Kohlerias, like African violets, are member of the Gesneriad family.  Unlike violets, which are fibrous rooted, kohlerias are rhizomatous, which means roots and plant are attached to a unique "food storage" structure, called rhizomes.  These are produced at the base of the plant, usually beneath the soil level.  In nature, their purpose is to sustain the plant during periods of time when water is scarce and/or conditions are too harsh for active growth--the plant above the soil can appear to "die" (go dormant) then, when conditions are again favorable, the rhizome will produce new growth. 

Of course, in the indoor garden, conditions are much better, and a properly cared-for plant need never go dormant--though it's good to know that it's that much harder for you to kill!  kohlerias, in fact, are some of the most vigorous, easiest to grow flowering houseplants one can grow.  If anything, they can be too easy to grow--in a more tropical climate, you might call them "weeds"!

Culture for kohleria is much the same as for African violets in terms of light, temperature, water, soil, feeding, and so on.  There are differences in grooming, potting, and propagation, though.  What follows is all that you'll need to know to keep your kohleria healthy and looking good.

'ROLLING-UP' A PLANT

Or, what to do with a plant that's gotten very tall and "leggy"?  Kohlerias, like many rhizomatous plants, can be very fast, vigorous, growers.  They can quickly grow tall--too tall, especially if not given enough good light.

Say that you've receive a plant from us in the mail.  It's possible that it might look like this in 6-8 weeks, especially if it didn't receive enough light or space (like this one in our collection!).  We want to make this tall, leggy, plant into a short, compact one (this is what we did to this plant before we shipped it).

Step #1:  Trim the plant

Remove all of the lower, immature leaves from the plant.  You'll notice that these leaves are smaller and not as developed as the newest ones produced from the top of the plant. 

When we finish, we want a shorter plant, with growth that is compact and all of which looks fully-developed (i.e. no 'baby' leaves).  Besides, we're going to 'bury' most of the main stem below the soil anyway.

Step #2:  'Rolling-up' the plant

Take the plant out of the pot, keeping the root ball as intact as possible.  Begin to wind the stem around the root ball as you would yarn or string. 

Do this the day before you intend to water, since the plant will be more flexible.  This is important for older, 'woodier', plants that will be harder to wind.

Continue to wind the stem around the root ball until all that remains unwound is the crown of the plant (the leaves at the top of the plant).  Since the objective is to eliminate the entire leafless stem, there's no point in leaving any bare stem above the root ball--this would just cause you to have to do this all over again sooner, rather than later.

After having done this, the plant will be off-center, with the stem appearing from one edge of the root ball.  To center the plant, you can make a small "slot" in the root ball, then reposition the crown into the center.  In the photo at right, this is what Olive is doing with her thumb.  All that's left to do now is to repot the plant!

Step #3:  Repotting

Push plant back into pot, adding soil if needed.  If the plant is too large for the original pot, you can put into a larger pot (this one could have gone into a 4" pot).  Shown at right is the "finished product".

To learn about propagating Kohlerias, 'click here'