Episcia Collection - Faded Jade

I had just realised that I had lost all the earlier specimen which I had years ago.

These are totally new of which I can't even remember how I got them in the first place.

The best part of these flame violets is the discovery that I found that they do very well as companion plants with begonias - hence I manage to collect one by one from nurseries and from gardening friends.

Once of the most important rule book about this one is to be vigilant of their existence as they do tend to go totally missing (that is they tend to rot and disappear) if not cared properly.

Apart of their sensitive care needs (high humidity vs low watering) identifying their particular hybrids to prove challenging. Regardless, their names - its still a beauty to enjoy both foliage and flowers as they are totally elegant and graceful plants.

If you are new and interest to start growing episcias,

I would strongly recommend to start with the green leaved version 

as they very strong and hardy compared to the red or silver leaved ones.

Once you have mastered the green one - I fully recommend to experiment with the colored hybrids.

I realized that they do well as potted plants in hangers - here I placed them together in my Vertical Wall and it just grow very well without any issues.

They are shade loving plants but they can handle few hours of bright sunlight on them that actually helps them to induce flowering.

Feeding using Epsom Salt mix with light dosage of foliar fertilizer makes the best growth on them on weekly basis. The green ones don't require so much but its absolutely necessary for the colored counter-part.

There are absolute a huge variety of variants on the coloration, 

leaf veins and pattern and to collect all of them is truly a treasure hunt worth enjoying.

I had discovered that its a real fun deal finding new friends who collect Episcias and exchanging ideas and experience. And the best part of exchanging stolons and hoping for the best of the plant growth on each other gardens.

Episicias are not fussy bloomers compared to their other counterparts as African Violets and other Generiads. I find the rest are very challenging and require a lot of care and susceptible to pest attack and rot-prone.

These I can generously water upon them and care not about the rotting issue, especially if it rains on daily basis and they get wet constantly - no harm takes place on them.

With TLC - they tend to reward you with the double sized leaves which comes at the size of your hand.

UPDATED DECEMBER 2019

It has been like a year cultivating this particular episcia and I wanted to write some updates about my experience on this one. I had found that the green colored foliage types somehow seemed to be more hardy and durable compared to other colored types. 

This one is resilient and able to handle stress well. 

However, after about 6 months or so, they require pruning and re-potting as the plant can become so leggy and messy. If failed to do so, the plant slowly succumb to withering and slow death - the plant sort-off terminate just below the root ball and that is the end of the plant if not checked or inspected.

Their care & needs are similar to begonias - high humidity, shade loving plant and proper feeding regime to ensure stability and well balanced plant.

Below are the pictures about the episcia in my garden in this one year duration:

Episcia Names and Images

Please click on the link on the title above for the post.

Here is the link where I had put together a list of all the Episcias that I had come across. A database of all the different types & their characteristics.