Funny you should say that! Yesterday (Fresno) I purchased a strep at a garden shop (been eyeing it for a few days) and I paid $10 for it. I just measured it "across" and it's 23 inches! Leaves (most of them) are 15 inches long. What color was the one you saw? This one I bought had NO name tag...I'm thinking it may be a Bristol's Blue Water, but I'm not sure.

Oh welcome to the wonderful world of streptocarpus. And don't forget the rest of this fascinating family. Yep, they can get big. It has been a long time for me too though. The older varieties were much larger than newer ones. The old Weismoors produce huge flowers, one or two to a stem, and have big leaves that grow to about 18" or more long. They take up a lot of space, so much of the breeding being done in the last 20+ years has been oriented to reducing the size of the leaves and producing plants with multiple flowers per stem--10-20 or more. I remember some gigantic old plants that members of the San Francisco Gesneriad Society once grew. But, smaller plants can be equally spectacular when they are covered with flowers. A good way to grow them is to use a very light potting mix, with lots of perlite added, and if you tend to over water then they can be grown in terra cotta pots for faster drying and airier conditions. My mix is 3 parts peat, 2 parts perlite and 1 part vermiculite.

Jon

You know, every single time Jon posts, I learn something. It's amazing, you'd think I would have heard everything he has to say about, say streps, after reading a few dozen posts. But nope.

Terry, there are a couple of options for big strep plants. One of them is for unifoliates. Some people do grow them, they produce a lot of blooms and one big leaf, then generally die after flowering. You have to propagate by putting part of the leaf down again, I think, or by sowing seeds. A recent plant I got has one of these unifoliates in its lineage, it's called Heaven Scent. But though it does grow big leaves (the largest I've seen must be over a foot and very wide), it grows secondary leaves too. So your plant doesn't die. Did I mention it was scented? I love it.

Also, though, you can keep growing your streps bigger and bigger. They are just developing multiple crowns, and according to the lecture I heard last week, can grow really big, indefinitely. The lecturer says shortly after the roots fill the pot it can be transplanted. He said he grew one in a 12 inch pot, though it took him 4 or 5 years to get it that big. But he said he can generally get them to 5 or 6 inch pots to show in within 1 year. So if you want it big, just keep potting up! Just remember, even though they get wider across, they have shallow roots, so look for pots that are not too deep.

I agree...I am amazed at Jon's knowledge. Seems to knows everything about everything...and as Martha would say - "it's a good thing." I'm so glad Jon doesn't mind answering MY endless questions with my new strep hobby (I think...). We will see how many of them I end up killing. haha!

I don't know where all this arcane trivia comes from, but it gets stuck in my head and it just spills out whenever I post. I had some plant addicted friends in the 70's who got me going (including my mother). All those long conversations on the phone and trips to nurseries and gardens with my friends, plus all the plant society meetings I attended and books, magazines, and catalogs. Then I started attending annual AGGS conventions (16 in a row now), where the informal conversations were as important (and enjoyable) as the programs. Oh, and then growing all these things. Not to mention all that I have learned on GW from everyone else. It just sort of meshes together and I like to pass on what I have learned. I hate the thought that great information gets lost with each generation. But thanks for being such willing victims for my stories!

Jon

Some of the ones I grew from seed are real monsters; flowers and leaves. I wish I knew where Chiltern Seeds get their seeds.

I enjoyed this thread and would like to see more of 'em.

I've been away and just got back to this forum. Thanks for your encouragement and advice. I think I had gotten the idea that african violets liked crowded pots, and assumed that streps did too. I haven't seen streps in the stores here for quite a while, but now I feel like it could be worthwhile to order some of those 2 inch plants. And pot up the 4 inch pots that I've had for 5 years!

I left a Falling Stars with my aunt in Northern Ireland when I emigrated and she sent me a photo of it a couple of years later. It was huge and she said she had taken some spent blooms off it before she took the picture.

Here is a link that might be useful: Auntie Mary's Falling Stars

'Falling Stars' is known to be capable of putting on a big show. But, auntie's plant is spectacular--wow! I think it would impress any judge if it were in a show. The setting for the photo was very nice as well.

If you are interested in growing streps from seed, the AGGS seed fund offers a huge list of varieties--both hybrid seed and species seed--0ver 100 varieties. I haven't counted the current list but at one time it totaled over 150 kinds, about half species and half hybrids. Of course, hybrid seed will not produce named plants but rather will give seedlings where each one is different. But, the parentage of the seed will give one some idea of what to expect; and I find that seedlings of streps come out about as nice in flower color, pattern, and growth as named varieties. You can join AGGS at the website at www.aggs.org . The seed fund is published in the quarterly magazine which comes with membership. New members get a copy of current seedlist when they join (so they don't need to wait for next issue of the journal to come out).

Jon

There is also a British Streptocarpus Society. I plan on joining one of these days, but I don't know if they have a seed fund.

Yes Jon, the British Streptocarpus Society does have a seed fund as well. I joined them last year but had to refrain this year due to funds of the unemployed. I still post my vote for AGGS.

Maggie

Hi if you want to see some pictures of strepocarpus look at my web site http://community.webshots.com/user/jefferies109 some of these have big leaves but i cut them they take too much space Anna lisa

I grow a large number of streps. I have found that both bristols and those plants hybridized by lyndon lyon's greenhouses are on the smaller more compact size. I have grown them large however. The larger the leaf, the larger the plant appears to be able to get. I had one that was over 12 inches across and had hundreds of blooms.
Pick out a strep that has large foliage and keep it potbound. It should get larger. Also streps appear to do much better using natural sunlight rather than lamps. I have little success growing the streps under lights. They do extremely well hanging in my windows however. I tend to lose foliage when they are under the lights. I haven't figured that out why yet.
-renee

Hm. I think under lights they do best if kept cool. The lights will heat up a bit, esp. if they are older fixtures without electronic balasts. My friends in Florida grow streps indoors under lights pretty well--but they keep their homes air conditioned for much of the year.

I live in Rochester, so it is always cold here!!! The lights are also not too close, so there isn't much heat. I use one warm and one cool bulb and on occasion a sunlight bulb. I have the same results regardless. The same is true for my trailor african violets, they just seem to grow best in natural sunlight.
This is fine for me of course, as natural sunlight is free!
-renee

i have just got 8 streps from logees, but 3 were failing, as in wilting[maybe over watering, due to the tiny pot size!!], any way, i planted them in the ground and they seem to be doing better
will they thrive out doors , here in los angeles, min 40?

Gaza, I would reestablish them first. Once I planted streps in my garden--about 20 years ago, when I lived in
Berkeley California. They did OK but didn't thrive. I think that the soil was too heavy with clay. If your garden soil is more like potting mix they would do better.

To revive a wilted plant that has been shipped I would enclose it in a larger ziplock and put under lights. That seems to work best for me. If the soil was something I really didn't like I would repot first. Sometimes I will repot into New Zealand Sphagnum moss and then enclose. That seems to work the best for gesneriads, but then, once revived it is necessary to remove the moss and pot up in potting mix.

Jon

If the leaves on the big streps are trimmed down to a managable size, will they still bloom?

Kal, yes they will. In fact back in the 70's when my mom lived in Evanston, Ill. and had a basement room full of lights, she regularly trimmed her streps so that they didn't take up as much room. They flowered very well for her, especially once the weather cooled down.

i trim the leaves on my plants and they bloom just the same! I envy you guys who can plant gesneriads outside! That would be so nice!
-renee