Hello...I have heirloom tomatoes, Black Krim, Tigerella, hillbilly, Rutgers. I am interested in your ligularia, kerria, and miscanthus zebrinas. Take a look at my trade list as well. LMK Cheryl

Laura and Rina, Has your P. "Little Jewel' bloomed? And does your plant throw off lots of offsets? Mine is very low growing and seems to form colonies. The "mother" plants are rather Medusa-like in that each individual plant is comprised of several "heads." My plants aren't leggy like a typical echeveria. What are your thoughts of Pachphytum compactum for an id? This post was edited by seedmoney on Thu, Apr 17, 14 at 11:40

Sue, streps like the same temps as AV's but unlike AV's they will grow and flower in cooler temps. They will not sulk when the temps go into the low 60's like AV's. However, temps at or above 85 degrees for a period of time will cause death in short time. Light can be the same or slightly higher but no direct sun like AV's. AV soil is fine to use with streps. However, streps unlike AV's do not tolerate wet roots. I would add perlite to your mix when repotting. You are correct with your watering to water when they feel dry. Better to err on the dry side than too wet. If the plant wilts from being too dry it will recover after watering. A trick I use is to mist the leaves both top and underneath when this happens as well as watering throughly. It helps the plant recover faster. You will find streps like to be fed constantly but weakly. 1/4 strength would be good. Be sure to flush pots once a month with clear water to avoid salt build-up. Streps should be repotted every 6 months at minimum and often earlier. They usually will outgrow their pots in 3-4 months. Do not over pot! Easiest way to kill the plant as roots could be wet for too long a time. Pot only one size up at a time. Humidity is the same. I find if they are in higher humidity with proper air circulation it will not be a problem. The downside with too much humidity with them is rot of younger growth and powdery mildew. This is the same problem I have witnessed with AV's in the past. One last important tip, do not use blossom fertilizer (ex. 10-50-10) on streps! Unlike AV's, phosphorous in large amounts over time will kill your plant. Use a balanced fertilizer (ex. 7-7-7 or 20-20-20) or something with with slightly higher nitrogen and potash and a lower phosphorous number. ( ex. 7-6-8) I hope this answers your questions. Feel free to ask any others. You can email questions to me @ strepbystrep@gmail.com. Dave

There's four inserts I commonly make. This is a 32oz Deli cup. There quite common. On any recycling day you can take a walk thru your neiborhood a find a number of them. Of what I did at 55 I don't feel like doing at 70. I buy a case of 500 at a shot. Don't need the lids but some do. You can use it like a mulch. Why the solder iron than a knife. The thing that keep plastic elastic is a gas that's in between the structure of the plastics. If you cut it it leaches out. Causing it to become brittle. Especially in sunlight. Spray paint if your leaving it outside. Both the insert and the container. The design of the insert (32oz cup) shows three different The upper part before the slits in the air zone. This area is always dry. The lower area right below that is the sometime moist area. Notice the slits are of two different numbers. It's the 2nd line in the row of three that begins the always moist area and the water level.. Now what "I" mean by always moist. The water level is just a small hole in the side of the container. More on that later. Because once you plug in the insert there's no where for the water to evaporate. So it's forced to transpire out thru the leaves. As the water drops even below the cup the evaporated water in still in the container keeping the roots that extend thru the cup are kept moist. So even if the container is empty the plants still live on the moisture in the air. Oh, these thing generally go 30 days or more with out refill. See here's where the best part for me is. You never empty these. Just refill with water. There's no ph issues because this method uses soil fauna to create a symbolic relationship between plant and bacteria. The plant creates it's own ph environment. While I'm not looking to write a book it might be a novel idea for some so have to give what information I think will be relevant. Use marking pen to trace the outside edge of the cup. Cutting hole use the little nut holding the tip as a guide. Keep it along the inside edge and it will catch the lid right on the lip. I used knee high nylons for mesh. I can cut the hose in half for the 32oz insert. Tie a knot in the cut part and the elastic at the to will hold it in place. The lower half you can stretch to catch on the slits. Here's what it looks like when it's done. I use Velcro tabs, one on the container for the water level and the other just stuck lightly for the over flow to run out. That's really all there is to it. Next putting it together with the plant.