Planting Strep Seeds

My first experience planting strep seeds was interesting. Dale Martens was kind to give me all sorts of information and most of it I followed. I was shocked that they germinated in one week. I wiggled the roots per her advice and finally transplanted them three months later into dixie cups using 3 plants in each cup. It took about four months or more for them to bloom. Obviously I was doing something wrong. She said I should have potted up the babies immediately after they germinated. This is a picture of the plants now.

When the second set of seeds germinated, I transplanted them again into dixie cups, three to a cup. Every two weeks I wiggled the roots. They are now getting ready to bloom after only 5 months. That is quite a difference, although Dale is able to get them to bloom in 4 months.
The second sets of plants are much smaller than the first set, although it doesn't matter since all I am looking for is to see the blossom. I think next time I will transplant them into something shorter than a dixie cup and see if that will speed up the blooming process.
I did not plant all the new babies and as you can see, they look leggy and none have bloomed. I did wiggle the roots for awhile but now not very often. Obviously transplanting is the secret to growth and blooms. Click on photos to enlarge the view. Article by Blogger S.J. Please comment on your experiences with starting streps!!!!

Poll results

Here's a short poll update. The last poll asked what January problems were in the plant room. Most answers went for it being too dry. Mildew, keeping the growing area warm and grooming came up also. No one was mentioning insect problems, the low light or the option of having absolutely nothing wrong. I think that January is a challenging month right after the busy and sometimes too hectic holidays. Personally, everything in the plant room might like a good going over. Repotting, grooming, watering perhaps???? What about your plants??? COMMENT.