Columnea purpureovittata

I bought several different Columnea for my collection, most of them were just about dead on arrival. I don’t think they had root rot, I actually think it was the opposite – they just got too hot and dry during travel. The leaves were just a sloppy wet mess and fell to the floor immediately, but the roots seemed dry. Anyway, I took photos of everything as I opened them and sent in to Ecuagenera. They were very good. Weekly I sent photos of all the Columnea and kept in touch. At the end of a month, there wasn’t much improvement and I was offered a refund – I put it toward another order of plants :) I kept the sticks of Columnea and have just waited patiently to see if any live. A few are finally showing signs of life after 8 weeks - this particular one hasn't shown any improvement, it is still just green stems. I’m in WA state, day temps 75-85F and nights 50-60F.

I hate to be whiny but it is my second attempt to grow this columnea from this company. Like last year, this year plant has arrived without the leaves as well. I was told by an Ecuagenera representative that the leaves drop is due to the transportation stress. Last year, a sphagnum wrap was totally dry and the plant had very slowly diminished; tried to form leaves but they dropped very fast and finally plant died.
This year 2023, the sphagnum wrap was slightly moist so I am hoping that the plant roots will establish. The total leaves fall has also been present. I was told by another specialist that this columnea is very difficult to re-established from a rooted cutting; but, it is very easy to grow from the seeds only . So why Euquagenera does not sell seeds instead??? ; knowing that it is almost impossible to grow C. p. successfully from a rooted cutting!

Ich habe die Pflanze sehr spät im Jahr bestellt. Nach der stressigen Überfahrt im Schiffscontainer herrschte ausgerechnet zum Zeitpunkt der Lieferung Frost. Nach einer Frostquarantäne in Norddeutschland wurden die Pflanzen bei milderem Wetter auf die Reise geschickt. Die Lieferung war sehr gut verpackt. Beide Pflanzen treiben nach der Eingewöhnungszeit, in der sie viele Blätter verloren haben, wieder aus und werden viel Freude bereiten.