Nematanthus can take a lot of light, but may be your SW window is more appropriate.

My first guess - overwatering. What kind of soil do you use? If you bought a plant in a nursery - the soil is possibly too heavy and gets waterlogged. Do not let it stay in a water, dump the extra water from the saucer after watering. 1:1:1 soil mixture - peat-perlite-vermiculite is better. Fertilizer - if you water it every time with 1/4 teaspoon of balanced fertilizer per gallon of water - it should be OK.

It is normal for the plant to lose old leaves near the base of the plant. OLd branches become leggy and not attractive, so eventually to keep it attractive - you just need to cut them off, take the cuttings of the tips - and root them. They root easily if you stick them in a humid soil. If you have space in your old pot - you can make it look full by sticking new cuttings around the old plant.

If you know the name of your cultivar - may there can be more specific things to do.

Good luck

Irina

I have potted it into a 1:1:1 mixture. It was root bound when I bought it and in a clay pot. It probably doesn't get fertilized enough. Are they supposed to be fertilized every watering? Outside of changing the plants location I increased the humidity. I don't know exactly what cultivar it is, my best guess is a 'Black Gold'. I have a 'Tropicana' in the same location that is doing great. The 'Tropicana' is wick watered, though. Thank you for your suggestions.

Frazzledgessie-

It seems that you already found your recipe - just treat it the same way as your Tropicana.

My best results with nematanthus were - keep them in a good natural light, Oyama pots, water with 1/4 teaspoon of AV fertilizer per gallon every time - and let them dry between waterings. They can take low humidity. It looked to me that they need to be mature and pot bound before they start to bloom.

Good luck

Irina

Thank you very much. I know I wasn't fertilizing the plant enough. I also have probably over potted the 'Black Gold' too. I bought it in a 6" pot and potted it up to a 8" plastic pot. If I pot it down to a 6" or 7" pot and start to fertilize every watering would it stop losing leaves do you think? Thanks again.

Frazzle -

can it be just a reaction on your repotting? Change of life ;-))?

I would just keep cutting the tips off and sticking them in a soil to make the plant bushier instead of downsizing the pot.

Irina

PS Mondays are BAAAAD!

Thank you very much. I am doing a wait and see with the 'Black Gold'. This weekend when I have time I will rinse the leaves and flush the soil. I haven't seen any bugs. Right now I have either invisible mealybugs or powdery mildew attacking two of my chiritas, and sad to say but I like them more.
Mondays are the worst.

The good part is that nemathantus is not afraid of PM. Never had chirita with PM - but my conditions are on a dry side. AVs- catch PM, but not chiritas.

Well grown nemathantus can be spectacular - but so far - if you have a window to hang it - it is easy, if not - then not. Chiritas grow well under the lights and on the windows. It is much easier to have them nice looking. BAsically they do it on their own.

I.

PS This Wednesday sucks too

The chiritas were in a more humid room than most of the other plants. I ended up losing a 'Diane Maria' and a tamiana. I think it was PM for the tamiana and mealybugs for the other. My other three chiritas were on the same stand and are fine. (shrug) Well so far I only have one nemathantus going for a well grown award. There will be no plant shows in my future. lol.
I have given up on this week. Better luck to you.

Do not give up!!

I do not think that it is PM that killed C. tamiana.
Tamiana is a tough weed,

If you actually saw mealies - soil? leaf? - you need to treat the whole collection. I survived a bad SMB infestation - and Marathon was the answer. I chipped $100 for half gallon - which will last me a lifetime. But now you can find imidacloprid in different over the counter insecticides - I think we had a thread about it -and the prices are affordable. These stinkers lay eggs - and you do not know where and when they will hatch and start infesting something else.

Good luck

Irina

Thank you for the encouragement! You were right I did give up to soon, if I hadn't gone back to look over the plants again I would have never noticed that one of my Arrowheads had spider mites. I only ever saw one, just one!, mealie on the 'Diana Maria'. I sprayed all of the chiritas down with a solution of rubbing alcohol and water and waited a couple of days and did it again. The remaining ones look fine, but I will keep and eye on them. Evidently winter is bringing in the bugs. Have you ever tried Neem Oil on spider mites? Thank you again for all of your help.

Frazzle -

I didn't try neem on mites - so far I was spared. I see spider mites on roses outside and I am considering to shovel prune the mite magnet - which is the rose Hope for Humanity.

Neem oil - is a way to control, not to eradicate - and it lists mites - so if you spray your plants 3 times week apart - you will significantly reduce the amount of them. If you want to get rid of them till the next invasion - I would go for bigger guns - I saw Kelthane in Ace Hardware store for example - but be sure to do the spraying outside, wear some kind of respirator - at least a bandanna to cover nose and mouth, gloves, and do the rest of the reasonable precautions.

I would use gloves and respirator even for neem if I would do a lot of spraying.

I just sprayed the whole collection with Pylon - and this is the new miticide/insecticide - very expensive - luckily the club ordered it - and I covered myself really well, dragged everything outside, sprayed with an electric rose sprayer and kept the plants in the garage until they dried.

irina

Thanks for your advice. I sprayed several of my plants yesterday with a mixture of dish soap, cooking oil and water hopefully that helps. I also picked up an organic pesticide at a hydroponics store today. I am supposed to wait a week before treating again, right? Ah, it is always something.
I wonder if there are gessie clubs around here. Do they have their own society like African Violets?

Frazzle -

pesticide won't help. You need miticide. And I am not sure that soap plus cooking oil will kill mites too. I would think it will smother aphids, but not mites.

Look at the Gesneriad Society website - under chapters - may be there is a club not far from you.

Good luck

irina

Here is a link that might be useful: the gesneriad society

Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you. The organic pesticide worked to kill off the spider mites. I also increased the humidity in that room. The only ill effects that came of it was some leaf burn on a infected pothos. Thank you very much.

Nematanthus are prone to aphids, thrips and mealybugs, and any of the three can cause the issue. I always use preventatitive measures - spray at least once per month. I use soapy water, but if I find a problem, I do not mess around. Here in Tampa Bay, we grow outdoors all year, so I must be careful. Repeat spray in 5-7 days if you have the mites. Also, a stressed plant is more venerable! Greg in 70F mild New Port Richey FL

Greg -

You are just lucky to live there where everything grows.

But don't you run around with a pile of sheets covering all your outside pots when the temperature drops?

Good Bloom to you in 2009!

Irina