Search This Blog

My Vertical Garden Wall

My Vertical Garden Wall

TRASLATION LANGUAGE (CLICK HERE)

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Flaming the Violets


.
These are my trial version to find how durable is these flame violet's vine. I didn't realise that these fallen vine had survived inside the pebbled pot of my Dumbcane plant. They must have got there by wind & rain. I tried to uproot them but had second thoughts and had left them there.
.

.
Whether these blotch of bronze have got to do anything or whether they are the premature colours that comes on the young leaf?
.

.
I'm happy the way these flame violets turned out, most often they are very unpredictable.
When I feel very confident about them, they end up failing me & when I'm very cautious and consider them a hit & miss - they end up rewarding me with the great bloom & heavy clustered leaves.
.

.
Just to show a singular leaf - their finger print of the crested formation and the veins. I actually had two varieties of these kind. The Lesser Bronze had gotten extinct due to my neglect in planting both species in one pot.
Now, the Greater Bronze rules.
.

.
These are my green type. They had survived from the earlier onslaught of rain & pest (snails & slugs) Very much earlier I had placed them on the ground and they did very well until the rainy days had damaged them.
Right now, they are blooming and well behaved.
.

.
I had placed few strands and spend up vine on the side of the tiles with the pebbles. Within few weeks they seemed to spring to life with many off springs but I doubt they ever flower in these shaded area.
.
Few Tips about these Flame Violets:
.
1) Episcia does well in shade or semi-shade but not recommended in hot sunny areas.
.
There are setbacks in shades too. Too much sunlight may give out a lot of flowers but at the expense of burned leaves. Placed in a shaded area may give the leaves a darker colouring and broader shaped leaves. (but few flowers may bloom at this condition)
.
My suggestion is to use a good organic fertiliser weekly & note the difference. Start using the fertiliser much lesser than recommended on the label. If they do find then its good.
.
Some fertiliser are very strong and may burn or kill the plant, so its best to use the fertiliser cautiously (especially if you are feeding the plant for the first time)
.
Episcia often goes appears to be dormant at their initial planted stage. It would look unattractive for the first few weeks and may even slowly turn few leaves yellow
(don't worry its the initial process)
Once they started shooting out the tendrils, its means its showtime!
.
The trick is to keep it moist but not wet. (tricky isn't it)
.
A word of caution: If you find this plant starting to rot
(usually you will find, few leaves at the bottom rotting together with the stem)
remove them from the soil and let it dry up for a day or two and then, replant again.
Do not place this plant in the water as it will not root (like other plants)
rather, it will start to rot.
.
Flame violets don't last long as a parent plant, they need to be replanted time to time. If you don't the whole plant matures and dies, unless they put out a lot of tendrils (runners) and you can't tell the difference.
.
There is a big difference between planting them as ground cover & as hanging basket plant.
The ground covering plant is much easier & reliable, they grow fast and put lots of tendrils but if the ground becomes too wet for too long they will eventually rot.
Whereas in a hanging basket - you can control the water but again they are slow and matures fast.
.
Regardless, Flame Violets are one beautiful plant to have in shaded garden area.

6 comments:

Stephanie said...

I agree with you! Flame Violets are so beautiful. I like the bronze colour one that you have. The green one is very attractive too. This plant can look nice either on hanging basket or on the ground. Many thanks for the tips on plant care... the details are fantastic :-D

Kenneth Moore said...

Beautiful plants indeed!

I will keep your tips in mind--mine is on my computer in my apartment, so it gets some direct light, but not much. It seems to be doing fine, but growth stalled a bit after flowering. Maybe now it'll kick into gear!

Noelle Johnson said...

Hello James,

Your flame violets are very beautiful. They remind me a little of African Violets, which I grow.

James David said...

Thanks Steph, Kenneth & Noelle. Glad to hear about your comments concerning them.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Those plants are looking quite healthy. I like them. The first one reminds me of a plant I grew when I had room for houseplants that had, "chocolate" in its name. I have mother of thousands coming up in the pots of other plants.

James David said...

Sue - Chocolate, that do seemed so interesting.
I have heard one called "coco" not sure whether thats a different one.

About Me

My photo
Tropical Garden, Batu Caves, Malaysia
My Malaysian Tropical Garden mainly focused on unique and colorful plants ranging from rare to common plants all around the tropical belt across the world. Ideal for inspiration for challenging areas in the garden space - indoor gardening, balcony gardening and small green spaces especially for ariods, bromeliads, begonias, edibles, cascading & vertical garden plants, succulents & cacti, orchids, together with both shade and sun loving plants.

Contact Me on the Form Above

Do put your queries on the contact form above and I will come back to you ASAP via e-mail. Also I'm open for any business / advertisement proposals / magazine articles / product sampling and sharing personal product experiences here in my blog. Also for specific plant queries where you need to send pictures for free consultation and plant help and aid.

Contact Form

Name

Email *

Message *

Blog Archive

Popular Posts

Popular Post - 1 Month