See all kohlerias.

Kohleria ‘Tropical Night’ is a very generous blooming kohleria. Like all kohlerias, it’s very easy to grow. It has dark foliage and smaller but numerous, very cute red fuzzy flowers. I love how cute and fuzzy this plant is.

It’s a relatively small plant, though it can grow pretty high. The flowers appear throughout the stem, though some kohlerias flower mostly at the top of the plant. I personally prefer the more uniform distribution of flowers as it gives the plant a wilder look.

Like all kohlerias, kohlera ‘Tropical Night’ has rhizomes and spreads quickly to fill up a pot. So if you accidentally dry it out, the plant can still re-sprout from the rhizomes. It has a wonderful overall growth is very balanced. The plant may need staking if you’d like to grow it taller.

This kohleria is very easy blooming, and to keep it blooming, just remove spent blooms, cut back any overgrowth or stake them, and it will reward you with never-ending array of intricate fuzzy flowers.

Requirements:

Watering needs:

Kohleria ‘Tropical Night’ has medium watering needs. Getting the soil to slightly dry out between watering will do jut fine. Be careful not to overwater it as the plant can rot. This is a bigger problem than drying it out, since if the rhizomes are viable it can recover quickly from drought. If you overwater the plant, you might be able to rescue it by rooting less affected cuttings. One of the best ways to water it is by soaking the pot in water till moist, and then draining it thoughtfully. This doesn’t wash off or compress the soil.

Light:

Medium light, part shade to shade will work for this plant. Kohleria will flower even on a north facing window, but it can get quite leggy and in need of support if not enough light is provided.

Humidity:

Kohlerias like it warm and humid, thought do not spray the leaves directly as it will cause wilt spots on them. Humidity trays will work fine if you have a dry home environment. Most kohlerias are not very fussy with their need for humidity, and will grow and flower at lower humidity levels as well.

Soil Type and Fertilizer:

I use african violet soil with extra per-lite to make it lighter and more aerated. You can also use regular soil mixed with equal parts peat moss and per-lite. I’ve noticed this plant doesn’t do very well if the soil gets compressed and hard. I use dilute african violet fertilizer for this plant from spring to fall.

Propagation:

Very easy to propagate. Kohlerias grow shootings readily, some more so than others. Kohleria ‘Tropical Night’ is no exception, though it doesn’t sprout offshoots as vigorously as some other kohlerias. You can always root cuttings, even a leaf, though it’s a lot easier and quicker to use an offshoot or a rhizome. Here is a picture of a offshoot that is flowering.

Other Care Tips and Personal Observations: 

Pinching off the top, and cutting back some old growth will help you kohleria look fuller and even flower more. If growth is leggy you might try increasing the light a bit more and maybe staking the stems for support.
This plant is very generous and a pleasure to grow at home. It looks very strange with it’s furry tubular flowers. I’ve always had a soft spot for kohlerias, and only a few so far haven’t been easy and constant bloomers for me. I love this hybrid’s contrasting leaves and overall dense and compact growth in my experience, though I’ve seen some ‘Tropical Night’ cultivars grow quite tall.

If you let the soil get copmacted and hard and don’t cut back some old leggy growth, or water the plant too little it may stop flowering, and go into a sort of state of dormancy. A repotting and some pruning back will help bring the kohleria to active growth and flowering. I have also noticed that if you spray it against bugs, the leafs will get burnt and a lot of the growth will die back. If you have your plant infected with pests it might be easier to just cut off all growth and re-pot the rhizomes in a fresh new pot.

See all kohlerias.

Kohleria ‘Peridots Rolo’ is a cute kohleria hybrid with creamy pink flowers, and dark, contrasting, somewhat variegated foliage.

Kohlerias come in many colors and sizes. They all have similar requirements, furry foliage and flowers . The flowers come in varietey of colors and patterns, but are all tubular, fuzzy and mostly plentiful.
Kohleria ‘Peridots Rolo’ is a small kohleria, that stays under 12 ” (unless not enough light is provided, then it will get leggy and possibly taller). This plant flowers profusely (some kohlerias are mostly for foliage and flower less profusely). The pale pink flowers make a wonderful contrast with the darker foliage. If the light is lower the foliage is lighter green and the variagation can be clearly seen.

A gesneriad, this plant has similar requirements to the african violet, though in my opinion, is a lot easier to take care of. Kohlerias produce rhizomes that creep though the soil. The grow offshoots and very quickly fill up a pot. Don’t worry if you dry out your plant: it can re-sprout from the rhizomes. They look like fat caterpillars, and based on the type of kohleria, come in different shades and sizes. This kohleria has light colored rhizomes that are produced in large amounts.

Requirements:

Watering needs:

This kohleria is easy to grow (like all of them), has medium watering requirements. It prefers to have the soil evenly moist, as well as bottom watering (like the african violet). Therefore it grows really well with hygrolon strip through the soil, pulling water up from a container under the plant. If its still in a small pot, a piece of yarn will do the same.

Light:

Part shade to shade. This plant is relatively low light plant. It does like a little bit of a direct light, and can be grown on an east, west and north facing window. It grows and flowers well on a north facing window, especially if its a large unobstructed one, where the plant will get plenty of bright indirect light. It can be grown under lights as well.

Humidity:

Kohlerias prefer higher humidity, though they can tolerate lower. They do not like their foliage sprayed. It will leave wilt spots on the leaves.

Soil Type and Fertilizer:

Light, puffy african violet soil, or you can make your own mix. I add peat moss and plenty of per-lite or vermiculite to a generic potting mix, or add per-lite (more if you’ll be passively watering from the bottom of the pot) to african violet soil. This plant grows best if the soil is light, well-drained and aerated so that the kohleria can easily grow its rhizomes though it.

Propagation:

Extremely easy to propagate! Kohlerias simply grow off shoots and you can pick out one  out. You can also unearth some rhizomes or even a fraction of a rhizome. Kohlerias can be easily propagated though cuttings. In fact, you can have some cut flower in a vase and it will grow roots while flowering endlessly, unlike most plants where you have to remove any flowers or buds, so that the plant can form roots. You can also root a leaf, though that takes a lot longer.

Other Care Tips and Personal Observations: 

An awesome low light plant to have, that flowers endlessly with gorgeous interesting looking furry flowers. I absolutely love kohlerias! I have tons of them, though not all bloom non-stop, and will be listing other varieties soon. I love Kohleria ‘Peridots rolo’, because it is a smaller kohleria, compact and dense growing, and the the overall look of the plant is balanced and pretty. If you don’t have a kohleria at home, do yourself a favor and get some, you will not regret it. They are some of the easiest plants to grow in the home. In my experience a bit of cooler night temperatures make it flower even more heavily. Other than that there isn’t much to growing these beauties.