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18. Other Gesneriads in Demand

African violets and gloxinias are two members of the Ges-neriaceae family which also includes Achimenes, Aeschynan-thus, Columnea, Episcia, Kohleria, Rechsteineria, Smithiantha, and Streptocarpus—a wide variety of forms and colors. There are climbers, trailers, shrubs, and low-growing, rosette plants in white through shades of yellow and orange to brilliant scar­let. Small wonder that collectors have taken such a fancy to them! Most gesneriads thrive under the same conditions as African violets and gloxinias. Since many can be grown in hanging baskets they offer a profitable way to use space at the top of the greenhouse.

ACHIMENES

Achimenes, sometimes called nut orchids or Japanese pan-sies, grow from rhizomes shaped and constructed like small pine cones. The plants are easy to grow, unusual enough to make good sellers, and sure-fire material for hybridizers. In warmer sections, they can be planted directly in the shaded outdoor garden or rock garden. I have liked them in a window or patio box and for hanging baskets in lath house or green­house.

The demand for achimenes is good; the supply is short. Cul­ture is the same as for gloxinias except that they can be planted four rhizomes to a 4-inch pot, five to a 5-inch pot, etc. Some of the plants grow upright; others (usually depending on the amount of light) trail over the pot edge. This makes them ideal for hanging baskets. Achimenes, like gloxinias, need a rest after flowering. Store them in their pots at 55 degrees F., or depot them and store in sacks of vermiculite.

Flowers of achimenes are similar to petunias, with upturned faces in colors from white through pink, red, blue, and purple. Collectors' favorites include the red-flowered Master Ingram; Mauve Queen with red dots on a golden throat; white Marga­rita; bright red A. coccinea with ferny leaves; and purple Wetterlow's Triumph. The best known variety is Purple King.

Propagate achimenes through the rhizomes (which multiply each season), by rhizome divisions (each scale acts as a seed), or through seed.

AESCHYNANTHUS (TRICHOSPORUM)

Bright red tubular flowers from leathery vaselike calyxes, waxy oval leaves and a graceful vinelike growth distinguish aeschynanthus (trichosporum). These make excellent pot or hanging basket plants. They can be grown in any soil suitable for gloxinias or African violets, in any of the mixtures, as peat­moss, sphagnum moss, and chicken grits or equal parts of osmunda fiber or shredded bark and peatmoss, and in the same temperature recommended for African violets. Culture is easy.

Aeschynanthus lohbianus has dark green leaves and scarlet flowers spilling from purple-brown calyxes; A. marmoratus is characterized by variegated light and dark green leaves, ma­roon beneath. The flower, less showy than that of A. lobbianus, is reddish orange. A vigorous species with long waxy green leaves and bright orange flowers is A. speciosus. Propagate these plants through cuttings or seed.

COLUMNEA

Columneas are handsome trailers. One grower who special­izes in orchids and columneas considers his older columnea plants covered with flowers more spectacular than many of the orchids. Species include the yellow-flowered C. tulae var. flava, the red-flowered C. Alleni, C. Banksi with shiny leaves, and C. gloriosa with small, hairy, near-brown leaves.

Grow these trailers in soil or "substance" as suggested for aeschynanthus. They are warm-house plants responding to the same light conditions as African violets. Propagation is through cuttings or seeds.

Columneas are collectors' items for you to grow only in the warm greenhouse. C. tulae however makes an interesting house plant, and being a yellow-flowered gesneriad, it is popular with African violet and gloxinia fanciers.

Cuttings of these plants ship well and most collectors will purchase rooted or unrooted ones. A single, well-grown, 2-year-old plant will produce a dozen or more cuttings which sell generally for about 35 cents apiece unrooted, 50 cents rooted.

EPISCIA

While this is a gesneriad, and so related to the Saintpaulia, it is not a "red violet." But the common name of Flame Violet may stimulate sales. We can use it and still be ethical only by including the proper identifying word, Episcia, in all advertis­ing and promotion.

I know of no company that purchases episcia seeds by the ounce. I sell seeds in mixtures at $5.00 per thousand. One com­pany buys about 20,000 a year, two others each 5,000. This amount of seed is taken from plants in two flats each measur­ing 14 by 27 inches.

The wooden flats hold the episcias for 2 years. Then I dump them out (in the fall), trim out dead pieces, and replant in fresh soil. By this time they have multiplied enough to fill 6 flats of the same size.

73, 74. Haemanthus Katherinae, with a flower cluster like a bottle brush, is typical of the many unusual members of the amaryllis family. By the simple act of rubbing your hand across the flowers, pollination is achieved. The photo at right shows the results, a nice "potential" cash crop of berries.   (Photograph by Author)

Episcias send out stolons (runners) very much like the straw­berry begonia (saxifrage). Flowers are white, yellow, pink, lavender, and red.

Episcias seem not to have the flower-producing capacity of African violets. However, many growers reduce bloom un­necessarily by putting plants in a spot lacking sun. True, they make excellent cover plants for under benches and in shady greenhouse nooks—and the foliage on the hairy ones become deeper colored in shade. But flowers are always scarce on plants grown in this way.

Since I grow my episcias almost exclusively for seeds, I plant rooted cuttings of several varieties in each wooden flat of peatmoss, sand, leafmold, and light loam. The bottom of the flat is first covered with clay pot chips and charcoal pieces. All varieties except the blue-flowered ones are placed where they receive 1500 foot-candles of light at 12:30 p.m. on a bright summer day. They are always kept well moistened and—note well—they require more water than African violets. In this bright spot, they produce maximum bloom. After pollination, the seed capsules form; they resemble bunches of small grapes. The red and lavenders are most congenial, hybridizing easily one with another. Here are some of my favorites—all easy to propagate, all generous with seeds:

Episcia acajou; Chocolate Soldier; E. cupreata, which doesn't take full sun, but without some sun will fail to flower, the vari­ety, viridifolia, which must have a blaze of light to bring out foliage and flower color; Silver Sheen; lilacina; and the long­time favorite reptans (fulgida) — (which most people think of as the "red violet").

Episcia dianthiflora and E. punctata are of easy culture but they have one point of difference from other episcias, it takes 5 to 9 months for seeds to ripen, whereas the usual ripening period is 6 weeks.

Greatly prized among collectors is the reptans variety Lady Lou, a variegated pink-green and brown-leaved form. Most people find it more difficult than the parent plant, and it often reverts back to the brown and green leaf coloration of E. reptans. The brown-leaved, pink-flowered Pinkishia, fairly new, is easy to propagate. Tropical Topaz should prove as easy as the plants it resembles—E. viridifolia, but I have found it some­what difficult (though it may be that I do not have the true one). My plant came directly from Panama, as did the one bearing the species name. If it does prove easy, it will make a hit with window and greenhouse gardeners.

Episcias are best propagated through stolons or seeds; leaf cuttings take too long to produce sizable plants. Plant the stolons directly into pots or flats of light soil—or any good grow­ing media. You can sell them from 2- or 3-inch pots—several in a pot or hanging basket—or as cuttings.

If you propagate through seed, you will get a variety of colors and forms from a mixed package. I have reports from customers of several pink-flowered sorts springing up among seedlings grown from my seed mix. And foliage is as varied as that of coleus. These plants are a hybridizer's dream, and flowers come in white, pink, lavender, red, and yellow.

In the episcia blossom, pollen ripens several days before the pistil is ready to receive it. When the pistil elongates and shows beyond the petal edge, pollination time is at hand. Choose pol­len from a one- or two-day flower, and apply it to the pistil with a brush or your finger tip. You may have to pollinate on two successive days to assure success.

The rounded seed capsule ripens in 6 weeks. Each seed has attached to it a tiny blob of albumen which sustains the embryo.

Seeds are larger than those of African violets but require approximately the same care and seedlings flower in about the same time.

Cyclamen mites are the worst enemies. Prevent or extermi­nate them through the use of sterilized soil and sodium selenate, or sprays of malathion.

KOHLERIA (ISOLOMA)

Kohleria, also called Isoloma or Tydea, comes from scaly rhizomes and is easily grown. You can make money on it as a flowering pot plant or by propagating rhizomes. The rhizomes retail from $1.00 to $2.00 each, depending on size. One tuber divided into separate scales will propagate as many as fifty to a hundred plants, the scales being planted just as you would plant good-sized seeds.

Flowers vary from bright red to red-and-yellow, rich maroon, a real "shocking" pink, and cream with a blue margin. Foliage may be green, green margined with red, brown interlaced with green or vice versa. Culture is the same as for achimenes.

The variety most commonly grown is K. eriantha. This can be a tall plant which needs staking, or it can be handled as a trailer. Smaller-flowered K. amabilis has as pleasing flowers as can be found on any pot plant. Of the brightest pink, they have maroon dots on the throat. Single flowers are long-lived, often remaining on the plant 3 or 4 weeks. The pale green leaves are threaded with rich brown. This one would be an instant hit in any plant counter or at any florist shop. K. Lindeniana has brown-and-green leaves and cream-and-blue flowers. This too is of easy culture and unusual enough to be a most profit­able item. Cecilia is another charming variety.

Hybridizing possibilities are good, as there is a wide range of colors, foliage forms, and heights.

While most kohlerias set seed rather easily, their pollen supply is short—especially on K. amabilis and K. Lindeniana. Select a sunny day for pollination, obtaining pollen from a newly opened or 1-day-old flower, and place it on the stigma of a flower that has been open about a week. Seeds ripen in some 6 weeks. While a number of growers include Kohleria seed with mixed gesneriad seed, I know of no one offering seed from the special varieties. Labeled specifically, such seeds would certainly prove good sellers.

75, 76. The haemanthus seed can be packaged and used for dry sales or it can be grown into salable plants. In that latter case, the first step above is to remove the berry husk from each seed, then the shelled seeds can be sown (below) in a pot of friable soil mixture. (Photographs by

RECHSTEINERIA

Here is a pot plant with an excellent future—it will pay you to make its acquaintance. Some specialty houses still list but one rechsteineria, and that under the name of Gesneria cardi-nalis, macrantha, or umbellata. (Taxonomists now include Gesneria and Corytholoma with Rechsteineria.) I have six species of these plants. By ordering seed from several specialty houses, you can obtain a good collection for your own sales list.

This tuberous-rooted gesneriad from Brazil has unusually varied flower forms, but the color range is not great, from pale pink through salmon and yellow to vivid red. The plants are of easiest culture, some varieties blooming several times a year. Of even greater "dollar importance" to me is the fact that these plants will interbreed with some of the sinningias to produce glamorous bigeneric hybrids.

Tubers of rechsteinerias are firm; those of R. cardinalis re­sembling a sweet potato, the others being more like gloxinia tubers; R. cardinalis has heart-shaped, emerald green, hairy leaves and brilliant red flowers of unusual form. (See photo, page 68.)

Rechsteineria cyclophylla bears an umbel of bright red 5-petaled flowers. It flowers several times a year, sometimes sending up flower scapes with no leaves. My older specimen plants are never given much rest, while those intended for sale are dried off shortly after they finish flowering.

A 2-year-old tuber can be depended upon to produce hun­dreds of flowers at blooming time, and the flowers, having good substance, make exciting and unusual corsages.

The helmetlike flowers of R. Warszewiczi have lovely salmon-to-lemon coloring, and plants grow to 2 feet. Most of us who hybridize gloxinias would like to work this luscious near-cantaloupe hue into a gloxinia strain. Tubers are the easiest of all gesneriad tubers to store. They can be left in the pots, watered slightly, or left dry; or they can be removed and stored in sand or vermiculite.

A variety of the red-flowered R. purpurea grows in a fascinat­ing way. The glossy, sharply serrated leaves develop in whorls of three, then six. Topping the 18-inch plant are two umbels of rose-splashed tubular flowers, usually about 150 of them at a time. My seed sales from this variety are excellent. But I haven't exploited the plant since I want to use it in my own hybridiza­tion. I know of no seed or bulb house selling these tubers, but that is no drawback since it is easily grown from seed.

Rechsteineria leucotricha or Brazilian edelweiss, has leaves covered with downy silver hair, and light red flowers. The tubers are round and of light orange color in their young state, but as they age they become darker and somewhat gnarled. This species, like R. cyclophylla, will send up flower scapes in advance of the heavy foliage—often without benefit of pot or potting soil. It is easily grown from seed but a bit difficult from cuttings. One firm sells mature plants for as much as $8.00 apiece.

SMITHIANTHA (NAEGELIA)

Your customers will surely like these plants with gorgeous foliage and beautiful flowers. Always in short supply and great demand, this gesneriad is a natural for sales to collectors as well as to your local trade.

77,  78.  Haemanthus multiflorus,  the blood lily,   (left)   and  Sprekelia formosissima, the Jacobean lily, are both amaryllids. Collectors find them irresistible.   (Photographs by Author)

I have a back list of customers who have been waiting to obtain rhizomes. Yet I have never seen these plants in a florist's window or at a general flower show. Foliage on S. cinnabarina looks like dark red plush; in S.

zehrina, the red mingles with green to give a marbleized effect, and flowers are red and yellow. Some of the hybrids have all green or reddish-brown haired leaves. Rose Queen has rose-and-white flowers; S. cinnabarina's are red and yellow.

Like achimenes, these plants are easily propagated. As their flowering season ends, they show extra rhizomes sprouting from leaf axils and the rhizomes in the pot also multiply. One good tuber will produce up to eight or more extra ones in the course of a season.

STREPTOCARPUS

Streptocarpus, the Cape primrose, is a fibrous-rooted plant which grows well under Saintpaulia culture. All of the species are good collector items and a newcomer, S. saxorum, makes a fine house plant. An admirable feature of this blue-and-white flowered one is that it is possible to make two to three hundred cuttings from a 2-year-old plant. Although so easily propagated through the fleshy-leaved cuttings, S. saxorum does not easily set seeds. The flowers nevertheless have sufficient pollen to permit crosses with other streptocarpus species or with other gesneriads.

One way to keep up with the gesneriad world—and thus build your business—is through the American Gesneria Soci­ety. It publishes news letters and a yearbook devoted to the culture of gesneriads. For membership, write Mrs. E. E. Ham­mond, Secretary, American Gesneria Society, Inc., 109 Cope-land Lane, Irvington, California.

SOME SUCCESSFUL VENTURES

In Virginia, a woman apparently doomed to bed and wheel­chair found her means to recovery by having a greenhouse built on a city lot and running it for profit. She scouts seedsmen in China, India, Japan, and England for rare plants. Her knowl­edge of greenhouse operation came the hard way, by experi­mentation. Today her greenhouse is stocked to the brim with virtually every kind of gesneriad. Her articles in plant publica­tions whet readers' appetites for the unusual things she sells over-the-counter and through the mail.

A business executive in New York set up a prefab greenhouse with no thought of operating it for profit. The house and pot­ting shed cost approximately $3,000.00, although he saved $1,800.00 by erecting it himself and doing his own mason work. An achimenes authority, he soon found he had an over-supply which collector friends wanted. Currently he has a self-sustaining hobby which will bring in sizable dividends when he has more time for it. He has made a cross between a species sinningia and a rechsteineria, the tubers of which he sells for $20.00 each.

A young man in Oklahoma paid a substantial part of his col­lege tuition with the proceeds of gesneriad sales from cuttings, tubers, and seeds sent through the mails. His less than 10-foot-square greenhouse is too small to accommodate specimen plants, but he can grow quantities of gesneriads in flats and hanging baskets. From these he harvests the material he sells.

One Sale Paid for My Greenhouse

At a national African violet convention a commercial dealer heard me talking about a white-flowered Episcia dianthiflora. Later he wrote, "If there is such a plant, we might be interested in buying propagation stock." The upshot was that I sold enough of these plants to pay for my greenhouse.

Formerly, I used to send out a listing of many kinds of African violets, gloxinias, and other gesneriads. Then I tried advertising,  running my  ads  simultaneously  with  pertinent magazine articles. Results were good. After you have once ad­vertised with the larger magazines, you receive monthly letters announcing future articles which usually feature photographs of the plants discussed. I found it paid to tie in ads with the issues that carried stories about the plants I was selling.

Currently I grow my gesneriads for commercial firms, selling tubers and seeds rather than plants. These are easily shipped, and I use the top cuttings of my rare gesneriads to propagate more material.

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