Umm, I should let John B. answer this one but I will just chime in with my mantra: "Be patient". Chiritas will grow and get nice and large and then decide its time to flower and set buds. Its best to just wait it out and enjoy the foliage. This is one of John's hybrids. It correctly should be labeled as 'Silver Surfer'. You can let the suckers grow until large enough to cut out with a knife and root on their own or take them out now. The only reason to do this is to maintain a single rosette. Most of my chiritas don't offset much except for 'Kazu', which flowers heavier when it has lots of offsets, as each one will send up buds along with the main rosette. Chiritas root easily from leaves, which are very succulent. I root them under cover but they also often root in the open. Just give them good light and some feeding to encourage them to send up plantlets.

Jon

Without seeing the plant it's hard to say exactly what the problem is. How old is the plant? If you've had it less than a year, it may just be a matter of waiting. Meanwhile:

1. Stop feeding it. Entirely.

2. Cut back on watering. The soil should dry out slightly between waterings.

3. Don't EVER repot it. It should be kept quite potbound.

4. Give it bright, indirect light (about what you would give an african violet).

5. Keep it cooler and drier during its winter rest.

6. Be patient.

The above care will keep the plant compact and encourage bloom but this hybrid, like its parents, tends to be a seasonal bloomer. With a proper winter rest to reset its biological clock, it should put out a big flush of bloom in the spring and bloom sporadically throughout the summer. Once it starts to grow in the spring, you can resume fertilizing it but should fertilize VERY sparingly.

BTW the "plantlets" you are seeing between the leaves may be the flower buds. Many chiritas form "resting buds" that will form during the growing season but will not develop fully until after the winter rest period, when they will rapidly grow and produce flowers. (If they are suckers, they will be unmistakable once they develop proper leaves and you can either leave them or remove them as you wish, to maintain the fullness and symmetry of the plant. I think the naturally suckering chiritas look best when at least a few of the suckers are allowed to develop.)

John mentioned the resting bud stage. I forgot about that. It can be incredibly frustrating to watch those buds form as a snail's pace and just sit for months and months, if you don't know what is going on.

John has advocated keeping chiritas small and potbound. It is a good idea, especially when space is at a premium. I tend to pot them up faster and (warning!!) if you do that, give them good care, and feed them, they will grow into gigantic and spectacular space takers. But, do these huge plants flower and better than a nice small tight rosette? I think John and I would agree that they don't. So listen to Johnie B...

Thank you both so much.

Did not know about the winter rest. Will stop fertilizing it and try to be patient.

Wow this is so cool. Famous people are here. So you are the hybridizer for "Silver Surfer". And you and Jon (the one without an 'h') are here to give advice to lowly know-nothings like myself.

I have Silver Surfer, too, which I bought back in March. Unlike the plain sinensis I got, it's barely hanging on. The plain sinensis has doubled in size, but this one just keeps hanging on with 2-4 leaves. They are in different environments, Silver Surfer being in my obstructed south-facing and plain sinensis being in my north-facing window. Silver Surfer gets about 3-4 hours of direct sun a day. Is he getting too much? Is that the problem? The only other option I have is to put him next to his cousin, where he will get no direct light at all. Is this preferable?

Also, above you advised Karen to stop feeding now for their winter rest. For how long? It's a long way til winter!

Thanks.

ps: i am so sad to hear about these "resting buds" because i could see sinensis forming buds and thought i might be in for an autumn treat. probably not, huh?

Nikki, the resting buds usually happen on species that flower in spring but set buds in fall. I think your sinensis will flower in the fall. Chiritas do like bright indirect light so I think you could move it next to sinensis.

Jon (no "h") Dixon (its short for Jonathan)

Update. Turns out that those "plantlets" I saw were really flowers coming. I now have four flower stalks, with maybe more to come. Can see the purple color in the buds now, can't wait to see it bloom. I knew this was overdue to bloom.

Karen,
It would be great if you could post a picture when it blooms. I for one would love to see it. I have a "Silver Surfer" too, it's healthy but far from blooming. But both my "Aiko" and "Keiko" are in the resting bud stage.
Andy

I have a baby silver surfer, too. It is nice to be among famous people. It kinda reassures that we'll get good advice!