Product Overview
Episcia Reptans – The Flame Violet.
A very pretty trailing plant, part of the Gesneriaceae family, which includes the traditional African Violet.
Native to Central and South America, Brazil and the West Indies.
The attractive foliage and colourful trumpet shaped flowers bring a touch of joy to the home.
Part of their charm is in the nature of their growth habit, where they send out stolons, strawberry like runners, that trail over the edge of the pot.
There are a number of species now available, with most producing an abundance of flowers throughout the year.
Secrets of success:
Keep in natural, indirect light, but you must avoid direct Sun as it will scorch and shrivel the leaves.
They thrive best in a partially shaded window.
Keep the soil evenly moist, do not allow to dry out.
In colder months use tepid water to avoid shocking the roots, and as with most other types of plants with hairy leaves avoid getting them wet.
Bottom watering is necessary to keep the slightly fleshy stems of the plant away from excess moisture that may lead to stem rot.
Episcia like some humidity, so if your home has particularly dry air then help to increase the humidity around the plant by standing on a pebble tray, topped up with water, but below the pot line.
Fertilise approx. twice a month with a half strength balanced liquid houseplant feed as per instructions.
Average to warm room temperatures between 18-27c, and not below 16c.
Aftercare:
As the plant may produce quite a few runners, it`s advisable to pinch off some, and to sit others on top of the compost, so that they will root and form a nice dense pot full.
Alternatively you can remove the offsets and pot them up to form new plants.
Repot once overcrowded using only very free draining houseplant compost, with added perlite to aid aeration.
Generally no need to prune, and they don`t tend to need a Winter rest.
Warnings: Although not considered to be highly toxic, they do contain Saponins which can lead to diarrhea and vomiting if ingested in large quantities. Best practice is to keep out of reach of pets and children.
