Retusa in bloom

My retusa is putting on quite a show at present

Wow! That's incredible GQ - how do you take care of this hoya? A lot of people have trouble with retusa; mine's just a rooted cutting at this stage. Can you please share some care tips?


Christine

I have to second that Wow! That plant is unbelievable. I tried for a year and a half to keep mine alive and failed. The worst part of losing the plant is that I loved it. I don't really mind losing a plant that looks like everything else, but this plant is so unusual I really wanted it to thrive. H. retusa is a plant that I really want to try again at some point. Great Job growing! Obviously this is a plant that loves a greenhouse.

Doug

GQ, gorgeous plant!

Thank you guys, I appreciate your comments. I really don;t know why it likes it so much. I have it in a little 4" pot that hangs with a small vandaceous orchid on a shepherd's hook in a very very sunny spot in the greenhouse. It gets watered every day in the hot season, about every other day in winter. I fertilize it like I do everything else in the GH, I use Nutricote slow release and give all my plants (of all types...hoyas, palms, aroids...EVERYTHING) a foliar feed 3-4 times a year with a chelated iron + micronutrient spray that I load up on a pump up sprayer.

I give that extra nutritional to everything because FL soil is just sand ind is pretty nutrient poor for the most part, so the things that are planted in the ground benefit from it, and the things that grow epiphytically and in pots also love it.

Sun! Okay, I'll move mine so that it gets more sun; its one that's not overly happy in S/H so I think I'll switch it over to potting medium, but in a few weeks.

Thanks so much GQ



Christine

Mine started out as a single (and I do mean SINGLE) cutting about 2 years ago. So anything is possible.

I also have a problem with poor "soil" but mine is more of a lateritic gravel. It won't hold water, won't hold nutrients and with the year round high temperatures the humus doesn't last long in the soil either.

VERY NICE! Never seen that many flower on a retusa.

I have a H retusa plant which was quite large when I bought it...It flowered very well that the first year, but it was in one of those 'never dries out' mediums which I find difficult to regulate the watering of and it took a nose dive this spring and I thought it was on its way out...so I took lots of cuttings......The original plant however has made a comeback and looks ok again, has filled out with new growth and is now flowering..tho I water it much less, and all the cuttings, which are in a very quick drying mix are flowering too.
Dominic

Great growing GQ! That is one cool looking plant! I've never seen retusa before and don't remember ever seeing a picture of one. It reminds me a bit of linearis which I killed quickly.

Ok, I need to go look up Nutricote - do you find it locally or have to order on line? And, do you mind me asking what brand of chelated iron + micronutrient spray you use?

Thanks!
Nutricote is the same thing as Dynamite, but it comes in big bags that private nurseries usually break down and sell in half-pound and pound increments. Its cheaper to buy it that way than to buy Dynamite from Home Depot. You get more for your buck. I just bought a couple bags from an orchid vendor that also has some micros added. Pretty cool.

I just use the plain old cheap one called Chelated Palm Nutritional. Its manufactured by Sun Agro or some such company in FL. You mix a TBSP in a gallon of water and spray it on. They also make some powdered forms of micro supplements but to me it seems like you could over fertilize with those.

Thanks for the info GQ! Your plants always look so awesome, so the stuff must be good!