Fall - September - October Newsletter

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Episcia Propagation

Propagation of episcias is a fairly easy thing to do.  All you need is a cup of soil, a hairpin and a pair of scissors.  Of course, having a lush episcia dripping with stolons (baby plants) is very handy, too.

Simply fill a small pot with dampened soil.  Set it close to the mother plant.  Bring the stolon to the soil and pin it down with a fat hair pin or paper clip or garbage bag tie—anything to anchor it fully onto the soil.  Place a plastic cover on the baby.

The baby plant can live like this until roots are formed.  Then the stem may be cut from the mother.

The stolon can also be cut from the mother immediately and treated as above.  Make sure you have a plastic bag over the baby for humidity. Humidity helps make roots. Reproducing episcia is easy and a fun thing to do and it gives you a chance to share plants.

 propagation

Wicking 101

wicking

Growers use many methods for watering their plants.  One of those which saves lots of time is the wicking method.First you need a container.  That’s easy enough.  Search though your refrigerator.  You can use margarine containers, pickle bottles, or refrigerator containers.  I use all types of containers, mostly Glad refrigerator containers.  The different heights of the pickle jars and other plastic containers give different heights to your plants so spacing is easier.Once you have a few containers on hand, cut a small one-inch circle out of the lid.  This serves to slip the wick through and to refill the container when necessary.Wicks can be made of knitting thread, either acrylic or nylon.  Cotton or other natural materials seem to rot much faster.  The easiest and cheapest for me is cutting up old nylon stockings—pantyhose.  Just cut off the toe of each leg, then cut half inch strips going across the leg of the pantyhose.  This gives a nylon circle which can be cut and stretched to about 6-8 inches.Wicks must be soaked in water before using or the capillary action will not begin.Take a wet wick, put it on the end of a wooden barbecue skewer and from the bottom, push up through the soil on the side of the pot.  When the wick has reached the top, grasp it with two fingers while taking the skewer out with the other hand.  Now the plant is ready to be set upon the container which holds water and fertilizer.A second way to insert wicks is to thread the wick through an empty pot then place the plant in the pot.  Arrange the top of the wick so that soil covers it; otherwise it could dry out. Water in containers last about two weeks.  Check occasionally to make sure the wick is damp and working as it should.  Wipe green algae from pots when refilling.

 

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