hi - most places that carry gesneriads carry episcias. You can check the list on the Gesneriad Society's website. AGGS. Also, there are some threads on this forum about online sources you can look at for people's recommendations. robsviolet.com and lydonlyon.com are a couple that come to mind.

Lyndon Lyon sent me the most beautiful episcias. They were starter plants but very nice and big. www.lyndonlyon.com.

On eBay, I've never been disappointed by anything I've bought from Aurikab. She has episcias right now. Her shipping prices may seem high compared to others, but she's so careful and the plants are so well-packed it's well worth it.

PJsviolets is another good eBay source.

Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Aurikab

Thank you stone, I went to the ebay site and they do have very nice looking plants. I'm currently bidding on 'pink acajou' I wish they had the buy it now button!

'Pink Acajou' is a nice one, and a great beginner cultivar because it is so pretty, and because the pink toned varieties never seem to be offered in the mass propagated plants sometimes seen at the big box stores. It is a very old cultivar, dating back 40 or more years. It should be an easy one to find--if not on Ebay, then in lots of mail order sources.

Jon

Well it took a while but i finally got my episcias. Stones, your right Aurikab has very nice plants. She took a while to mail them so she send me 4 cuttings. I got pink acajou, and the cuttings are ronnie, alice's aussie?, chocolate valour and chocolat cream. I dipped the tips in rooting hormone and have the cuttings in 3.5 inch pots whith av soil. The soil is moist but not soggy and they're getting medium light. I also have plastic ziplock bags over them. I've been rooting since Sept 27 so 2 weeks now. I checked 5 days ago and so far chocolat valour is the only one with roots. I've never propagated episcias before so I hope i'm doing it right. Should the soil always stay moist? or should I let it dryout? once they're established does the watering conditions stay the same as when I was rooting them?

First of all: never use rooting hormone on episcias. They don't need it and it may inhibit rooting. Episcias will throw out roots from anywhere on the stem. They root out into the air if kept really humid--such as when enclosed. They will root well in AV mix, and even faster in perlite/vermiculite. The mix should be airy and light, not heavy and soggy. Do not let the cuttings dry out.

Since episcias will root from anywhere on the stem, I often root them as single node cuttings, with the node at or slightly above soil level. If the single node cutting is a back cutting then usually two growths emerge from the buds at the node. Episcias hate cold temperatures, but that shouldn't be a problem in Florida, unless you try to grow them as outdoor plants.

I worry what the high fuel costs this year are going to do to our populations of episcias being grown around the US and Canada--as people are forced to keep their homes much colder than in the past.

Jon

Jon, you're not the only one wondering if episcia's will survive this winter. They are predicting a 60% plus increase in natural gas prices here in the mid-west. We'll be looking at turning the furnace down below the 60 degree mark at night.

Right now my couple episcias are growing in one of those little greenhouses and I'm hoping that will keep them warm enough through the winter. They are on the top shelf of the greenhouse where they will be the warmest and I will roll towels and lay them between the end of the plastic and the floor to make sure no drafts can get in.

Really have no idea how they're going to survive. Time will tell.

Just had a thought, what if I ran the lights all night long rather than all day long. That might keep the greenhouse warmer through the night. The greenhouse is not by a window but would still be in a lit room. Would the plants get enough "dark" time doing it this way?

Kathy

Sure, I often switch the lights to night time in winter--as well as in summer, when the plant room gets too warm in the daytime. But, my fixtures now are newer and with electronic ballasts so they don't heat up as much as my old fixtures.

Jon

Thank you Jon for the info. I already used the rooting hormone so hopefully the rest of them will root. For the best humidity and color of these plants, is it better to have them growing under lights? (i have a big fish tank with flouresent lights) or facing a window on a pebble tray?

Better under lights or on a window sill. That is hard to say. Under lights works when one is using a pretty good set up, such as a four foot shop light with two tubes running 10-14 hours a day, on a timer. A little aquarium light may be OK, I have no idea. Window sills can vary too. But, in Florida, I would think a great episcia could be grown as a window sill plant. Just keep trying, you only get better.

Epsicas give you the option to try both ways--just root some cuttings and try them in different locations. A little experimentation will teach you what you want to know.

Jon