Gesneriad Sinningia

For those of you that are not familiar with Sinningia here is what the judge's manual of the American Glozina And Gesneriad Society has to say about Sinningias.

Sinningia: Tuberous genus mostly from Brazil, with plants ranging in size from the smallest miniature to medium-sized rosettes to erect plants up to several feeet tall. S. speciosa, florist gloxina, has large flowers in a wide color range. S. tubiflora is strongly fragrant. Plants of former genus Lietzia transfered to Sinningia.

Sinningia

The following article is one that Linda Golubski handed out at a workshop she presented, at a convention I attended.

Sinningias get their origin from Central & South America and grow from tubers.

There are five (5) basic groups of sinningias - species, standard hybrids, compact hybrids, miniature hybrids and micro miniature species and hybrids.

Soil - Light African violet potting mix.
Fertilizer - Constant feed at 1/8 strength except when the tuber is dormant.
Light - Need lots of light to bloom freely. This can be accomplished by either moving the plants closer to the light (6-12 inches for miniature and micro-miniature depending on your wattage) or by a stronger light source.
Water - Wick watering works well on matting. If you allow to dry out, the tuber could go dormant or you may loose your buds.
Repotting - Plants should be repotted about every 4 months - they really like fresh soil.
Humidity - Sinningias like a lot of humidity that is why I cover my miniatures and micro-miniatures.

NOTE: However they don't like to be soggy or your tuber and/or plant will rot. A high humidity about 70% will keep the leaves from turning brown on the edges.

General Care

When starting a tuber, place in fresh soil about 1/4" under the surface. Be sure to place some perlite in the bottom of your pot - they don't like wet feet. For a quicker start put in a terrarium or cover pot with plastic wrap until new growth begins. If the tuber does not sprout within 4 months I remove it from the terrarium and allow the soil to completely dry out (about 2 weeks). I then repot in fresh soil, water and place back in terrarium. If it doesn't sprout in the next 3-4 months I discard the tuber.

NOTE: The bottom of the tuber is rounded. The top is flat.

If I am starting a cutting, I start by cutting the plant from the tuber leaving 1/4" of stem attached to the tuber. Be sure to remove all buds as they drain the energy from the leaves. Remove all leaves except the top four. Be sure to leave one set of leaf nodes to bury in the soil. The new tuber will form at these nodes. Like starting a violet leaf you need a very light soil. I use 1/3 perlite, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 African violet potting soil, with some perlite in the bottom of my pot. Bury the stem in the soil. Try not to let the bottom 2 leaves touch the soil because they tend to rot. Place under cover or in a terrarium until there is new vigorous growth. It takes about 2-3 months for your cutting to form a tuber and start blooming again. Some take more time, some take less.

You may also put down leaves. It takes 6 months to a year for them to form a tuber. They don't make a plant like a violet does. When your leaf dies that is usually when your new growth starts to sprout from the tuber.

Micro-miniature varieties need to be constantly in a terrarium or protected in some way. They may be grown as single or multiple crowns. Actually they usually are more eye appealing as multiple crowns.

I checked with several AGG judges for a ruling on the best way to exhibit a miniature sinningia. They may be shown as multiple crowns provided that the crowns are of approximately the same size and are blooming otherwise snip off the new growth and restart your cutting.

As with any plant keep the dead leaves arid spent blooms removed. When removing spent blossoms snip them of f with scissors. Do not try to pull they of f as the stems are very strong and nine times out of ten you'll end up pulling the plant stem from the tuber - instant propagation whether or not you want it!

As with violets if you keep the blooms off you will have a nicer looking plant. As the plant blooms the crown leaves gets smaller and smaller until you eventually loose your crown and are forced to start over. Also keeping them disbudded and bloom boosting them will force more flowers from them for show. If you do this start your bloom booster 7 weeks before show and continue until 4 weeks before show. If you have a bud or two you want open, place the plant closer to the light for more heat, however make note that it may wilt blooms already open. Be careful and enjoy your "MINI

My Sinningias

Sinningia Ozark Blue Popcorn (David Harris) S/SD White upper lobes purple to fuchsia ray's radiates from throat or purple and white with fuchsia ray's. Other Gesneriad

Sinningia Ozark Coral Freckles (David Harris) Coral/dark rose freckles in throat and on face. Dark green. Other Gesneriad

Sinningia Ozark Petunia Edge (David Harris) Other Gesneriad

Sinningia Ozark Rosy Cheeks (David Harris) Other Gesneriad

Sinningia Ozark Waterfall (David Harris) Dark lavender, stripe yellow/fucshia in throat. Occasional white spot on lower lobes. Other Gesneriad