siege2050

I have 3 of these guys I grew from seed, and none of them are doing well here. This is their second year with the pstem preserved, and they are all still about 3 feet, and growth is pretty much non existent. I took a pup and potted it up in potting mix, and it has been sitting there for 2 months with no growth, but still green. I am starting to think they are so cold hardy because they come from a place that is cooler than it is here in summer, perhaps in the mountains? I see a lot of photos of them being grown in the UK, and Europe, but very few from the US, maybe this is why? I dont think they can handle our days in the high 90's, this have been very disappointing, I really like the way they look when they grow well with their bright red leaf undersides.

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benbaron

Interesting but Im growing quite a few of these in my polytunnel which has seen highs of 45deg C and sustained 30 + for a couple of weeks and they loved it. how is your humidity levels perhaps its too dry for them rather than hot? Although....nighttime temps for us will be dropping below 20s....

RobG7aChattTN

I've got sikkimensis and it has always done well and it's a pretty nice sized mat now. We certainly have had our share of heat. Normally I would suggest that out in Oklahoma you are too dry but I know you've had tons if rain this year. We've been in the mid to upper 90's...maybe you've been a bit hotter? Has it dried out a bit since all that rain you were getting? Of course it could also be the particular strain. Mine has those beautiful maroon leaf backs on smaller plants and some maroon variegation on the top of some leaves...but only on smaller plants. As the plants get bigger they start to look mostly green.

siege2050

I live in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma and its always extremely humid here, even in drought years, kinda miserable actually lol. Its always greener here than out west, and there are lots of fern species and wild terrestrial orchids that grow round here. It does get hot though, usually about 100F during this time of the year. I have one Red Tiger, and two plain green that have red backs on the leaves. The red tiger has so much color on the leaf backs that it looks like a Zebrina. If they take the heat there, then its probably more confirmation that they dont like something in my soil that has a PH of about 5.5. I think I am going to dig them up, put them in pots for the winter, and next year replace my soil where they were growing.

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