Most happy and healthy colorful streps on the net!!Thanks for sharing these beauties,Davioletman....

That is just amazing.

David, those are some beauties. Congratulations.

I've been looking for a white-flowered strep, such as your TSF Balaia Saassiia. Do you have a source for that? Also the Harlequin Blue. In general, what sources do you recommend? Thanks. Gary

What a beautiful bunch of streps. I love them all. What size pots are they in? The pots look small. Is that their permanent home? I have had no luck with streps. I guess I'll have to try them again. What is your secret of growing them: soil, water, temp, humidity?

Gary, I bought TsF Balaia from plant_manic on ebay. David Thompson grows some very nice streps at very reasonable starting prices. His shipping is very reasonable and I have bought many plants from him with any serious damage. He packs them very well for as we all know the USPS is not as gentle with the boxes as they used to be.

He has one listed now and his auction will end on Sun. Harlequin Blue is offered by a few growers on ebay from time to time. Neil's Streps and Hoover's Violets. I believe Neil's had one recently. I think was last week but it might be now. Would not hurt to check it out. Both growers are very good as well.

Dave

ima_digger, I start my streps in 3oz clear solo cups. I use the clear cups so I can see the root development. They stay in this size pot until their first bloom and the roots have filled the pot. Only then will I pot them up to a 5oz solo cup or 3" pot whichever I have available at the time.

The secret? There is none. lol Seriously, this is the soil recipe that I have used for 2 years with great success.

Use a cup of any size you chose. I prefer a 12 oz solo cup.

10 cups Miracle-Gro African Violet soil mix

3 cups perlite

3 cups coarse vermiculite

Makes about 2 ziplock gallon bags.

Here's a trick I swear by. Take a drill or hot soldering iron (be careful of the fumes in using the iron) and make 4 holes equally spaced around the bottom of the pot before potting your plant. Then pot your plant remembering to keep the crown slightly above soil level so it does not rot.
This allows air to get to the roots especially if you tend to overwater. The biggest thing with steps is not keep them too wet. Water throughly until the water runs out then let them dry out between waterings. If not sure, stick your finger into the mix, if damp don't water, if it feels dry then water.

In time you will be able to tell by the foliage color. When they are dry but not drooping the foliage will have a duller look to it.

I use 1/4 strength fertilizer and 1/4 teaspoon of super thrive to a gallon of water each time I water. Humidity does not seem to be an issue with the plants grouped together they give enough off enough evaporation to create sufficient humidity.

Temps are the same as for African Violets though streps don't mind it a little cooler they do not like to be exposed to temps over 85 degrees for an extended period of time. They will start to sulk and eventually die if exposed to these temps for a prolong period. Ideally 65-80 degrees.

I grow mine under 2 T-8 light set ups. They are 14" from the bottom of the bulb to the shelf. I have the lights on timers for 12 hours per day.

I hope I covered everything. If you have any other questions feel free to ask here or via email.

Dave

Gary, I'm so sorry. I forgot the sources you asked for. In addition to whom I already mentioned, these are other vendors on ebay I recommend:
vmeevmee, neils_streps (the right way to find him), violets4you (Canada but ships to the U.S.), kathystreps (plants maybe smaller but not always) and mkviolets.

Also, the violet barn - www.violetbarn.com, lyndonlyon www.lyndonlyon.com, bloominjungle - ask to be put on mailing list. Tell her davioletman (Dave) referred you. Linda sends out a violet list to everyone on her list and at times offers streps as well.

Dave

Dave, thanks for the information. I've saved it so I can refer back to it many times. In the spring, I'm going to try some streps again. The last time I tried leaves, they all had babies, but I think I may have overwatered them. This time I'l know better.

Dave, they're beautiful. Lots of colors and markings I've never seen, but I've not been exposed to many streps.

There are mini streps, aren't there? The few streps I've grown in the past had such long leaves. I'd prefer smaller plants.

Yes Patrick, there are some mini Streps out on the market. Dale Martens continues to hybridize many of the mini's available. There are many compact streps as well that don't grow the long strappy leaves. Fire and Ice and Bristol's Pajama Party come to mind right now.

There are many hybridizers trying to bring down the size of the plants. Nancy Block has a few more compact that I am aware of. However, Patrick you can always cut the leaves to a size that fits your taste. My only suggestion to you is to trim them in the early morning when the water is in the leaves. Cutting them at this time of day helps them heal so there is no noticeable dry edge. I have cut leaves at other times of the day and after a few days the leaf would die back slightly so that the cut edge was noticeable.

Thank you for the kind words. I like growing the more unusual types as well as the fantasy types.

Dave

Lots of water has gone under the bridge since the last post was made on this thread!

Just over a year ago, I joined the Gesneriad Society, plus the local chapter. We hosted the annual convention in Seattle in July, 2012.

I "refrained" from Streps and AV's for quite awhile, thinking that would help control the size of my Gessie collection. Well, a few of each filtered in here and there - now I have a real passion for Streps! I have a few and enjoy propagating the leaves.

I'm totally in awe of the Polish, Russian & Ukranian hybrids. Yesterday I ran across vmeevmee's Strep auction on eBay and next week I will have possession of 7 new plants. I'm looking forward to propagating and swapping them.

Dave, I have a question...what does the "TsF" stand for in front of some Streps' names? You mentioned 'TsF Balaia' in one of your posts above. And one of my newly purchased Streps is 'TsF Augustine'. I'm curious!

Patrick

Patrick, these are from a Russian hybridizer. I do know these letters represent his name but do not know it off hand.

Dave

Thanks, Dave...makes good sense. I think the combination of upper and lower case letters threw me a curve.

TsF - means abbreviation of Tsentr Fialki (Center of Violet). The hybridizer runs an AV store with this name.

Hmm, Patrick - I thought you have a Russian buddy, aren't you? I mean - me.

i.