Most growers will not consider growing Episcia via seeds as they are so easily propagated from stolons especially in Singapore where they are literally weeds here. Just remove a stolon, stuck it in a pot of soil and it will become a new plant like Sempervivum tectorum in the temperate regions also known as the Hen-and-Chickens. Once the stolon is establised, it will throw out stolons and soon you will find everyone is growing it everywhere and anywhere.

In late 2003, the AVInternational Yahoo group had initiated an Episcia seed growing project. The seeds were actually a mixture of a named and an unnamed variety. The identity of the named variety was kept secret according to the rules of this game. Participants were required to submit an illustrated quarterly report starting from the day the seeds were sown for a period of 15 months on the progress of their seedlings till they were large enough to be identified. The participant who identified the named variety correctly would emerged as the winner of this project. Sounds interesting eh? Episcia are one of the very few gesneraids that can grow in Singapore.  I should be able to manage it with no problems. If it was a Saintpaulia or Streptocarpus seed growing project, I would have thought otherwise.

    
Left : I received the seeds on 1 Feb 2004. 

Right : The seeds were then sowed on 2 Feb 2004 on pure medium sized vermiculite.

I received the seeds on 1 Feb 2004. The seeds were considered large as compared to the other gesneriads like Florist’s Gloxinia. I sowed them the next day on the surface of the premoistened pure medium sized vermiculite under a sheet of plastic. A week has passed and not a single sprout could be seen from the clear plastic. A German participant from the other side of the globe reported 4 sprouts despite having an unusually cold winter that year!  I consoled myself and came to a conclusion. Bottom heating was more effective then the 31°C that we had for the past few days.

   
Left : The seeds germinted on 23 Feb 2004!

Right : The seedlings were transplanted on 7 Mar 2004.

 
A close-up view of the seedlings

Two weeks had passed and there was still not a single sign of a tiny green dot on the surface. I was very disappointed. Most of the participants had a least one sprout and yet there was no news from a hot and humid island near the equator. Finally on 23 Feb 2004, the seeds germinated. I was very surprised to note the seeds took almost 3 weeks to germinate. Yipee! There were seven sprouts altogether.

Every morning, I would dash to the balcony hoping for more green dots. There should be at least 20 seedlings out there waiting to breathe in the warm air of Singapore. Days had passed but nothing had happened. I had learnt from the experts that gesneraids could take more that a month to germinate and thus it was not advisable to throw away the sowing substrate.

While waiting for the rest to appear, I painstakingly transplanted the 7 seedlings on 7 Mar 2004 to two pots of 2 parts of sifted burnt earth with one part top soil. The seedlings were so tiny that I had no idea if the microscopic roots were inside the soil. Too much soil would drown the seedling while too little the seedlings may die of dehydration. Three months had passed and I had given up hopes for any possible germinations. I should not have used vermiculite in the first place. A mixture of peat and perlite might be a better alternative as transplanting could be done at a later stage when the seedlings were more manageable. The seeds might have fallen in the crevices between each vermiculite and could not germinate due to a lack of moisture. Well, I had to be contended with 7 seedlings.

Dale Martens had shared her experience in the AV yahoo group that episcia seedlings grew faster when they are transplanted every fortnight. Thus I transplanted the seedlings on 25 Mar 2004 by swapping them between the 2 pots to save the trouble. I lost 4 plants during the process. It was not that the seedlings were difficult to transplant. They were tough. I could feel their resilience in my hands. Florist’s Gloxinia seedlings were more fragile and would wilt with the slightest mishandling. I had to admit it was my eye problem even though I have perfect eyesight. I just could not see clearly the whereabouts of the tiny roots and very often they were planted above the soil level. They finally died of dehydration. Later, Dale commented that the seedlings could be transplanted on the same location again as long as some roots were disturbed. After the unhappy episode, I had decided to let nature takes its course. I was left with only 3 seedlings and could not afford to lose further.

   
Left : The seedlings were 2.5 months old

Right : They were then transplanted into individual pots on 29 May 2004.

The Episcia seedlings grew very fast once they had established in the medium. They needed plenty of water to grow well and it was advisable not to let the medium dry out. The remaining 3 seedlings had similar leaf patterns. The mid rid was silver and the leaf was covered with a fine layer of white hairs. The red tinge was very pronounced in the new leaves when they were given sufficient light which sped up their growths. It was advised by Vincent Parsons, the hybridiser of Episcia ‘Aloha Mauna Loa’, Episcia ‘Pearl Drops’ and Episcia ‘Pearl Passion’ to wait for at least 6 months for the leaf pattern to stablize before tossing out the weaklings. Some may take even longer. Being a typical Singaporean, I waited for one year. I lost one seedling during the monsoon period in Nov 2004 due to rots. It appeared that the soil mixture of burnt earth and top soil may not be suitable for the seedlings. A peaty mix may be more suitable.

The puzzle was out on 17 Apr 2005. It took me some time to confirm the identity of one of the seedling since the same variety could display different leaf patterns and variegation under different light conditions. Luckily I had Episcia ‘Kee Wee’ in my possession. I placed the seedling beside it and compare their foliage after a month. Yes, it was indeed Episcia ‘Kee Wee’. I labeled it ‘Grown from Seed’ on its pot. As for the other seedling, it looked like ‘Pearl Passion’ but the pattern was very different when I placed them side by side after monitoring for one month.

    
Left : The riddle is Episcia ‘Kee Wee’

Right : The other seedlings that resembles Episcia ‘Pearl Passion’

The process was very exciting as it was the first time I grew these weeds from seeds. Some of you may think it is a simply waste of time. But I really enjoyed every minute of it. I am sure I will be more experienced and confident in sowing fine seeds in future. Somehow, I counted myself very lucky to be able to solve the puzzle after killing all except for the two different episcias. For those of you who has grown sinningias from seeds, you can definitely do it. My question for you is are you willing to grow episcias from seeds.