Belinda -

You got lucky!! i looked up Daruma - and it has the cutest rounded leaves...

Columnea will be happy in a hanging pot near the window, the rest of them - 2 tubes lights or windows with similar light. Chiritas like it on a cool side - so bottom shelf, otherwise - like AVs. Episcia likes it warm and humid - so top shelf, I do not have an experience with alsobias - but they are pretty close to episcias, but tougher.

Thanks for the reply Irina. With all the people on this forum and only one reply? Wow either these are not widely raised or the people that do, don't share the info LOL

What I recieved was cuttings and I potted them up best I could. Crossing my fingers that they take.

Belinda

Belinda -

There are significantly less people growing gesneriads than AVs. There even less people who grow chiritas. We have at least 2 resident super-experts here - Johnnie_B and Jon_D, but they do not show here too often - but eventually they will reply. So - it is just less traffic here.

Irina

I grow a few gessies, but I am fairly new to it as well, so although I lurk alot in this forum, I dont normally reply, since I just dont know the answer.....lol. I grow alsobia dianthiflora, I dont treat it in any special way, I water when it gets dry....it hangs to the side of my south window in my kitchen right by the sink, so there is a bit more humidity in there.

I also just got a few cuttings of epicias, but I am so new to those I cant give any advice....lol. The other gessies I grow are Kohleria, nematanthus, aeschynanthus....and thats about all for now.

Tracy

Just went to visit an old gardening friend yesterday, and we got to comparing episcia culture. I told her I tend to grow the ones that need terrarium care in long-fiber sphagnum moss and the regular ones (like Checkerboard) in regular potting soil. She said she had much better luck with episcias in just a mix of perlite and vermiculite. She gave me some cuttings of one I had when I moved here from Nebraska some years ago and had lost (one of the advantages of sharing plants is you can get some back when you lose them!)and I decided to experiment. Potted one in regular potting soil, one in vermiculite/perlite, and one in straight sphagnum. (It's that kind of thing that gets me in trouble--I do not need three pots of the same thing!) I'm curious to see which does best. One of the things it's important to remember is that there are many ways to grow things, and what works for me may not work for you. Experimenting is fun, and you may find the best way for you.

Not to be nasty or anything but why don't you look up "care of Chiritas" and the other plants that you don't know how to care for on Yahoo or Google??? There is Tons of info out there for the taking (and you won't have to wait for replys).

Thank you all for the replies.

avsforme I HAVE looked on google but there is nothing like the PERSONAL experience therefore I posted here. Hoping like on the African Violet forum to find some friendly helpful people to discuss these things with. If you don't want to reply, then don't bother but I appreciate those that did.

Thanks Again,
Belinda

I should have said--I'm fairly new to chiritas, tho' I seem to have been seriously bitten by the bug, and with your 'cajunkisses' and z9 you must be in my general area, so I should tell you what I do with chiritas. Don't know Daruma, tho' she may go on my list!, but I find chiritas do very well both outside and in (I bring most of them in for the winter) and they're quite enthusiastic about growing. Some get much bigger than others, but I don't think Daruma is one of the big ones. Just a good well-draining potting mix, good light but not full sun--some of the experts say to let them dry between waterings--not DRY dry of course!--but for me if I don't fill the reservoirs for a few days--I wick-water almost everything--they get brown leaf tips and any buds coming on tend to dry up. The experts really do know what they're talking about, so that may work for you. I do use a very quick-draining mix, so that may be the difference. It's so hard to make general rules about these things!

Belinda -

I just heard on our last club meeting that chiritas do appreciate leaching - and it really helps with brown tips. They like less fertilizer than AVs.

We all live in different climates - and people in Florida grow episcias outside - and I have trouble even with an achimenes outside, it is so dry. Nematanthus was outside all summer in a shade - and looks like it loved it.My episcias are in a fishtank - both variegated and regular to raise the humidity. So - the best is to check with a local gesneriad or AV club. And you can experiment in a way Greenelbows does - because your house is different, humidity is different, water is different - than in your friend's house five miles from you.

Good luck to all of us, chirita lovers

Irina

Hi Belinda, I'm sorry my last reply came off bad (I reread and yes it was condescending...chalk it up to a bad day) but I know some folks who don't even bother to look up the basics on Yahoo or Google then expect every detail to be answered in the forums. Yes, I also agree personal advise is the best and everyone here and on the African Violet board are extreamly well versed on the care and feeding of said plants. I would never have made it as far as I have if not for these boards. I apologise for my last post...
Becky :o)

I have only one Chirita. It came as a NOID though many agreed it resembles 'Kazu.' Except for the blossoms, whose throats are not yellow but pretty much all lavender. It has grown into a real big 'un in a 10" pot. I've let it kind of flop everywhere... this is definitely not a show plant! But it begins blooming around early May or late April and, well, it's still sprouting new spikes. It spends the summer outside, getting a few hours of sun, and looks just glorious, growing on occasional water and lots of adoration. It will be under lights in the garage, where I'll keep the temp between 50 and 60 degrees.

Of the others, I have 'Cygnet' in an aquarium turned terrarium, in a mix that gets lots of drainage. There are lights for this too, because my house is a solid, small windowed 60's ranch. It responds well to relatively frequent, small amounts of fertilizer. I mean the Alsobia, not the house. (The house needs a giant dose of money and time!)

I'm not familiar with that variety of Episcia you mention, but the few hybrids I have are in the terrarium with my Alsobia. I adore Episcias and only began growing them for the great foliage. And, what a nice bonus to find I could bloom them, too! Just about everything in there gets similar care.

And for Columnea... well, I haven't gotten to those yet. Someday, I'm sure. I love vines and scandent stuff and climbers and...

oh. you get the picture...

perL

I grew Chiritas and put them outside on a plant stand on a covered lanai during the winter and put the episcias inside on the plant stand with lights. It seems that Chiritas like it a little cooler than African violets and Episcias like it a little warmer. I grow them all in a mix called Fafard #2 which I had to special order. I wick them also Fafard is a very light mix which I need since I live in SW Florida and it it very warm and humid in the summer. The only epsicia I grow in a terrarium is Episcia Peppermint Brocade and I used a layer of spaghnum moss on top of the Fafard on top of aquarium rocks.
I see you are in zone nine - I don't know if you have a lot of humidity or not but that really makes a difference in ones growing situation and rules that apply in areas with little humidity do not apply to areas with a lot of humidity.
Barb
Here are some of my plants