I'd like to get back into gesneriads, since i finally figured out how to grow things in arizona. i used to have a plant of S. leuchotricha that i gave to my mother before i moved here (she killed it), and would like to give it a go again. I'm also looking for a few other gessies, including petrocosmeas and some micro-mini AV varieties, so please let me know what you have. I don't have many gessies or AVs of my own, but if you are interested in any of the following, i'd be happy to trade! HAVES: *Hoyas: sulawesii, obovata, lacunosa, several unnamed varieties * C&S: Ceropegia ampliata, Senecio stapeliaeformis, Dischidia pectinoides, Kalanchoes, Echeverias, Cissus cactiformis, Chamaecereus, many Echinopsis hybrids, Epiphyllum cuttings, many (many!) stapeliads including huernias, carallumas, stapelias, stapelianthus etc. *Begonias: Several cane varieties, leaves of Fisher's ricinifolia, B. hydrocotylifolia, B. 'Tweedle Dum' *Aquatic plants: tall Vallisnera, *small* clumps of phoenix feather Fissidens moss. thanks!

Yeah Tom, I know, I know. I have never given the micro-mini's their due. I have grown them; but, I usually lose them. Its not so much that I kill them; but, they are so darn tiny that I really do lose them. Now, I wish that I still had the various ones I've grown over the years. If left alone and kept watered they can grow for many years. With a little work at propagating they can really multiply. I have the new one, sp. 'Rio das Pedras' that is doing very well in a 2" pot in a tray under a dome and under lights. It has already invaded the surrounding pots with some seedlings. The other day, I visited one of our local gesneriad growers who had concinna in flower. That is the one to grow. It also is the most difficult to grow. But, it has the largest and prettiest flowers. If I get one again (its been many years since I last had one), I will grow it like my "Rio". The large rectangular domes that fit on 10/20 trays really work well for little pots of humidity lovers. Thanks Larry for posting your pictures, they are working one me too. Jon

About the smell--that is a good question. I have always heard about the horrible smell. But, the only soil I have ever sterilized is my soiless mix of peat, perlite and vermiculte. That doesn't make a bad smell at all. It just smells like nice warm cozy potting soil. The peat, of course, is Canadian sphagnum peat moss. I would never use the black stuff that they used to sell for gardeners. I haven't seen that stuff in many years but I don't know what they sell in other regions. I use my cooked soil mix mainly for starting seed. Before I did this, the same mix would usually cause problems if the seeds didn't germinate quickly and grow quickly. The mosses, liverworts, and fungi would grow and overwhelm things. Oh, and that awful slimy green algae--ugh. At first I would cook my mix for an hour, but I still got mosses, so I cooked for longer and now, when I start seeds the pots stay clean for months--and note: these pots are enclosed in ziplock bags so stay very moist. Sometimes, I, as is my unfortunate custom, leave seedlings untouched for months. The little gesneriads in that sterile mix will turn totally white, looking like little grains of perlite. Then I finally notice them and give them a weak feeding and they green up and start growing. It is so weird to see those tiny white leaves. But, if my mix weren't sterilized the seedlings would have been killed by whatever else was growing in the mix. Jon

I'm a little confused about your questions, but I'll see if I can answer at least some. First, I'd guess the perlite in the bottom of the pot would indicate 'Texas' potting. For best results there would be a line of holes in the sides of the pot about half-way up the perlite layer, and then you could put the pot in a shallow dish of water (I would add very weak fertilizer and Superthrive, quarter-strenghth fert. and a drop of ST to a gallon of water). This would also increase the humidity a little, which might help the turgidity of the foliage. I usually grow micro-mini sinns (may all your sins be mini) in a terrarium; they do well outside here in the summertime but tend to get lost. All my mini sinns are outside now and thriving. They do like a bit more light in a terrarium--which is automatically shady--but do fine in full but bright shade outdoors. It's easier to get good bloom outside too, which I'm sure is the quality of light, along with our very high humidity, which they also prefer. I grow under lights indoors, as I find it very hard to give them enough light in my windows, and they're also protected from the air-conditioning by the shelves.