Congrats but a pix would be nice! Rosie

Once there are open flowers again, there will certainly be pictures again. The first buds are actually starting to show color, but they have not emerged from under the new leaves yet.

Rebecca showing two of the 6 flower stems just becoming visible.

Rebecca's playmates (all blossoms developed after the plants were brought in from the garden)

French marigolds

New Guinea Impatiens:

New Guinea Impatiens type b next generation:

I love Perma-Next trays, expensive but last a lifetime. Also the suspended ceiling light grate cut down to size allows for better pot drainage and air circulation under the pots.

These are, in a great measure, my sanity aids in these crazy times.

Two flats of hippeastrums still to bring out from dormancy.

Ohhhh Rebecca looks very nice! But my favorite is the French Marigolds! I can almost smell them! Marigolds have always been one of my favorites because of the smell! Are you sure you won't have a problem with red spider etc because of the Impatiens??? Rosie

I never had marigolds under lights before, nor New Guinea impatiens either. They both seem to like it though. I will watch closely. I got spider mites on my sweet potatoes under lights last year but nothing else seemed to catch them; we shall see what we shall see. I have the Neem close at hand. I move back and forth between inside and outside all summer starting replacements etc; so isolation is difficult.

Sounds like a plan. Rosie

My Rebecca has been doing great too, OldDutch. Really a trooper, with fabulous head of blossoms starting in October. Here she is today. There are at least 12 flower stems!! Amazing. I have started to deadhead, and you'll be able to see that some of the flowers are no longer at their freshest. I don't see any more buds coming, inside, but that's just fine. She will have earned a rest. :)

I have a couple of questions for everybody. First, I've been led to believe these standards "should" be kept in a 4" pot? But in Growing for Show there seems to be plenty of support for going up to 5" or even more (!). Is this something that applies whenever a plant seems to be a vigorous one, like Rebecca? I'm thinking maybe I should've done like OldDutch and up-potted, even if it meant a later bloom cycle.

Also, in its all-green phase, my Rebecca had pretty fab foliage. I posted on here, back then, asking if I needed to do anything. Everybody said "nope." Now, I find that the oldest leaves are wilting. Getting soft. Even some of the younger ones seem less turgid than I associate with full health. It was great until I put it on wick watering (4-strand acrylic), which I fear maybe made it too wet, and I've pulled it off the reservoir and am watching, plus researching mixing up my own new potting soil, pH testing, etc. Because I really admire this plant and want to know how to keep it happy.

It seems to no longer be deteriorating, but I'm worried. Kinda wringing my hands here....

Joan

Hi Joan, With the nice flower head, it looks to me like your AV sorta kinda likes the way you've been keeping it. I use commercial MiracleGro and I have a ton of 6" pots left over from a tiny perennial nursery from years ago, standards, azaleas and some small bulb pans, and even some 1 gal cans. I use what I've got. I think it makes a difference to have the pots up off the bottom so they can drain completely without ever setting in water. The bottom air circulation helps a lot too I think.

Thanks, OldDutch. I too mostly use what I've got after years of collecting, but there seem to be so many Rules about AVs that I did order some 4" low pots. I can't say my plant is 12" wide, so it seems like I should stick with that?

My plan is to repot using the "Texas" method - half an inch of perlite in the bottom, light mix on top - in about two weeks, once the pH of the soil I mixed up is settled. Something seems not right to me. Could be not enough perlite (VERY doubtful), or that after five months the mix is breaking down, or its pH has changed... something! I look forward to unpotting and seeing what's going on down there.

Joan

My take- the long and heavy bloom is extremely exhausting for the plant, it starts even cannibalizing the nutrients from the old leaves to maintain it - so old leaves age fast. More than once - I lost plants after the heavy bloom. So - I think if you get to it - when the new soil settles - remove all bloomstalks, remove the tired old leaves, may be trim the rootball a bit - and gently scrape whatever soil you can scrape so you can add fresh soil on the top, on the bottom and on the sides. it will perk up and recover.

Regarding the size of the pot - to use 6 inch pot - you need 18 inch AV - and it means - it is way too big for the growing space. You can, there are plenty of large varieties that will grow over this limit, just keep pinching flower buds until it reaches the size... usually this is what people do in preparation for the Show... no shows coming anytime soon... too bad...

Thanks for the info about the 'new' Rebecca strain. What I have is doing just fine by me. When I pot or repot I look to a couple of things: 1 necessary drainage and 2 suitable pot size. For AV I have just the MiracleGro soil so I use an azalea (shorter) pot and the suitable pot size for AV is IMO a bit under size. AVs have such a broad leaf spread that I went to 5 1/2 over 4" so I could get under the leaves of mine to firm the pot fill with as little damage to the leaves as possible. I also use a weak fertilizer mix with every watering.

Careful watering is the key to all of my pots though. Each type requires its own schedule. I put the New Guinea impatiens and the marigolds in full height 6" pots the same that I use to use for the perennials I sold years ago.

The NG impatiens are a whole lot fussier than either the marigolds or the AV. Push them a little too dry and they wilt real quick, but if you catch them right away they perk right back up. It seems to me that if they are watered correctly they actually sweat, but AVs cannot tolerate that much moisture and the marigolds are somewhere in between.

I am glad that Rebecca has been reselected. So many old strains run out and often get quite variable. I grew Brandywine tomatoes for a friend last summer and apparently got a different strain than she used to have in her garden, they didn't taste the same to her. These things vary, even the OP strains, over time, even some of the hybrid lines run out, too. I also see that in my garlics. My own kept stock is not the same as some of the other sources for the same varieties, but garlic is notorious (or famous depending on how you look at it) for adapting to local conditions.

No reason that AV varieties that are all vegetatively propagated (once a hybrid has been selected anyway) should not pick up viruses and/or mutations along the way. IO suspect there are actually more than just a couple strains of Rebecca around. What I have suits me just fine.

The simpler the blossoms - the less chance of mutation. But every time you put a leaf down - there is a miniscule genetic drift between the mother plant and the babies. With multiple propagation... eventually there is a significant difference between the original hybrid - and its great-great-great grand baby 100 times removed. The reason - Gesneriaceae family of blooming plants is relatively young and still evolves... The original hybrid is selected and wetted and checked on stability - but with many years... we are not on the peak anymore... I am sure that Optimara holds to their mother plants and if it is necessary to replace - they pick the most typical out of the whole field of Rebecca plants to continue.

Regarding tomatoes. They are normally self pollinating - so the seeds of Brandywine is the selfing of the last year Brandywine. But - if it is windy - the pollen flies and you have undesirable crosses. I am sure that the chance of getting a mutt is much smaller if you get the seed package in the store. They try to prevent cross pollination - lets say by keeping the varieties separate.

One year I planted a seed from a last year overgrown zucchini.. Oh my... it was a cross with pumpkin. Fruit had an intermediate shape and a very tough skin, most of the inside was filled with multiple seeds... It was certainly NOT a keeper.

Irina, thank you for this very valuable information! It may explain what happened to my huge-headed, heavily blooming Optimara 'Ingrid' as well. Over the course of two days, suddenly most of its leaves just sagged. I removed everything as it paled, disbudded first all the older blooms, then *all* the blooms altogether. It's now a mere ghost of its former self, but is alive and growing slowly. Will probably grow faster once we get well past the solstice in four weeks or so. (I could put it under lights, but I find that too much light makes other well-growing plants curl down instead of producing the flatter rosettes, so it's a question of balance.)

So when my Rebecca has done this remarkable heavy blooming, and I'm getting the same result of softening the oldest leaves, why, I'm inclined to see what you've described.

All of her flowers are beginning to fade now. There isn't that same vibrancy of color. I might just say thank you, disbud, and let her get back to growing.

It's still a week out from when I can check the pH on my self-mixed soil. But I think taking Rebecca off the wick meanwhile has helped. She seems that bit more stabilized, and there are fewer leaves toward the crown that seem a little flaccid. We'll see what the root situation looks like when I unpot.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience, Irina. I can't tell you how much I am comforted.

First blossoms on Rebecca are starting to open just above the foliage. There are at least 9 flower stems coming; so this should be quite a spectacular display again.

OldDutch, sounds like your Rebecca is performing just like mine. (Whoopee!) I thought I had 6 stems, and was pretty excited. Then it was nine, then it was TWELVE. I was gobsmacked.

Watch out for the wilting lower leaves phenomenon, and report through the bloom cycle? I'll be curious to know if it's a "feature" of this cultivar. Irina has warned us that sometimes extreme blooming can lead to complete collapse of the plant, so it seems to be something to be on the lookout for.

What an interesting journey this is! I appreciate all your fellowship.

First bloom is open! It is so nice to have something positive to be excited about these days! I intend to watch this one real close.

OldDutch, that's great! Let's keep in touch and share reports about leaf health as your bloom cycle crescendos, and mine diminuendos. I intend to take note of how the leaves respond, as I cut off spent flowers and then, eventually, spent spikes.

Joan

Rebecca coming into bloom again. Last flowering was early June. All of the oldest leaves have been removed. None of the current ones show any sign of wilting.

Joan,

May I add an observation? Actually, two. Firstly, there is natural attrition of lower leaves after a bloom cycle with Optimara AVs. That is normal. It is simply part of the plant's grooming/growth process. When that happens, groomers tend to remove the lower leaves in a whorl of three. (I usually remove just the most wilted at first, gradually removing all three over three weeks.)

The new growth, as you know, is from the center. Many people retain only a certain number of rows. I believe, about three. Sometimes, you can watch a grooming video and see very aggressive grooming. Some of the All About African Violets shows that style of grooming. You can email or message her to find out if the grooming videos are still available.

Secondly, this Rebecca is a new strain of an older variety released this year. "The jury is out" regarding long-term performance of this heavy blooming strain.

I got two of the same newer strain of a lighter blue AV that was also bred for exceptional bloom count and improved color. However, they both did not survive for longer than about a year.

This demise was surprising because Optimara AVs were considered to be faithful workhorses that would last for years. Some older varieties were steady performers. They would increase the size of leaves and size and quantity of blooms each year.

Joanne

About a year? Then this is about it for my Rebecca. Swan song, if it is, is about as dramatic as the two previous bloom masses I had. None of the leaves I removed were wilted only getting old and a little beat up. If all I get out of this one is one year or so, it will have been a glorious one, and well worth the time and effort put into it.

We shall see once this bloom has finally passed.

Your plant might have longevity.

Mine was not Rebecca. It was an unlabelled Connecticut.

There is an Optimara Facebook website where people share their personal experiences.

Or there used to be.

Joanne

:-) I don't use either Facebook or Twitter.

Joanne, this is interesting. This is the first I've heard that the wilting of leaves is normal, at least in some cases. So far all I've heard is that "old" leaves need to be removed, and that that is indicated by change in color, and, you know - that just "tired/done" look.

I finished grooming off all the old and fading flower stems this morning, and there are no more signs of any kind of wilting in any of the younger leaves, which was what really worried me, earlier. Plus the rosette looks well balanced, with about 5 rows of leaves, and is getting flatter since I've reduced artificial light. I won't be cutting it down to three rows because this seems to be a happy and healthy look for this plant.

When I started getting into the center of the plant a bit, when first grooming, I discovered that there were in fact thirteen bloom stems, all going gangbusters at the same time. As Irina pointed out a while back, she's seen plants get cannibalized by such heavy bloom. I don't know if I'll let it happen again. Maybe I'll groom down to about 8 stems per flush? I'll just have to feel my way forward on that.

Meanwhile I'm happy to report that Rebecca is a healthy all-green again, and satisfying just in her form. I think, OldDutch, that we might be feeling pretty lucky we were able to pick this one up, this past year. 😊 By the way, I love how glossy and happy the leaves look on your Rebecca. I'm not sure mine are all quite that shiny. Maybe she wants a shower!

Never hurts to give the plant a lukewarm shower in a sink...

I try never to get the leaves on my AV wet. Stiff leaves come from uniformly moist potting soil and the glossiness I'm guessing comes from a bit too much light or rather pushing the upper level of light tolerance working with the constantly available moisture. I water from the top under the leaves and there is a dilute MiracleGro fertilizer dissolved in every watering (guessing at about 1/4 strength at the most - I use one of the small scoops per 2.5 gallons of water.). The pot never sets in water, sitting up on a grate to drain. All I have is MiracleGro potting soil that I used for my garden seedlings which comes with some slow release fertilizer incorporated. This stuff drains real well, too.

I water at room temperature and check every morning first thing and often in the evening too. Light is 16 on 8 off on a timer, as bright as I could build with a pair of 4' 4 tube fixtures that is high above the AV but closer to more light requiring plants. I raise the plants at the various levels depending on best guess for light requirements. Everything I have under the lights gets the same water.

Thank you, OldDutch. :)

I just spent 3-4 hours messing with my violets and watering/repotting orchids and researching stuff. Repotting orchids is much trickier than repotting violets, uff da, it's a bit of a process, so while I was at it I gave all the violets showers. They all look fabulous afterwards, I'm really happy, they practically glow. And Rebecca has all the shine I could ever ask of her.

To remove excess water from the leaves, so there were no fat droplets left, I used a technique I learned from doing orchid care, where getting water into the crown is a potential death-knell, and getting it out is difficult because the spaces are so narrow: blow *hard* into the spot. No damage to the orchid (or violet) and any remaining water will be so spread out that it will dry quickly.

Joan

For my own part I missed a couple of waterings and got some wilted leaves and drab leaves. Back to regular and much more careful waterings and hoping that will be enough.

Rebecca is still flowering retaining a nice head of blooms and is starting to show new leaves in the crown and a couple of brand new flower stems just starting that have not yet come into bloom. Both new leaves and new flowers? A couple of the oldest leaves are starting to curl under, but they seem to actually be shaded out as the outside leaves seem to be stretching on their petioles. There is still a nice full crown. I like this AV a whole lot, and it is doing better than any of them I have had in the past, that would be a long ago past actually.

The emerging leaves in the crown are in just a few days starting to force the blossoms into a circle around them. You can almost watch the leaves grow! Interestingly there are some three new flower stems associated with the new, emerging leaves. Fascinating!

This process is moving pretty quickly!

This Rebecca keeps putting out new flower stems, staying continually in bloom. Shown are the fully mature third or fourth flush of flowers with the next flush just starting to show above the leaves since bloom started about Thanksgiving. There is another just starting to pop off the main stem to follow those. There are new leaves also coming through, but no stem branching yet that I can see.

Wow, Rebecca is certainly a reliable bloomer. Very pretty plant(s).

This particular plant is great. She just seems to keep sending new flower stems. They just keep coming. Right now there are some three or four more new ones that haven't yet emerged from under the leaves. She is a little lopsided; I am not apparently getting the light direction quite right, but that is real minor.

I repotted my Rebecca a few weeks ago, because I saw she was getting a neck. She looks as great as ever now, nice and low in her pot with a nice rosette, and seven visible new flower stems. As soon as I get through these next couple of busy days I think I'll take a leaf and see what happens. Out of all the AVs I have, this is the only one I would consider irreplaceable, should I lose it.

Congratulations, OldDutch, on your wonderful success. I'm so happy for you (and me, lol).

Just got the first seed company order sent Email notification! Maybe not so bad this spring after all... No Out Of Stocks or substitutes listed!