I have never posted on this forum before but I have a Hoya lauterbachii that I purchased from Logees about a year ago. I haven't managed to kill it yet but it isn't growing either. I looked on the sticky and didn't see this variety (I may have missed it). It has some new growth but basically its just sitting there. It is in a 4" round container and has been outside much of the summer now that the temps are finaly dropping I have brought it inside but I wantt to know what I'm doing wrong. Also, I just ordered a Hoya carnosa so how do I take care of that one. I read these were "easy" house plants, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Lisa
Hoya Lauterbachii questions
Over to Carol.............:))
Oh Spain such a beautiful Country. Do you know what zone your in? What large city are you near?
Lisa
Lauterbachii is an eriostemma and therefore has special needs. One is that unlike most hoyas it will thrive in direct sun, as strong as you can give it, year round. I have all of my eriostemmas (all 3...lol) in a south-facing window and they're very happy growers. Let it get fairly dry between waterings, but make sure its soaked good when you water it. When I transplanted H. guppyi a few weeks ago I put a bit dolomitic lime in the potting mix - it had been getting a lot of yellow leaves - that stopped immedately after I transplanted it.
Hope this helps.
Christine
OK What is a eriostemma? If you can grow it in zone 5 I should be able to grow it here. I'll pay more attention to the sun thing. Logees said it was easy to grow which made me think no special needs. How about Temp.?
Thanks,
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
I think you have ordered 2 Hoyas from either end on the easy/difficult spectrum of Hoyas, care wise. H carnosa is a doddle, and will give you beautiful, fragrant blooms easily. a good choice. Hoya lauterbachii , however, could be another kettle of fish. I have heard of only a few people who can get it to flower, and it really does need to be grown outside and get very big to flower, but with luck, you might hit the jackpot with whatever conditions you have it growing in.......so, keep it as a special possibility and nurture it.........you never know.
But, if you like Hoyas, there are many many other easier ones to grow, all different, all with different flowers and fragrances,and much easier that H lauterbachii to bloom. My advice would be to order/get a couple more of the easier ones too. H wayetii, H lacunosa ( depands on your growing conditions.likes Bathrooms and Kitchens, and has a wonderful scent ) .H. sp. DS70, H crassicaulis, H australis, H cumigiana..all of which are beautiful, easy, amazingly scented plants..........otherwise, trying to flower H lauterbachii, one of the ' Holy Grails'of the Hoya flowerer's kingdom, will only disappoint you, and posibly put you off Hoyas forever...which would be a shame. H carnosa is easy. and rewarding. Basic House Plant medium...let it mre or less dry out between waterings....give it s framework to grow up, medium to good light and you will be amazed. This one needs no misting, no special fertilizer, nothing....just a bit of a feed when you remember, a bit of a water when you remember, and you will be suprised. There are also many pretty cultivars of H carnosa which you might like to grow. Also, H publicalyx, and its many cultivars......
I dont want to sound pessimistic, but H lauterbachii sounds wonderfull in the brochurre, but its going to be a struggle and there are so many more , easier , to choose from
Dominic
Dominic
Dominic is unfortunately correct about lauterbachii. Flowers are generally only a dream with eriostemmas when kept as a houseplant. Eriostemmas are a type of hoya which flowers grow a bit differently, and some experts don't consider them to be hoyas at all because of this difference.
To address your question about my growing H. lauterbachii in zone 5 - all of my hoyas are houseplants - they are tropicals and eriostemmas especially must stay warm. This is why I have it in a south facing window. My home rarely goes below 72F during the winter, and that room gets quite a bit warmer during the day. I can dream LOL.
This was the first one I ever bought because it said easy to grow, I'm hoping the one I just ordered will be easier. Now I don't care if it blooms but I would just like it to grow. I've been following the directions I got for the last year but now I'm going to take it up stairs to my bathroom and pray it grows. I kind of feel like I was mislead. I wish I had posted here sooner.
Thank you all,
Lisa
Lisa, I'm so sorry! Lauterbachii WILL grow! Eriostemmas grow like fiends; you'll need a trellis for it before long. Its only the flowers that are elusive to most of us outside its ideal conditions of the humid rain forest. Give it a chunky potting medium with a little bit of dolomitic lime, sun and regular watering. Even before I knew they liked lots of sun, my eriostemmas grew well for me. And I am determined that despite what the experts say, my H. lauterbachii will flower one day. Not all dreams are impossible.
Christine
Yup...dealers will say anything!!! H. lauterbachii is probably one of the MOST difficult hoyas/eriostemmas to get to bloom!! Even for ME!!! It wants:
1. VERY warm
2. FULL sun
3. Something to climb
4. Health Insurance and a 401K.
I don't find them hard to grow...just bloom.
The blooms are spectacular!! I was so happy mine was blooming, I made DH climb a ladder over a 20' "cliff" on the tree and get them for me. He lived.
I find my lauterbachii grows pretty much like a weed, providing I don't move it. If I move it to a new location it drops a leaf or 2, then pouts for a week or so before it resumes growing.
Dee
Now the question is were to put it. I'm hoping that it will like my bathroom. My orchids grow well up there does that sound like a good spot, I think it fits all the above mentioned except it still at the point where it needs a 529 college fund. Logees doesn't advertise many of their plants as easy I wonder how this one got in that catagory? Our water is really alkaline so I don't know if I should add lime but I did repot it in chunky soil. I look foreward to getting a trellis for it, and my ex husband wouldn't have gone 20" to get me a bloom. Thank you all for the info. and encouragement.
Lisa
Sh........How did I get involved in this one? I looked in the catalog again and it says indirect light and not below 60*. I'm wondering if any of their directions are right. I love their plants but have lost a few even thought I followed the directions, one I bought
was supposed to be rooted but it fell out in my hand when I opened it. I did get it to root though. The bathroom is the only room that I can think of that comes close to those requirements. How did this get so complicated?
Lisa
"With lustful eyes ....." it's so tempting, but not all the ones I got earlier this year are settled in properly yet. I'm just too weak to say no, or enough's enough. But I've got a perfect spot for it, and I guess I won't rest easy until that spot is filled.
OH...I have a few hundred trees not dripping (yet) with Eriostemmas... Trouble is they scramble up to the top and then hang down...weighting the tree down so it breaks.... up again the hoya goes looking for another victim!!!
I really appreciate all of your help, I definately care enough to learn more, but I'm on a lot of forums so I feel that way about a lot of plants, the stranger the better. I moved the plant to my kid's bathroom because it is warmer. I'm going to try and take a picture of the poor thing, then if it starts to do better I can share that too.
Aloha-do they grow on all the islands? I didn't see any that I can remember but I didn't know to look.
Oh good Lord how did I ever get involved in this? I had mine outside on the deck most of the summer so it got plenty of heat maybe too much. I grow alot of veggies from Thailand in the summer but obviosly the winters here are too cold so every thing comes back in the house. I noticed when I repotted it that it had a very limited root system. The poor thing looks pathetic, and I have had it for at least a year. On the bright side I just noticed a bromiliad is sending up a bloom seems like its kind of late but I'll take it. It was a gift, I read up on them and this particular one likes acidic conditions (NO WELL WATER) so it gets bottled water or rain water. When I read that I started laughing of all the types I could have gotten I have one with "special needs" again. I really appreciate all the time you all are putting into this, it just makes me more determined. They say it takes a villiage to raise a child, so far I have help from all over the world to grow one Hoya. Sigh....
Thanks,
Lisa
I don't know about all of you, but I am DONE with difficult hoyas....I have quite a collection.....but I think you gotta really love the plant/leaves to fully enjoy hoyas...It can't be all about the flowers...unless of course you live in a nice cozy tropical climate! ; )
I am with you, hoyaqueen... There are some primadonnas I refuse to kill one more time. A grower once said, "I never claim to know a plant unless I have killed it at least 3 times". Life is too short!! Sometimes you find the groove and everything works until you sneeze one time to many and it has to go to the Big Tree in the Sky. Others are just as beautiful, some even more so, and they don't require anything much. Those are the ones I LOVE!!!!
I'm with you Carol! I truly don't have time for difficult ones. I have a praetorii (sp?) right now....damm thing has rooted beautifully, one TINY new leaf.....I truly "hate" it! But I'm taking excellent care of it....until it either thrives or I kill it. Every plant gets a fair shot! =)
The thing is, as I keep mentioning, this was advertised as an "easy grower", by Logees which has gotten great ratings on Garden Watchdog. Since it was my first one I would never have bought it if I had known the truth. I would have still gotten one but not that one. I feel like I was misinfomed and the directions don't match what any of you have said. It was one of the more expensive ones too 20.00 for a 2.5 inch pot. I'm going to try to post a picture of the thing. I kind of feel like I should post this on the garden watch dog because this was definatley not truth in advertising. When I first started this thread I thought I would get a simple answer I never dreamed I would get such an education.
Lisa
Reading all these posts I had no business getting this one. Its like a 1st grader going to Grad school, and not being told.
I think I'm giving up on the tiny leaf Hoyas ... those are the ones that seem to give me such headaches, LOL. Well, I actually don't let any plant give me grief, they either live or they don't. I have three lacunosa's outside that are almost totally dead, yet the two inside in air conditioning seem happy as clams! I don't know why but the larger leaf types seem to do much better under my care. And, I have much better luck with the thicker leaf types also. I killed two polyneura's last year and currently have two more inside. One is doing very well, the other is a little "iffy". Sometimes it's just hard to figure plants out! We have a cat that I keep saying always wanted to be an only "fur child" and sometimes I think some of these hoyas want to be an "only" plant!
1lisac: That doesn't look too bad to me. How long have you had it? Maybe it's just getting adjusted to your climate? Does it have roots? What type of soil/potting medium are you using?
It was a crime of "omission".... "Easy to Grow"...but they left out the rest of the sentence: if you live in a tropical environment and are a long time grower of hoya and doesn't mind disappointment.
Your comments in Garden Watchdog may remind someone not to believe everything they read and to do some little bit of research before buying a plant.... Good!!!
Edited to say that the most BEAUTIFUL H. polyneura I have ever seen was grown in a closet with a skylight in an airconditioned house!!!
This message was edited Nov 2, 2009 4:03 PM
You could always auction it on ebay............wouldnt be suprised if you got your money back and then could buy an easier Hoya....or 3.
Dominic
No, I'm going to keep it. With all this time and energy you have all put into it and I haven't killed it in the last year maybe I can even get it to grow!
:))
Thats the spirit
Dominic
Logee's is probably the largest, and well known mail order tropical plant business in the U.S. It has been in operation for over a hundred years and is definitely a fun place to visit if you are ever in that area of Connecticut. The owner is a good friend of Martha Stewart, and frequently appears on her show with incredible plants. I have ordered from them a few times and the plants always arrive in good shape, but they are almost always very small starter plants. The pictures in the catalog are almost always of mature or fruiting specimens, which always kind of make you disapointed at the size of the plant received. They do try to be up front about what you receive showing a picture of a typical 2 /12 inch pot and a 4 inch pot on the inside cover. They are in the business of selling plants, but I would have to say that in the case of Hoya lauterbachii, they kind of over sold it. I remember when it first appeared on the cover of their catalog, the photo was amazing, and I'm sure they got hundreds of orders for it. There is no doubt that they really made this one sound far easier to care for than it is.
Doug
I ordered mine as a cutting from DL because I liked its flowers and loved its name. Didn't know it was an eriostemma at the time. If it doesn't get enough light the leaves get very small, but the vine still grows - mine grew up past the window and headed for the ceiling. Once I clued in, I brought it down, wound it around its trellis and it just carried on growing. It has a very elastic vine.
I have ordered from them before, and in fact I have another order that just shipped today. The plants are small but I was aware of that when I ordered it so that isn't an issue for me. I have a much bigger problem with the directions (which I printed out) and the discription. They have other plants that don't say easy grower, I wonder why they thought to add that to this plant. If I read the info on this plant and this thread seperately I would have never thought it was about the same plant. What is an eriostemma and are hoyas succulents? I can't get mine to grow that is my main problem but with all of your imput I have moved it to my boys' bathroom (you can bet thet were thrilled, after they finally noticed it they ask what is THIS weed.) and repoted it. As you can see from the picture above it has room for lots of improvement! AHH....
Lisa
Eriostemmas are considered a separate genus from Hoya now, but at one point they were a section of the genus. There is lots of information online about them.... Hoyas are semi or completely epiphytic...some are more succulent than others. No, they are not succulents and should not be treated as such..... You are going to have fun learning about them....
I didn't think it was a succulent but I have seen them refered to as such.
For me, one of the intriguing aspects of hoya is that they are such a varied genus... Perhaps one day with DNA work, they will become more different and separated...but per Linneas's work, we are dealing with over 300 very different species, and tons of first cousins. It is different than growing, say, philodendrons 20 years ago. There is no set RULE nor Mode of Growing to fit all of them. Totally intrigueing.
Now..in order to understand more about hoya, you are about to embark on an adventure of geographical, historical, botanical, biophisical and simple growing challenges...
Bon Voyage....
Carol
Carol,
You have just made my interest increase 1000%. I have a back ground in biology so the DNA and niche thing really interests me. I will definately explore these aspects and I don't need my passport and I won't get jet lag.