the pot size or so.

    Basically, if you can fit a standard long petioled AV into a space, you can probably fit a Strep into it. Streps like a bit more light though, in general.

    We'd be glad to have our ranks swell, after our ponderings why they aren't more popular than they are (other than...no store sells them?).

  • lucillle
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    The Violet Barn looks like they have a nice selection.
    How much light do they need? I've set up some old fashioned 20 inch fluorescents attached to metal legs near a window with little light, currently this is the only place the setup can go.

  • dbarron
    9 years ago

    I don't do florescent lighting...only natural, so we'll have to wait on someone else to address that. I'm using a partially shaded West window...which works well, since in Winter when light levels are lower, it's not shaded as the leaves are gone.
    I can also recommend you look here for the latest and greatest:
    http://garys-out-of-africa.com
    Ebay.com with seller svetlana (where I bought my most recent...she is almost the only source of the latest Russian and Polish Streps...which seem to be larger plants, but unique colors and patterning)

    One comment on Rob's plants...while good, they're usually quite small. From my experience, you get faster bang for the bucks from the lady on Ebay. I've never ordered from Gary, so maybe someone else will have feedback there. However, temper that with Dave's observation that you can get a Strep to bloom in 4 months from beginning to bloom. Perhaps fast blooms aren't necessary if you'll get them within 4 months anyway :)

  • judyj
    9 years ago

    Hi Lucille,
    Generally I grow the babies under light (once they're no longer "tender") until they get ready to bloom. Once they're blooming, I move them out. However, they do seem to grow just as well out from under the lights, at least as juvies-to adults. One of them-Party Boy-I put on a table in the middle of the living room. I was afraid it would be too dim there, but boy is it happy!

    Mine are still all in 3 inch pots. This first image shows a comparison. On the left is Party Boy, a fairly large strep, next is a standard violet (Chimera)-Carnation Sprinkles, and on the right is a mini AV-Itchy Britches. This kind of gives you an idea of the sizes (sorry for the blur). None of these are full grown. The standard av is the oldest, and the strep and mini are approximately the same age.

    Like dbarron, I use drainage in my pots too. Generally it's got 1/4 to 1/3 perlite in the bottom because I use capillary matting and streps don't like to stay wet. I'll post a second picture of the Party Boy strep so you can see how the leaves go. Some folk say you can trim the leaves as you like. So if they're too long, you can trim them. I'd rather let someone more experienced chime in on that though.

  • judyj
    9 years ago

    Here's PartyBoy on its own. Yes-I do have colors besides Pinks, Violets and Blues, but these were just handy! :-)

    PartyBoy, in my experience, is one of the larger of the streps I've found. Others, Black Light for example, is smaller. Xolo is kind of medium sized but the flowers size appears between PartyBoy and Black Light.

    Just FYI, none of these are currently growing in a window-I just put them there for better photo light. PartyBoy is growing on another table in the living room.

    Hope this helps!
    Best,
    Judy

  • lucillle
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you for the comparison, and what a beautiful strep!

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