Here is S. saxorum in the gritty mix:
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It's a favored plant for me. I try to grow a few every year as annuals, but they aren't always easy to find. They are very cooperative and come easy from cuttings.

Al

I don't have an species Streptocarpus, rather all hybrids. I tried very young hybrids and was not successful in the gritty mix. Their root systems simply did not develop. I had similar problems (but much worse) with AVs. All other houseplants have LOVED the gritty mix.

Now mine are in about 50% perlite, 20% peat, 20% bark, and 10% Turface. They grow like mad and bloom contstantly. I water every other day; when a bit warmer in the summer, I watered daily.

I will work on an alternate for them over the winter as I'd like to get away from the peat. I didn't find bark that included fines until recently; that may help.

Hmmm. FWIW - Not trying to influence any one's decision, but I have grown a number of AVs in the gritty mix, + the streptocarpus/streptocarpellas in the picture - have an AV right now, growing strongly & is a mass of blooms - no special treatment - gritty mix, FP 9-3-6, growing under fluorescent shop lights right alongside the rest of my plants. Current picture on request.

Al

Lovely photos! I know what I'm going to do with the weathered little bench we recently got at a flea market... next spring, it'll hold some flowering container plants and be part of the gardenscape we're working on!

Thanks for the inspiration, Al!

Okay, well, if I remember Tim (who sent me these streps)uses a mix of 1/3 peat, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 sifted perlite???? on his and they always arrive looking good.

My question was then going to be more about the fertilizer, since what I have been using is something called Orchid Pro. I mix it up at 1/4 strength (1/4 tsp/gallon) and use it at every watering. But OP is 20-14-13, and that is definitely not 9-3-6. So, I was wondering (and Al I guess you answered) if the 9-3-6 also works well for streps or if there was a reason the other ratio had been suggested.

I did stop in at my local hydroponics shop yesterday, but they didn't have the Foliage Pro. It hadn't occurred to me that they wouldn't have it, but there are several other hydro stores in the area, so someone will surely have it....

I think you're confusing ratios with %s. 24-8-16, 12-4-8, and 9-3-6 are all 3:1:2 RATIO fertilizers.

Based on the actual usage relationship between NPK, 20-14-13 is pretty good in its N:K ratio (just a little high in K), but supplies about twice as much P as would be required for normal growth/blooming. That isn't the end of the world, even a big deal, but any nutrient in excess has at least SOME deleterious effect on nutrition/growth/vitality. I use 3:1:2 ratios for almost everything, simply because it provides nutrients in (very nearly) the same ratio in which plants use them, and allows me to keep fertility levels at their lowest w/o deficiencies.

Hey, Jodi. I use lots of little 'props' for plants. One of my favs is a teak folding chair I got for 75% off ($20) ..... it's portable & looks cool in the garden with a mixed planting on it.

Al

Thanks, Al.
I do not have any idea why I couldn't see that the numbers worked. I totally understand that it is ratios we are concerned with, but .... something went haywire and I couldn't see that what I had was just fine.....Yikes....

I will use up this product and keep looking for the Foliage Pro for when it is gone....

Al, I know you're successful with AVs and gritty mix, as are a few others here. For whatever reason it has not worked for me, while it works excellently with everything else I grow. I've never figured it out, just know that I tried many AVs (all very young, however); a few died and the rest were saved prior to death but it took months of babying to bring them back from the brink - not one of them added any roots after potting and all of them lost their roots over a several week period.

The mix was sifted, contained the right proportions, was made of the proper size particles, etc. It easily could be operator error in some unknown-to-me way, though I don't know why it works with everything else I try and it's identical as what I use for other planting. I just know it didn't work for me. I've even tried it at different times on different plants...the result is always the same.

One guess is that the young roots have not colonized the base of the pot and when checking for water level, either the wick is still damp of a wooden skewer comes out damp from the water at the base of the pot, so no water is added. But, the top is dry and the fine roots die.

But that doesn't explain why the roots also died when I used the gritty mix in a self-watering pot and those roots did not grow either and began to die. These pots work fine with even with a peat/perlite mix that to me seems much too wet - in fact the roots grow so fast they grow into the water. Yet they died in the gritty mix.

Given that I can't identify the problem, given that it's happened several times, given that I've followed all the instructions to the best of my knowledge, and given that it works with everything else, I feel obliged to let people know that I had difficulty. There is nothing obvious to change or do differently. I've checked and rechecked.

Others may not have difficulty - and I hope they do not - but something is causing this issue for me and until I know what it is, it could cause problems for others if they do what I'm inadvertently doing.