You sure have PATIENCE!

You can move the bottom piece to the soil - and you can move all the sphag you need with it. Episcias are heavy feeders - so as soon as roots touch the soil - they will start absorbing nutrients - and the whole thing will grow like a weed it is.

You probably need to keep the transplant at least partially covered for a week or 2.

Original 'Chocolate Soldier' in 1954 was described as having chocolate colored leaves with a silver midrib and was a cross between 2 variations of E.cupreata. The name 'Chocolate Soldier' was so misused by dealers - that everybody has a different idea how it should look like. Your plant is definitely E. cupreata - which has oodles of variations, named and not named. You reduce the light - and the amount of spots decreases and the silver green part of the leaf becomes more prominent - you increase the light - and spots become more distinct.

:) - i was running out of patience...but since the leaves were doing fine i decided to wait it out. Then i finally found some info that they might take 8mo to produce an offset from leaf. so then i stopped worrying and settled to wait some more :)))).

It looks similar to 'Acajou' too. But what's in the name? It's just an approx. label for NOID.

It seems that 'Chocolate Soldier' has very large leaves and SOME pix of it are just like mine. It doesn't matter really.

I actually like the silver green middle to be very prominent - so will try to give it NOT too much light. My windows are stuffed with other plants in any case.

Looked it up and 'Acajou' and especially 'Pink Acajou' - which is available - I am not sure that 'Acajou' is not totally gone from the culture - have reddish tint on the leaves and I do not see it.

I am suspicious about a name 'Chocolate Soldier' - because it is a name that was overused for marketing purposes - but that's what this type of E.cupreata was commonly called.

So far - I never succeeded in starting Episcia from leaves - it only takes an itty bitty stolon to get it going in a week...

You sure have tons of patience....

What I am saying - not too much light - means 2 T12s fluorescents on the edge of the shelf. What windowsill means - depends on the windowsill and time of the year. Zone 7B means the windowsills can be too cold in winter for Episcias.

Seedlings??? Did you start them from seeds?

What kind of fertilizer do you use?

Episcias - especially from seeds - will change their appearance during the first year of life - it is normal. The juvenile leaves are not representative. You will get the same coloration the mother leaves had. What Hyn Patty does for her purposes - is starting shoots of variegated leaves - these green shoots will never grow back to be pink.

sorry, i mislead you, it's the same off-shoots i was talking about earlier in this post - from leaf, not from seed. i called them seedlings, since they are so young. i've been giving them Ohrstroms maxicrop 1-0-4 seaweed solution for seedlings/rooting. and a bit of miracle-gro AV 7-7-7, may be ev 2 weeks.

normally i feed my av's with ev. watering, or at least ev 2nd watering when they're not on wicks (young).

>What Hyn Patty does for her purposes - is starting shoots of variegated leaves - these green shoots will never grow back to be pink.

m-m are you saying that starting a plant from leaf will NOT give the same variegation? i thought quite the opposite - since it's a clone. i started begonia rex like that - and they first produce juvie leaves with little variegation, but then mature to normal expected color (bar mutations). of course, the older juvie leaves will not change color, i am talking about a new set of larger leaves down the road - they should be like a source-plant. am i mistaken?

I think it is different if you have Rex Begonia with patterned leaves - or Episcia cupreata - with whatever pattern it supposed to have. White or pink or beige ... whatever variegation - is counterproductive in nature - because white areas do not have chlorophyll, they do not participate in photosynthesis and generally weaken the plant. This mutation will die out - the plants are less viable than non-variegated ones. We maintain them by creating plush conditions. Rex begonia pattern - these areas still have chlorophyll.

Each pink variegated Episcia came from a normal non-variegated one - and every so often - it throws a shoot of an original green plant = which easily takes over if not pinched out. I am not sure the nature of all variegation in Episcias - "Ember Lace" seems to be a sectorial chimera - and like any chimera can be propagated from a sucker, but not from a leaf.

yah, i know about chimeras, that's a diff story.

but the non-chimera episcia (like choc soldier or pink panther) should produce the same variegation from the leaf, no?

begonia rexes with pink variegation produce off-shoots from leaves with pink, so why not episcea? i guess, not many people are doing leaf propagation to know? it's too slow!

i just stumbled into it by chance - sometimes when i travel i can bring a few leaves, but not whole plants. so i play with leaves out of curiosity.

are all episceas with pink considered chimeras? it seems in europe <the episcea world> is more active, but here there's not as much info.

>This mutation will die out - the plants are less viable than non-variegated ones.

well, choc soldier is ever present, it seems..:) it just refuses to die out! LOL

Chok Soldier - whatever it is - it is Episcia cupreata...a tropical ground cover. We have bindweed, they have Episcias in jungle. I am talking about variegated Episcias, not patterned. Cupreatas almost all patterned - E.fimbriata is not, there is a green variation of cupreata, E. lilacina 'Panama White" is brown..., Episcia sphalera is green.

I tried to find anything on variegated Episcias - found a mention that 'Cleopatra' is another one that is possibly a leaf Chimera.

Kohlerias are good for starting from leaves - most of them. Episcias...a minuscule stolon will become a large plant ... and the leaf is still sitting...

so there is a technical distinction between 'patterned' and 'variegated'? interesting! i guess i was just using it loosely :) to indicate 'not plain green'...

i've seen them as ground covers in FL, although it was in conservatory at Fairchild, not in the open garden. It's an impressive sight!

i have not seen them before that anywhere at all. Or may be i just did not notice?

is this one below described as brown...patterned?

they have a lot of plants as species, but also some cultivars. does this one look like a species to you? it covers an area sev yards wide. positively rampant!

i love kohlerias! but only have seen them on pics so far. guess, the only way to get them is to mail-order? if i saw one in some fancy florist shop or bot garden plant shop - i'd grab it immediately :))).

are they as easy as AV's ? (i find them easy in any case...so getting a bit bored, killing all suckers on sight!)

at the last philly show they had streps, primulinas and sinningias. i got a little Primulina 'Loki' at the shop with 2 suckers :), one of them is about to bloom soon!

they are very slow growing compared to AV's.

I saw them used as a ground cover in Selby Gardens as well - also inside.

Definitely patterned. Variegated is reserved for plants with no chlorophyll areas on the leaves.

Primulina 'Loki' is patterned. Primulina 'Cynthia' is variegated.

There were plenty of Kohlerias on the last Gesneriad Convention in Wilmigton DE. Sorry you missed it.

I just looked at the ebay - Kathy Spissman has a dozen of different Kohleria rhizomes for sale - they are about $7 a piece - and she will combine shipping. Violet Barn sells Kohleria plants instead of rhizomes - probably for the similar price - but shippng will be significantly more expensive. And out of rhizome - you will get a blooming plant in 2-3 months.

Kohlerias are easier than AVs. But they are taller and generally require more light - several do not. But they do well on windowsills - just not on straight South,.

Episcia cupreata - is species - but it is very variable - so there are tons of very different cupreatas around - your Chok Soldier - is also a Episcia cupreata. A lot of older hybrids are actually crosses between different clones of E.cupreata.

ok, i'll be more careful :) with words...thank you for all this info!

P. 'Cynthia' is VERY pretty!

i looked up kathy - i'll keep her in mind for the future. i do hate bidding: smbody always swoops in last sec to grab it...i don't have the patience to scheme and watch...

i found this wonderful site with pics (alas, in ukraine)

http://crazybotanist.blogspot.com/ very beautiful plants.

and also this one

http://garysspecialtyplants.blogspot.com/ he seems to supply Longwood gardens. since i am there ev year, i'll keep my eyes open (even wider :))).

i used to grow gloxinia outside in summer from corms. at that time i did not know that they can be grown indoors too. could've saved the corms...perhaps i'll try them again, if i can find them.

seems i am into gesneriads now...

And there are hardy gesneriads (for someone in zone 7 or 8 as minimum), like Achimenes and some Sinningia species. I have a sinningia hybrid in my garden, that just MAY be too vigorous for me :( Lovely pink tubular flowers though.

Late Jon Lindstrom hybiridized Sinningias "Arkansas Bells', 'Arkansas Empress' and 'Arkansas Royalty' - DB - you should have them in your garden! It is a must!!!

Petrushka -

Crazy Botanist - Alex Mayer from Kiev, Ukraine - is a a very talented hybridizer - also sells on ebay - expensive though.

Regardiing Kathy Spissman rhizomes - I think she probably has a bucket of them ready to go - so if somebody snatches a first one - she will send you a second chance.

Alwaysthegarden - Tim Tuttle- sells his Designer's Halloween Kohleria for fixed price - and he has bunch of Sinnigias for fixed price - you can set some neat stuff for the same shipping cost.

I.

I have Arkansas Bells and it has thoroughly frightened me (and enchanted me)...I planted one 4 inch pot in May, and I have about 4 foot of Sinningia now (I think). I haven't seen the others? any clues to sources ?

I knew Jon (well he was teaching when I was a student in Horticulture with him..I don't think I had any classes with him...but not sure).

At some point Gary Hunter carried them - it is the second link Petrushka provided. These Arkanasas Sinningias are probably better suited for outside growing in warmer winter areas or for people who are blessed to have a greenhouse. NOT for light shelf growers.

Yes, well, I guess since they were developed here...I should be able to grow them (lol). I'll look at them and see if I want to get more in spring. Thanks!

it bloomed in jan (same plant as in pic 2)- i took it to florida for vacation :).

this is after 2 mo in dappled western light 6 feet from the giant south window- wall - the light in FL even in winter is extraordinarily strong!

in better light leaves turned totally celadon green - very pretty, but totally different. i love it :)! they are kinda iridescent...can't see on the pic.

It's lovely...mine is a bit bedraggled.

i got a stolon cutting of the same plant this past winter - with the original variegation of leaves like on the first pic - brown and light green. and grew it in very bright light in Miami FL for sev months - it changed to pure light green just like these other plants that i grew from leaves.

i actually hoped for original variegation, but the leaves changed. So it's really the bright light that causes it.

may be i'll put it in very dim light to see if it gets those 'stripes' again...it's blooming now though - rooted just last december.

i think FL light did it.

Higher light will pull more of this checker pattern pattern up,I love the pearly green you achieved and the smatterng of pattern makes interesting. In higher light - the plant will try to reduce the light absorption by developing "spots: I have a similar loking named palnt - Episcia 'Tricolor' - and that's how it behaves.

Veins are probably gone for good, it was a juvenile charachteristic.

Lovely!

Interesting thread. Sorry I didn't see it earlier. I've been really busy packing and shipping plants - it's my busiest time of the year! ;)

Yes, starting episcia from leaves is the slow (mine took 6 months as well) way but it does work unless as mentioned the plant should be chimeric. But even then it can be interesting to see what the original form looked like.

As Irina mentioned baby leaf forms are not representational of adult leaf coloring. Even that can vary widely due to temperatures, lighting and humidity. You can get yellow flowers on a red-orange flowering plant just by having very high humidity and temperature change but it'll revert back to red flowers in other conditions. So it can be unusually hard to properly ID hybrids with episcia which are also not well documented.

I'll also mention that my 'Chocolate Soldier' did not come true from only a leaf. The resulting plants were always slightly darker and never had the silvery patches on the leaves. So that particular aspect may have been a subtle chimeric sport in a later form. Or my babies sported again, which seems to be fairly common in epsicia generally. But that same plant always comes true from stolens or tip cuttings for me.

There are 21 different Kohlerias for sale here..

https://www.violetbarn.com/store/kohleria.html

quote:

But that same plant always comes true from stolens or tip cuttings for me.

well, that's why i got a stolon, so i might get the original variegation - but it changed to same light green as on the sprouts from leaves.

the big horizontal leaf below has the original variegation of the stolon, the ones in the center are newer leaves grown in brighter light in Miami FL (about 4-6 weeks after cutting).

you see that they are already mostly light green. the 3rd pair that you see just beginning - came out light green totally with just brown edge.

So it's definitely light conditions that are doing it. this pic is from feb this year,

about 2 months after i took a cutting.

and this is now - same plant from stolon. the original leaf is gone, the mid sized grew big, the new ones in the center coming out in bright dappled western sun some, but not as bright as it used to be in Miami.

Well yes, if the plant is then grown under different conditions than the donor mother than of course you may get drastic changes. That however is comparing apples to oranges and not what I was talking about at all.

quote:

But that same plant always comes true from stolens or tip cuttings for me.

m-m so with disclaimer then :)), provided cultural conditions are the same?

once it grows a little more and starts on stolons, i'll put it in dimmer light to see if it'll revert.

my other plants from leaf are already getting more brown variegation i lesser light and growing much smaller leaves. so i can experiment with several untill i obtain my beloved desirable 'stripes' ;)). though the light green iridescent sparkling leaves are VERY pretty too and they get loaded with flowers. very stark contrast with red flowers - they just glow!

I'll see if i can develop a whole range and then group them together for family photo :)!