I have noticed a few comments about hoyas being succulents, and at the risk of sounding pompus...I believe it would be a big mistake to treat ALL hoyas as such. There are a few which could be considered "succulents" (able to withstand long periods of drought) but most hoya are understory plants and being epiphytic are able to scrounge moisture. Treating H. bella or H. serpens or any of the thinner leafed hoyas as succulents would be sudden death!
A few that ARE more succulent are H. pachyclada, H. australis ssp. rupicola and ssp. orimicola... They have thick fleshy leaves where they can store water. Actually, I grow H. pachyclada out in the rain and it is very happy, blooming away.
I only mention this because there are some very new growers who would be very upset if they lost their lovely hoyas because they were treated like succulents....
Carol
Hoyas as Succulents
Hehe Carol I don't want to start that discussion again as in other forums before but my opinion is still that "succulent" does not automatically mean drought resistant but many often think they are as soon the word succulent is mentioned in conjunction with a plant.
I learned that the hard way (sometimes the best way :)
Agreed. I also have a collection of Euphorbias and Agave that thrive in 160" of rain per year!
I think we all should look up the word succulent. Find out what in their leaves say that it is so. My information was arrived from a book called the Succulent Lexion Asclepiadaceae, Hoya section written by C Hoffman, R. van Donkelaar et. al.
This esteemed book was witten by experts, not just self acclaimed experts. They list 163 Hoya that are judged as succulent. Saying that there are many more varieties but not room to mention them all. I believe we should all do our homework before shooting someone else down.
There is a book called Botanical Latin, by Sterns which I suggest we all use for research. "succulent 'sappy juicy';
historia plantarum succulentarum, history, i.e. account , of succulent plants" not my quote, but from the book.
Also look in Webster dictionary.
Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants, Editors Focke Albers Ulrich Meve will explain what is a succulent.
No one said to treat all Hoya as such.
No one said Euphorbia need dry soil, in Tropical Madagascar they need wet soil.
I only said that the book sites 163 species, with 33 pictures in color. There are over 500 listed species at this time, which some are duplicates or syn.
Some Crassula need it dry
Some Aloe need it dry
Some Hoya need it wet, and some dry, nothing in science in written stone. We are all students, of the species, as well as the self claimed experts. Science is constantly changing.
Norma, even the experts cannot agree upon the meaning of succulent plant and it seems that there has not been a valid publication trying to clearly define it, only individual "opinions/theories" seem to be out there.
Even Prof. Dr. Focke Albers of the Institute for Botanic in Münster Germany (you mentioned him above) stated word by word: "It is probably impossible to define what constitutes a succulent plant - at least in view of the several competing definitions".
I agree with Carol above that many people hear/see Hoyas are succulents, thus automatically assume less watering required to find out in a few weeks that they are dying.
As with any plant it is always best to verify growing conditions in its native territory and treat them as close as possible to that at your home.
This message was edited May 18, 2004 8:54 AM
Exactly, I treat them almost the same as my other succulents, if they are tropical, I treat them as such. I have other tropical plants growing in my garden.
Castus also need watering once a week. In fact the ones in my front garden get watered every third day with the sprinklers. But I have very fast draining soil, they are in the ground with perfect sandy garden loam, that drains quickly with 8" of top soil full of 60% pumice.
When I grew Hoya in the ground they did well along my north wall, and they were lucky to get water. But then again that is a cool shady side of the house. None of my other succulent plants would tolerate tropical rains. Not even my Madagascar tropical plants. We are desert here, lucky to get 9" of rain yearly, but then that does not mean I must starve my W. coast African plants which came from a fog belt in Africa, and that is where they got their moisture. No fog belt no plants. Norma
Norma, please forgive me. My intention was not to shoot anybody down...simply, as Milan said, to expand upon the notion that hoyas should be treated as succulents-the common misconception of succulents. So many hoya collectors and enthusiasts grow their hoyas in artificially created environments like houses and apts. and, not knowing all of the ramifications of "succulents", want to treat them as desert plants. I only wanted to clarify that point.... Carol
Carol, with that in mind, I must also clarify to beginners that all plants need water, including the cacti species as well as the succulent specie. All plants need water, air, a place to grow, food, and love.
Plants seem to need the same things we do, and yes, plants have a sex life. LOL A title of a science class which my friend conducted for high school students, her glass was always filled to capicity. LOL Norma