Chirita 'Little Dragon'

korina

18 years ago

Awwww, ain't it cute!

Korina

Here is a link that might be useful: Rob's

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Comments (7)

Motezuma
18 years ago
Very! Gonna get one?

-Mo (WV)
korina
Original Author
18 years ago
Someday, Mo, when I win the lotto and can have my very own plant room, conservatory, and greenhouse(s). Ooh, and several experimental veggie gardens, and a Japanese garden (with my own bonsai), and an Elizabethan herb garden, and...

Korina (sicky-poo -- sore throat)
Related Discussions
What's a good 'small' chirita?
Q
Comments (5)
There are quite a few chirita species and hybrids out there, but since most of them are so new to cultivation it can be hard to track them down. The smallest Chirita aside from C. tamiana (which is quite atypical for a Chirita and may not even belong in the genus) is probably C. gemella, followed by its slightly larger hybrids 'Little Dragon' and 'Jade Moon'. Chirita sp. USBRG 98-083 (an unnamed species or possibly a natural hybrid from Vietnam, and the other parent of the aforementioned hybrids) grows a bit bigger than these. All of these will spread a bit because they produce stolons, especially 98-083. C. longgangensis is another wonderful small-growing species, although it does tend to produce branches or suckers. C. spadiciformis and C. fimbrisepala are relatively small-growing, do not produce stolons and rarely sucker so they form compact rosettes. The others can be kept to single crowns by removing the suckers or stolons, but most people grow them multicrowned. All of these are very easy to grow but unlike C. tamiana they will not bloom continuously; they tend to be seasonal bloomers and will go dormant in the winter. And do not overpot, overwater, or overfertilize! Many chiritas will stay compact and bloom best if they are potbound, kept a bit on the dry side and given very little fertilizer. I have seen some grown on wicks that are enormous, to twice the size of the same plants when I grew them, often with beautiful foliage but these specimens tend to bloom poorly.
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rooting Chirita leaves
Q
Comments (13)
Chirita sinensis in all its forms including latifolia is easier to root than the other two. I don't know why they failed though. Perhaps they had "issues" that came with them. Your leaf looks good in there. I would be surprised if it didn't send up one or more plantlets. You can even take off some of the tiny leaves as the plantlets grow up, and put them down. Getting the hang of rooting chiritas is not hard, but it is best learned by taking spare leaves from your existing plants so that you can try different things without worrying about losing the leaf entirely. The other day, I took a great big leaf from one of John's hybrids and cut it up into small pieces which filled four 2 1/2" pots. Each piece had a nice bit of vein with it. I am really curious to see if I get many plants or none. I also took some leaves that were beginning to turn yellow. From past experience I find I often get plants from such leaves though they are slower to produce. Hang in there, Jon
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Chirita Tamiana advice, please?
Q
Comments (10)
Chirita tamiana is unlike any other chiritas. It is also one of the easiest to grow. Give it bright indirect light, a well-drained soil, and let the soil dry out slightly between waterings. Fertilize VERY sparingly. It doesn't seem to be particular about temperature or humidity and will be in almost continuous bloom year-round if you keep the seed capsules clipped off (and they form spontaneously and abundantly by self-pollination). It's not a seasonal bloomer like most other chiritas. I find that it looks best with 3 or more plants growing in a pot, and it's very easy to propagate from both seeds and leaf cuttings.
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Sick Chirita?
Q
Comments (6)
The orchid photos are decieving... I just bought them. Those are kinda 'before' photos. :) The trip home through the winter weather shocked the Phalaenopsis blooms right off. I was sad, so I went and bought the Howeara and paid more attention to keeping it warm for the ride home. As for water, I moved from one city to another, and haven't had either tested. I'll look into it. I was thinking about repotting the Chirita, as it's getting a little long necked. I'll use a bit more perlite this time. All of my houseplants (except the orchids) are in 1-1-1 peat, vermiculite, and perlite, sometimes with an extra part of one ingredient. I'll go ahead and move the chirita to a lighter mix. The photo on the web is just the temporary staging ground while I got the shelves set up and the other shop lights installed. I usually have 2 shoplights about 12" above. I'm beginning to think that the red pigment is a reaction to too much light. I'm gonna move the chirita to the floor next to the plant shelf for a few weeks to see if it greens up a bit. Thanks for the input. I'll let you know how it turns out.
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JohnnieB
18 years ago
Fortunately 'Little Dragon' is easy to propagate from its freely produced stolons (unusual for a chirita) so it should be more widely available in a couple of years.

I'm surprised that Rob's Violets is able to offer it for sale already--and at such a reasonable price--as they obtained a single plant at an AGGS auction only two years ago.
korina
Original Author
18 years ago
As you said, Johnnie, it's easy to propagate.

A couple of years?? Waa!

Korina

'Instant gratification isn't fast enough.'
Motezuma
18 years ago
You know, the sore throat thing is going around. Hope you feel better.

OH, BTW, I have 4 tiny green dots that I'm thinking are C. Tamiana, and one has actual leaves on it. I planted them 4/18. (I only planted a very few, for the first time.) And, the begonias I sliced up have grown too! It's amazing how even just a little bit of a leaf will make a whole new plant.

-Mo (WV)
korina
Original Author
18 years ago
Congrats, Mo; babies! Yeah, begonias are cool.

My tamianas are starting to get a little funky, but I raised their light a couple of inches -- I hope that helps.

Fortunately my throat hasn't been sore for a couple of days; but my voice has been in and out (I sound like a 13-year-old boy!) and I keep coughing up -- well, you don't want to know. It certainly makes answering the phones at work interesting.

Korina (feeling another Rob's order coming on)
korina
Original Author
18 years ago
Well, turned out it wasn't a Rob's order I felt; I was forced to go home early Thursday and stay home Friday because I was sicky-poo. My voice is coming back, slowly, and my plants *seemed* to have survived the problematic 'care' of my coworkers. Except for unplugging the lights on a timer and leaving on all weekend the lights that needed to be turned off (everything was dry as bone, but alive), they didn't do anything horrible.

Korina (hack, sniff)

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Chirita 'Little Dragon'

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Motezuma

korina
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Chirita 'Little Dragon'

Comments (7)

Motezuma

korinaOriginal Author

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Motezuma

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