So What's Really Bugging You?

It seems that insects of some type are pretty much a constant if you have significant numbers of plants. Some are a serious threat to your plant collection and others merely pests. Springtails and fungus gnats are in the pest category, but pest often times is spelled with a capital “P”. As a matter of fact, the whole word is capitalized sometimes. There is nothing as nice as having a dinner party in progress and a stupid fungus gnat decides to aim for your guest’s nose.

This article is not a scientific “what works best for what”. It’s just to give you couple ideas of what’s out there. And there are sooooooo many things to consider when you choose an insecticide:

Are your plants in a room that can be closed off?

Do you have children or pets?

How toxic is the insecticide?

Do you have allergies?

So, the bugs I have dealt with over my years of growing African violets are fungus gnats, springtails, soil and foliar mealybugs, white flies, aphids, mites, scale, thrips and root knot nematodes. Do I have fun or what?!?!?

This is a battery operated device that is activated every 15 minutes. It is relatively safe and is even recommended for kennels and barns. Turn it on for a few consecutive nights and it does a great job on flying insects. This is especially helpful in the summer when the windows are open every day.

If you absolutely want to avoid any type of chemicals, go for the sticky strips or pinguiculas. Pings are carnivorous plants and some have very attractive blossoms. Both of these will work for flying insects. Keep in mind that since pings are in regular potting medium, they are susceptible to any type of soil pest.

There are a number of different sprays. Check the ingredients and on what they are supposed to be effective. Some are more hazardous than others. Insecticidal soap if a very safe alternative, but may not be nearly as effective as chemicals. You personal preferences and plant locations will be a factor in choosing the appropriate spray. These will work on flying and crawling critters.

Sevin is great for soil or folier mealybugs; but not for African violets. It is kept around to treat orchids. Basically, on my AVs, for soil mealies I save a leaf or top a chimera, treat it with a bleach solution and toss the root ball. For foliar mealies it is spraying and wiping with alcohol dipped cotton swabs.

AVID is a mitacide. It does a great job; but is highly toxic.

Systemic insecticides are supposedly good for soil mealybugs and thrips. However, they can be smelly and many are toxic.

Terro?? Yes, if you have enough orchids with enough blooms and enough nectar dripping, the ants will find them. Plus, for some reason we have an infestation of ants NOW in the middle of winter. Good old Terro to the rescue.

So what about a few of the other pests? Thrips - try flea and tick collars for dogs. Scale- wash the plant and dab critters with alcohol. Root knot nematodes - toss the plant. Earwigs and spiders - most sprays work. Springtails - lots of luck!

Oh, by the way! Many of us like to use chlorine bleach to kill any possible pests when washing our pots, trays and work area. We all know that you do not mix bleach and ammonia. Now I may be the only one dumb enough not to have thought of this, but………. I always thought it would clean better if some soap was added. Spic and Span - NO. Ajax dish detergent - NO. Sun Light dish detergent - NO. All say NOT to use with chlorine bleach, so check all products labels.

Many thanks to Barb Werness for this article and excellent pictures!

So That's How They Do It!!!

Or, How to Propagate Strep Leaves the Easy Way.

Take a clean, healthy leaf off a a strep plant. Check for any signs of insects or other problems. Do you notice all the leaf veins on the back of the leaf?




Cut the midrib out of the leaf and toss the midrib away.







Cut the remaining leaf halves into smaller sections of perhaps an inch or two.






Put the CUT, interior edge of your leaf section (where the veins were cut through) into the moist starting mix. Cover the pot with a light-weight plastic bag loosely put over the pot to act as a "greenhouse". Or, put the starter pot in some sort of larger clear container like the type that comes from the deli dept. of the grocery.

Baby streps should start to grow where the cut leaf-veins were inserted into the soil. Note in the picture that the smaller leaves are centered around the main veins of the "mother" leaf where it is buried in the soil.

Streps are easy to propagate by this method but there are a couple of tips to help the novice. Don't make the soil mix soggy. It should be nicely moist. Have some holes punched in your deli container to help with air circulation or if you use the plastic bag method, do not seal the plant into the bag. Remember to check periodically for babies and to see if the soil mix is staying slightly moist.

Next: How to pot up the babies and increase your collection the easy way! Thanks to Sharon Johnson for the wonderful photos!

Grandma's Violets

How many of you remember what got you interested in African violets? I remember them since I was a very small child. My grandmother had windows full of them. At the time, I thought they came in all sorts of colors, little did I know that currently my grandmother would have been tempted to expand her collection into the thousands.

She had glass shelves across the windows that were in the kitchen. It just so happened that they were perfectly placed to be in the north and east side of the kitchen where she tended them daily. Eventually, there was a 4' plant stand in the basement, but the ones in the windows were the ones that she was most proud of.

Our family is pretty sure that she was one of the rather "original" members of the Minnesota Club... or at least that is what my mother remembers. Since she was living in a rural community, she would jump in a car with other ladies with names like Bessie and Emma and drive to the cities for a meeting. I would be most interested if anyone in the MN club has really old membership registers. I would love to know if this was actually the club that she was in.

My grandmother's one wish (violet-wise) was for a green violet. I joined our club after talking to the nicest lady ever, Retha, who told me how to acquire a green violet. I got one for myself and for my grandma! Grandma thought that was really exciting and ended up showing it to most everyone in that small town (by the sounds of it). My grandma enjoyed her plants till shortly before she died at age 93! I wish that I would have had the opportunity to have one of her original plants, but as you can see from the photos, all faded and at least 22 years old, I still have pictures to keep the memories of all the cookies I ate in that kitchen and the flowers on the shelves fresh in my mind!

How did anyone else get involved in the clubs originally? When did you start to grow violets? Do you have any really old ones? Write in and tell us!

Thoughts on Petrocosmeas

I have had the strangest experiences with petrocosmeas this winter. The older ones that have done well for 2 or 3 years are all suffering, and P. forrestii has had a near death experience. I had to take it apart and restart it. There are 2 new plants from little offsets I planted up this summer that are still very small. The rest of those leaves failed, but leaves of P. G25KC00 [not rosettifolia as some plants are labelled] started several new plants in just a couple months.

Photo of P. forrestii

Messages on gesneriphiles confirm that this Petrocosmea, P. G25KC00, produces new plants from leaves easily. My new plants that lived from the convention and from another local grower are growing fast [for Pets] and they have lovely flat rosettes. They seem to prefer brighter light than than older ones, warmer temperatures, and all of them are planted in little cylinders to let the leaves stick out over the sides. It's very tricky to keep them moist but not wet.

I'm still learning how to get the little offsets going, and they seem to grow so slowly. I can't give them the very cool temps in the winter that are said to cause prolific blooming. I think these and the mini Sinningias would be the most popular gesneriads for AV growers. They take up very little room, they will grow under lights or the right windowsills, and can be easily propagated. So much fun in so little space!

Many thanks to Charles H. for this article. Please remember to leave comments and questions for the authors.

It's SHOW TIME!!!

What could chase away thoughts of falling snow and wind chills better than a spring flower show? Lots of lovely plants, all that bright color.... sale plants just waiting to be taken home!

Three of the Twin Cities' plant clubs have shows that are coming up in the next few weeks. Please come and visit them all!

The Lakes Area Violet Growers will host their spring show March 23rd and 24th, 2007. It will be held at Linder's Greenhouse 270 Larpenteur Ave. W. St. Paul, MN. The hours will be from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm both days.

The African Violet Society of Minnesota will have their spring show April 20th and 21st, 2007. The show is held at the Har Mar Mall at Snelling and County Road B, Roseville MN. Show times are 10:00 am to 9:00 pm Friday, and 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday.

The North Star African Violet Council's spring show is located at the Northtown Mall, County Hwy 10 & University Ave NE. Blaine, MN on March 30th and 31st. The show hours are Friday from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm, and Saturday 9:30 am to 8:00 pm.

The club's would like to invite everyone to come and share the fun.... see the wonderful plants, find out what's new, visit with friends! Hope to see you there! PS: Please see the side-bar to the right for contact information for all of the clubs!

Is It Soil or Dirt???

My husband says the difference between dirt and soil is that you have to pay for soil. I have been making my soil mix for years. It does not have any dirt from the outside in the mix because it is too heavy and may have bugs.

There are as many recipes of mixes of soil as there are recipes for meat loaf. A basic recipe calls for 3 parts sphagnum peat moss, 2 parts vermiculite and one part perlite. Many add other ingredients such as lime. My water has a very high ph so I do not add any lime.

I use a 3-2-1- mix for all my plants except streptocarpuses where I use 3 parts sphagnum peat moss, 2 parts vermiculite and 2 parts perlite. It is a very light mix but the streps are sensitive to being over watered and with the extra amount of perlite they seem to thrive on it.

Peters Sunshine Peat Moss is getting harder to find in the area where I live. I have been told by store owners that the brands they carry are from the same geographical area that Peters is produced in but I have been skeptical to try it. The old saying is "If it ain't broke don't fix it".

The vermiculite I like to use is course. Again ,it is hard to find but I tried the horticulture vermiculite and it was seemed much too fine and the soil seemed to stay too wet. The best time to find both the peat moss and the vermiculite is in the spring when all garden centers carry lots of supplies.

In the fall I make many bags of mixes and store them in the garage. I live in a very cold climate and peat moss freezes and I have been known to be chopping peat moss in a garage when it was -20 below. Now when I am short of a soil mix all I need to do is run out in the garage and grab a bag of the premixed.

When I bring a bag inside the house, I let it thaw, add water and mix and mix until I think my arms are going to fall off. I like to make sure the peat is evenly distributed and finely shredded. No matter how careful I mix it, the perlite seems to float to the top of the mix so I keep a small container and can add extra perlite if I think it needs it.

To me the real advantage of making my own mixes is that I know exactly what is in the mixes. There are no surprises added by an outside source. I am not sure if it saves any money doing it myself and it is time consuming but it is exactly the way that I like it.

Many thanks to Sharon Johnson for the article and pictures! Top photo is the basic soil mix ingredients, the middle photo shows the strep mix with 2 parts perlite, and the bottom photo is what a good mix should look like completed.

Seeds From Mauro Peixoto

Are you excited about seeds? Like to grow your plants "from the ground up", so to speak? Well the folks at the Twin Cities chapter of the gesneriad society are getting a chance to do just that. A variety of different gesneriad seeds from Brazil were passed out to the members present at the January meeting that were interested in trying some propagation of rare and unusual plants. I got some seeds from Sinningia araneosa. I'll begin taking pictures when I sow the seeds so we can watch the progress as they germinate and grow over the next few months.

Mauro Peixoto, from Brazil, has been collecting and researching a variety of plants including many from the gesneriad family. His work in important for anyone interested in horticulture and conservation, but especially for people interested in gesneriads! From an excerpt taken from a yahoo group notification passed on to me from C. A., he says:

I'm very proud to say that thanks to your precious help, I was able to
increase the greenhouse area from 340 to 420 square meters and
transform about 2000 square meters from my back yard into a garden of
native Passifloras and Aristolochias.

The seed list grew from 28 Plant Families and 390 listings to 34
Families and 589 listings.

I still didn't finish the inventory of the living collection , but it
surely grew in more than 200 species. I'm currently working on it and I
hope to have it ready by February or March and will post the list in
the `Files' section

Seeds from several new species were sent to the members.

Sinningia sp `Florianopolis'
Zephyranthes sp `Cardoso Moreira', and Aristolochia sp `Itarana' are
just a few examples.

Clubs or individuals can subscribe to a yearly membership that entitles you to receive a sampling of Mauro's seeds three times a year. What a fascinating way to increase your collection and grow something that might be truly unique in the U.S. Mauro Peixoto's work is vital in cataloging, researching, conserving and preserving plants that in many cases are all but unknown. Mauro's website is at http://mpeixoto.sites.uol.com.br/index.html

The local gesneriad club meets on the fourth Tuesday of the month near Hamline and #36. Email the blog for more details about the AGGSTC or for information about joining.

A Fairy "Tail"

Once upon a time, there lived a tiny cat. Like most tiny cats , he had a rich life of eating candied mice and sleeping on cushions of the finest silk. But one day, our tiny cat decided that he was not as well known and as famous as he should be! After all, wasn't it HE that was king of all he surveyed? Wasn't it HE that controlled everything that went on in his tiny kingdom?

He started to think to himself that perhaps a quest was in order! He would conquer the famous beast that lived in the Violet Gardens of Tranquility, which were at the north end of his kingdom. He would rid, once and for all, the gardens of the monster that was fabled to live there. This feat should surely win him the attention of the people (and their love and gratitude too!) There might even be gifts of candied rats and small balls of mylar lavished on him from the amazed and grateful citizens.


So after preparing himself in mind and body... a quick snack of some kibbles... he went to the gardens to search.


He looked high, and he looked low. He even looked in the small little places that sometimes hid just the thing that you are looking for.

Suddenly, he came upon a great beast of such ferocity that he immediately steeled himself and took to battle it.

It was large and white, long and ferocious.... it fought him with all it's long tentacles! He rolled and kicked and fought with it. It just seemed to keep coming at him. He was afraid!

Hour after hour he fought the beast and eventually when the battle was over, he sat still in the silence that followed, just looking at all that remained of his once fearsome foe. He had won!!! Huzzah! Now, there would be a celebration!

Back to the kingdom the tiny cat went for a proper meal of some "tasty greens" and some rest sleeping under the warm, soothing rays of light waiting for his people to "congratulate" him on his day's efforts!

I guess it just goes to show you that the old adage really IS right; "One man's work IS another cat's folly!"

Variegated African Violets

Bob Green calls variegated African violets "peacocks of the violet world" because of their "plumage" or leaves they possess, making them stand out from others with green foliage.

Variegated foliage was discovered by Mrs. Tommie Louise Oden when she ordered leaves of White Pride from Clyde Rollof. It was a white double plant, but when she planted the leaves, she discovered different colored leaves. She grew them through nine generations, and they came "true". Up until that time variegated plants were unstable.

TYPES OF VARIEGATION:

Tommie Lou: A simple feathered edge on individual leaves to a much heavier crown variegation fading down gradually to the feathered edge on the outer leaves. The original Tommy Lou only vaguely resembles most of the modern hybrids with outside-perimeter variegation.

Crown: The center leaves are often totally variegated, then as the leaves mature and grow out and away from the crown, they gradually gain green coloration in a sprinkling effect. The heart of the leaf remains initially variegated, and the green gradually radiates into this variegation until, as a large mature leaf, only a stippling edge of variegation remains, along, with a small heart sometimes.

Mosaic: The variegation appears as uniform stippling or marbling covering the entire leaf surface, and the leaf is never without variegation even though it may be faint at times. There are very few of this type since it were introduced many years ago. They are very stable and not affected by temperature change or high nitrogen fertilizer. This "mosaic pattern covers the whole leaf and is a serious defection or mutation and very few of them reach maturity. These plantlets are puny or hard to grow. There are very few good show plants, both Emperor and Lillian Jarrett have proved to be real winners.

Other Variegation: The AVSA registration form for new hybrids lists the following items to check under leaf description: "If variegated-type of variegation ___Crown___Mosaic___Other. The "other" apparently includes all forms of the Tommy Lou. There is also a line to denote the color of the variegation. I think many hybridizers now would tend just to call a plant variegated unless it was a crown or mosaic.

Tommie Loue type variegation is more stable under a wider range of conditions than crown variegation. Those varieties with crown variegation can loose almost all variegation in the summer heat. However, the new leaves will start variegating again when cool weather returns. Both crown variegtes and the Tommie Loue types will do better if you place them closer to the floor (for example, the lowest shelves of your light stands) where the temperture is cooler, since heat naturally rises. The mosaic variegates are not affected by temperture and heat, and their variegation will remain constant.

If a plant shows no sign of variegation in African violet shows, the judges must reduce the plant to a red ribbon, and then continue judging it using the AVSA scale of points.

Thanks to Sharon Johnson for the article and pictures!!!

Note: Excerpts taken from: Variegted African violets by Denis Croteau, AVM, July-Aug 1988, Peacocks of the Violet World by Bob Green, AVM, Nov. 1985 , Pauline Barthlomew's Growing to Show and Picture of Bunny Wabbit from www.freewebs.com

Hybridizing from Start to Finish! part 2

Hybridizing - Session II: Keeping Things Straight. Usually, I do not make so many crosses with the same type blossoms. But, as mentioned before, this is a custom order from Lynne. So hopefully one of these crosses will produce the plant she wants. I also decided to include another plant because it has good foliage and blossoms.

Now I have five plants that will hopefully be forming seed pods. If all goes as planned, Rebel’s Scotty will have at least eight pods. There should be at least two each on Heinz Sentimental, Private Dancer, Sora School Time­ and The Night Life. So, this all needs to be kept straight and it is best to keep the information on the plant itself. Keeping notes is great, but keeping track of the note is not always easy.

Since the mother plant will have four different crosses going, each cross will be represented by a different color yarn. After the cross is made, I write down the information and then loosely tie the yarn on that bloom stem.

A stake can also be inserted in the pot right next to the stem with the information written on it. That is the procedure I use when the cross is simply one paternal plant In this case, each of the paternal plants has a stake with information, plus the color of yarn is noted on the stake. Be sure to put the stake right next to the bloom stem. That way, when you’re disbudding, you will know to be careful and not remove your seed pods. One time, after a two week vacation, I asked my hubby to help me remove blossom stems. However, I forgot to tell him the stakes had a significance other than just plant names. So much for those seed pods, but I learned.

Okay, so now we are organized. The next step will be the actual pollination process.

Thanks to Barb Werness for the continuing articles about hybridizing!