Episcia Ronnie on Bike

December 11, 2009 in Episcia (Flame Violet) | 4 comments

My Episcia Ronnie  (aka Flame Violet)  is growing very well. It has grown many stolons, with some of them getting pretty long, and starting to tie up with one another.  To prevent my Episica Ronnie from growing into a tangled mess of stolons,   I knew I better change the container and repot the plant as soon as possible.

Episcia Ronnie on Bike

A hanging basket would be nice for trailing plants like Episcia, but I couldn’t find a suitable place in my house where I could hang the plant :(   While I was puzzling over the new container problem for my Episcia, I saw a cool bike/trolley looking raised planter when I was shopping one day. Yes! This could solve my problem I thought, and so I bought it right away. Read the rest of this entry »

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Blooming of Flame Violet – A Last Minute Surprise

August 13, 2009 in Episcia (Flame Violet) | 3 comments

Bloom Colors of Flame Violet Bloom Colors of Flame Violet

I didn’t know that a flame violet can have different bloom colors.  So when I saw a flower bud earlier this month, with similar color and look as the one in April, I was expecting another bright orange-red flower.  But instead, the color of the bloom I have this time is in yellow, with a tint of orange at the bottom of each petal.  What a last minute surprise! Read the rest of this entry »

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Our Plants Need to Sleep Too!

July 18, 2009 in Episcia (Flame Violet), Houseplants | 9 comments

Recently, I have noticed that my Episcia (aka Flame Violet) often folds up its top pair of leaves when the night comes. The leaves are near the horizontal during the day and close to the vertical at night. And while sometimes the pair of leaves moves just slightly, pointing to the ceiling, there are times the leaves fold up so tightly, sticking against each other with hardly any gap in between.

As ignorant as I may sound, at first, I suspected that this movement of the leaves of my Episcia was due to insufficient sunlight (it had been rainy and gloomy for over a week). So, to keep my Episcia “open” at night, I put my plant under artificial light for around 14 hours per day for several days. However, the artificial light didn’t help at all. The top pair of leaves closes at night regardless of the amount of light there is during the day.

Plant Chronobiology - Flame Violet Plant Chronobiology - Flame Violet

My baby Flame Violet, which I have propagated a while ago, also has its own circadian rhythms.

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Propagate Flame Violet by Cutting

July 15, 2009 in Episcia (Flame Violet), Gardening Techniques | 1 comment

I bought a pot of Episcia (aka Flame Violet) seedling in October last year. Since then, it has been growing beautifully in my room, with its first flower blooming in April.

Propagate Flame Violet by Cuttings

Thru some research, I have learned that Flame Violet can be propagated by stolon cuttings. This is my first time growing Flame Violet. Everything to me is new and interesting. And surely, I would like to try stolon propagation. While I was wondering when I should cut the stolons of my Flame Violet for my experiment, my dear brother accidently cut off two stolons from the plant with the rotor blades of his newly bought remote control helicopter. Ok. That’s great! At least I was saved from thinking too much more before taking any action. Read the rest of this entry »

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