Galaxy Streptocarpus Cultural Information for Greenhouse Growers

Night temps should be 64 degrees minimum.

Light levels should be between 1000 and 1200 ft. candles.

Water in well but don’t water again until the soil has had a chance to dry down.

Do not plant too deep. 

A.     Grow in lowered light levels. After 2 weeks grow on at 1200 to 1500 foot-candles. In western Oregon we grow in full light until April 1 then 50% shade till May 10 then 75% shade the rest of the summer.

B.     Plant into porous potting media. Galaxy Streps benefit from an open, loose soil mix. They hate over-watering. Let soil get on the dry side before watering but don’t allow the plants to wilt.

C.     Fertility. Maintain an EC between 1.5 and 1.8 if possible. We constant feed at 160 ppm except in darkest weather we increase to 200 ppm nitrogen. Something like a 20-10-20 is fine.  In winter we feed with a low ammonia fertilizer.

D.     Leaf spotting. Cold water on hot foliage can cause leaf spotting. Galaxy Streps are less sensitive than many varieties but it is best to water plants in the morning when the leaves are cool.

E.     Bud removal for the first 4 weeks of production will help the crop bulk up and bring the crop in all at once. A spray of Pistil at 300 ppm has worked well for us and eliminates the hand labor. Do not apply Pistil less than 4 weeks prior to your finish date.

Aphids, white fly and thrips are attracted to Streptocarpus.

Timing depends on temperature, time of year, fertility, etc. Below is our timing in Oregon under our conditions.

Timing:     4” pots          1 plant per pot          7 weeks

                 6” pots          1-2 plant per pot       10-12 weeks

We grow our plants pot tight for 2/3 of the crop time, then space. 4.5” are finished at 4 per square foot for high quality.

Galaxy Streps have been bred for easy, low cost production. We select our varieties to have medium sized leaves, to finish fast at 62 F, and to perform well year-round.