Hi Nina,

I find that streptocarpella can take full sun even in the middle of the day. At least that has been true for my plants. They seem to need a lot more light than an African violet would.

I hope this helps,

Larry

Thank God someone else has the same problem - I bought one in bloom last year which bloomed well all summer, and the hummers loved it - kept it through the winter in a bright hall at work, and it did well, with no blooms - it is now sitting in full sun, but has been very cold. I also ordered three from Logee's last year, and they are growing very slowly, two have been under lights for a year, with no blooms, one has bit the dust twice because its plant stand fell over in the front yard - they are rock hard survivors, but how to get them to bloom? They have been exposed to a lot of cold weather, and I am hoping that the recent hot weather will perk them up. There are plants in bloom at a local nursery, but having three large plants at home I cannot really justify buying another. I have one baking in the sun, one on the second shelf of a plant stand in filtered shade, and another still under the lights at work. This has been a very strange spring, and my Christmas cactus is budded up - I think the plants thought the end of the world was coming - do I feed them? Put them in bigger pots? I am basically ignoring them and hoping that they will "do it" by themselves when the weather settles down.

Success! I put my large two year old plant out to bake in the sun, with afternoon shade - the center was bare, and I just told it that it could bloom or get over it. It has had cold, intense heat, and the last three days torrential rains, and I peeked at it today, and it is COVERED with little flower buds! The center is beginning to get new foliage, and all is well. So I took the one that I was pampering, on the second shelf of a stand, soaked, and put it out to drain and get some sun. The gold fish plants are still growing and not blooming, but I am ignoring them as well, and they will come along as the summer progresses.

HELP!! I have 2 streptocarpella hanging baskets and they seem to be dying. It's November and I have brought them inside for the winter. They are hanging in the bathroom window which gets more sun than any in the rest of my house. The foliage is aparse and of course it isnt blooming. I just need to know what to do to help them survive the winter months til I can put them back outside. Does anyone have a suggestion?

I would take the cuttings now - like cut 5 inch tips of the branches, tear off last pair of leaves and stick them in a loose soil and keep the soil moist - not wet and no standing water. You can stick a pot in a zip bag if you want - just do not keep the bag in a sun - it can get them cooked.

You will have new healthy growth and possibly even more flowers in your bathroom. I would toss the old pots after you see the new starters doing well. I bet you can have enough starters for 5 new baskets for the next spring.

Good luck

Irina

One year I did as Irina suggested above. I rooted small cuttings and after rooting, I potted up a round 4" pot and put it in a bright east facing picture window. They came into bloom in winter as a very compact little plant. I haven't repeated this feat but I don't think it would be difficult. Just give them lots of light in winter. In the past I lost plants that I left outside too late. They can get too chilled, such as from a dip into the 30's, and then take a long time to slowly die. So, if this has happened I would definitely start cuttings now. If the plant isn't dying it will put out new growth, and meanwhile, you have fresh new starts for more baskets.

Jon

After it spent a successful summer outdoors (except for getting a few brown spots on the leaves in extreme heat), I brought my first streptocarpella indoors in mid-autumn, but put it in a place where it didn't get enough light. After moving it to a brighter spot several months ago, it has grown and resumed flowering, but it got leggy, and the leaves in the center are yellow. Has anyone tried cutting this plant back to stimulate new growth? Or should I just start anew with cuttings?