Welcome Denis,
I only have four named streps and only dream of having 50,
I also grow a few orchids and lots of hoyas among many others lol I Can't wait to see your pictures.
raz

Welcome to this forum and to gesneriad growing. Starting with fifty strep varieties is pretty impressive. Streps grow easily from seed. You can hybridize your plants to get unlimited variety. Also, the seedlings will show tremendous variation from plant to plant, even from a selfing. AGGS (American Gloxinia and Gesneriad Society) offers a long list of strep species and hybrid mixes in their seed fund. I recommend joining the society. New members receive a current seed fund list in their welcoming packet. Otherwise the seed list is published twice a year in the quarterly journal, The Gloxinian. Seed can only be purchased by AGGS members. Pictures of streps can be found at a number of web sites including AGGS and The Gesneriad Reference Web. The AGGS site can be found at www.aggs.org.

There is also the British Streptocarpus Society, with over 500 members. You might want to join this organization as well.

Jon

Hey, I didn't know all that, Jon! Thanks for the info!

Welcome Denis.

-Mo (WV)

Hi Dennis!

I live in Wollongong and grow all sorts of gesneriads. I agree that plants are difficult to obtain in Australia and I often purchase gesneriad seeds (including strep) from England. However I suspect that seed imports are going to become more difficult due to concerns about introduced plants.

I also have an interest in Lycopodium (Huperzia) and that is an entirely different challenge - requiring tropical conditions! However there is a keen grower in Adelaide.