Most
growers will not consider growing Episcia via seeds as
they are so easily propagated from stolons especially in Singapore
where they are literally weeds here. Just remove a stolon, stuck
it in a pot of soil and it will become a new plant like Sempervivum
tectorum in the temperate regions also known as the Hen-and-Chickens.
Once the stolon is established, it will throw out stolons and
soon you will find everyone is growing it everywhere and anywhere.
In
late 2003, the AVInternational Yahoo group had initiated an
Episcia seed growing project. The seeds were actually
a mixture of a named and an unnamed variety. The identity of
the named variety was kept secret according to the rules of
this game. Participants were required to submit an illustrated
quarterly report starting from the day the seeds were sown for
a period of 15 months on the progress of their seedlings till
they were large enough to be identified. The participant who
identified the named variety correctly would emerged as the
winner of this project. Sounds interesting eh? Episcia
are one of the very few gesneraids that can grow in Singapore.
I should be able to manage it with no problems. If it was a
Saintpaulia or Streptocarpus seed growing project,
I would have thought otherwise.
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Left:
I received the seeds on 1 Feb 2004.
Right: The seeds were then sowed on 2 Feb 2004 on
pure medium sized vermiculite. |
I
received the seeds on 1 Feb 2004. The seeds were considered
large as compared to the other gesneriads like Florist's Gloxinia.
I sowed them the next day on the surface of the premoistened
pure medium sized vermiculite under a sheet of plastic. A week
had passed and not a single sprout could be seen from the clear
plastic. A German participant from the other side of the globe
reported 4 sprouts despite having an unusually cold winter that
year! I consoled myself and came to a conclusion. Bottom heating
was more effective than the 31ºC that we had for the past few
days.
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Above
left:
The seeds germinated only on 23 Feb 2004!
Above right: The seedlings were transplanted on 7
Mar 2004.
Below left and right: A close-up view of the seedlings.
|
Two
weeks had passed and there was still not a single sign of a
tiny green dot on the surface. I was very disappointed. Most
of the participants had at least one sprout and yet there was
no news from a hot and humid island near the equator. Finally
on 23 Feb 2004, the seeds germinated. I was very surprised to
note the seeds took almost 3 weeks to germinate. Yipee! There
were seven sprouts altogether.
Every
morning, I would dash to the balcony hoping for more green dots.
There should be at least 20 seedlings out there waiting to breathe
in the warm air of Singapore. Days had passed but nothing had
happened. I had learnt from the experts that gesneraids could
take more than a month to germinate and thus it was not advisable
to throw away the sowing substrate.
While
waiting for the rest to appear, I painstakingly transplanted
the 7 seedlings on 7 Mar 2004 to two pots of 2 parts of sifted
burnt earth with one part top soil. The seedlings were so tiny
that I had no idea if the microscopic roots were inside the
soil. Too much soil would drown the seedling while too little
the seedling may die of dehydration. Three months had passed
and I had given up hopes for any possible germinations. I should
not have used vermiculite in the first place. A mixture of peat
and perlite might be a better alternative as transplanting could
be done at a later stage when the seedlings were more manageable.
The seeds might have fallen in the crevices between each vermiculite
and could not germinate due to a lack of moisture. Well, I had
to be contended with 7 seedlings.
Dale
Martens had shared her experience in the AV yahoo group that
episcia seedlings grew faster when they are transplanted every
fortnight. Thus I transplanted the seedlings on 25 Mar 04 by
swapping them between the 2 pots to save the trouble. I lost
4 plants during the process. It was not that the seedlings were
difficult to transplant. They were tough. I could feel their
resilience in my hands. Florist's Gloxinia seedlings were more
fragile and would wilt with the slightest mishandling. I had
to admit it was my eye problem even though I have perfect eyesight.
I just could not see clearly the whereabouts of the tiny roots
and very often they were planted above the soil level. They
finally died of dehydration. Later, Dale commented that the
seedlings could be transplanted on the same location again as
long as some roots were disturbed. After the unhappy episode,
I had decided to let nature takes its course. I was left with
only 3 seedlings and could not afford to lose further.
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Above
left: The
seedlings were 2.5 months old.
Above right: They were then transplanted into individual
pots on 29 May 2004. |
The
Episcia seedlings grew very fast once they had established
in the medium. They needed plenty of water to grow well and
it was advisable not to let the medium dry out. The remaining
3 seedlings had similar leaf patterns. The mid rib was silver
and the leaf was covered with a fine layer of white hairs. The
red tinge was very pronounced in the new leaves when they were
given sufficient light which sped up their growths. It was advised
by Vincent Parsons, the hybridiser of Episcia 'Aloha
Mauna Loa', Episcia 'Pearl Drops' and Episcia
'Pearl Passion' to wait for at least 6 months for the leaf pattern
to stabilize before tossing out the weaklings. Some may take
even longer. Being a typical Singaporean, I waited for one year.
I lost one seedling during the monsoon period in Nov 04 due
to rots. It appeared that the soil mixture of burnt earth and
top soil may not be suitable for the seedlings. A peaty mix
may be more suitable.
The
puzzle was out on 17 Apr 2005. It took me some time to confirm
the identify of one of the seedling since the same variety could
display different leaf patterns and variegation under different
light conditions. Luckily I had Epsicia 'Kee Wee' in
my possession. I placed the seedling beside it and compare their
foliage after a month. Yes, it was indeed Episcia 'Kee
Wee'. I labeled it 'Grown from Seed' on its pot. As for the
other seedling, it looked like 'Pearl Passion' but the pattern
was very different when I placed them side by side after monitoring
for one month.
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Above
left: The riddle is Episcia 'Kee Wee'.
Above right: The other seedling that resembles Episcia
'Pearl Passion'. |
The
process was very exciting as it was the first time I grew these
weeds from seeds. Some of you may think it is a simply waste
of time. But I really enjoyed every minute of it. I am sure
I will be more experienced and confident in sowing fine seeds
in future. Somehow, I counted myself very lucky to be able to
solve the puzzle after killing all except for the two different
episcias. For those of you who has grown sinningias from seeds,
you can definitely do it. My question for you is are you willing
to grow episcias from seeds.
