Hi Hoya-heads!
I just subscribed for a couple of months...decided to try this site again after a long absence.
I recognize a few names here, and owe a big debt of gratitude to one of you who added immensely to my small collection of 3 about a year ago or so... (you know who you are!) ;)
I have a small Hoya mitrata on it's way to me, and wonder if any of you who have it can clue me in on some culture tips.
Moist, dry side, sun, shade....etc?
Wish there were an up-to-date book available on hoya varieties!
Thanks in advance for any info!
Nan
Hoya mitrata
Hey Nan, happy to see you here too!! I have a Mitrata and for me, I find it likes to dry out before watering. Mine is putting out new growth and doing great!!
Blessings,
Awanda
Hey girls!! Nice to see two good buddies reply!
Susancva...bummer!! Same thing happened to me all the time, but I've been trying to stay away from ebay recently....(haha...doin' great there, eh?!)
Do what I did, go to his ebay store, and buy one of those with a 'Buy it Now' tag.
I asked him to*please* not cut it back as he had with the previous 2 plants I'd purchased....(was that 'mean?)....so I'm hoping for a nice looking plant.
If it works, here's a link to his store/H. mitrata as of a couple of minutes ago...there are 2 up right now with 'Buy it Now' tags.
http://search.stores.ebay.com/search/search.dll?query=mitrata&srchdesc=y&sid=36907052&store=SECRET+GARDEN+RARE+PLANTS&colorid=1&fp=0&st=2
Susan,
I suspect you already have the mitrata. Remember the H. mitriformis that I sent you from B. Smoley's?? I was never able to find any info on such name and it really looks like H. mitrata, down to the cabbage like leaf growth. Mine has not bloomed yet but when it does, I'll sent blooms to get comfirmation.
Gemila
Mine is growing happily in bright indirect light, tons of water (but my potting medium is very loose, never soggy) and an hour or two of sun during the day. A friend of mine grows his outdoors under a tree so it gets tons of rain (150" per year)...the secret to that is, I think, that the soil is mostly cinders.
Lots of luck with it, Nan...it is an interesting hoya. I think the flowers look like a Dentists Dream! ;oD
Hi Carol...
This might be a bit off topic to this thread but i was wondering about the soil mixture you use....You have it loose and not soggy....i dont have my plants outdoors ....what is the mixture you use and do you use a different soil for indoors as compared to outdoors as i know you are in a much different climate than myself...i was just curious on that....i guess it probably depends on the plant too?
Sandy
Hi Sandy.... Nope, I use the same soil for EVERYthing...except, perhaps the Eriostemmas I use less peat. I mix about 1 part fine cedar bark/or washed coir, 1 part black cinder, 1 part #3 perlite and one part (or less) of chunky peat moss mixed with that coir shreddings. All of the coir has been rinsed to a fare-the-well...4 or 5 times. The good thing about using the 2 kinds of coir is that it retains the moisture but isn't soggy. I have found this mix works for growing the hoyas as well as for starting them from cuttings...I use it in the greenhouse and the hoyas outdoors.
The plants outdoors probably have more cinder in the mix....less peat/coir dust...they love it!
In my climate on the inland coast of CA (25 miles) we are hot and dry. The Huntington Gardens, grow all of our succulents in the same mix. 60% pumice 20% forest bark, leaves, mulch, sticks, 20% coarse washed construction sand. They seem to love a fast draining mix no matter what it is.
Carol, would you believe I have no trouble starting Hoya now? I even was able to start that Hoya? spartinides thing. It is interesting looking, to me like long pine needles with flowers on the tips. I keep my plants in all of the same size pots, so when they dry out, they do it all of the same time.
I can't be bothered sticking my finger in each one to test the soil. I also use coco bark, for my cuts, with pumice or perlite added. Carol my coir doen't come in shreddings, it comes ground up, more like peat moss.
What I' am reading is that you all like this forum, I am so glad I took a chance and started it, and Dave was a good sport to let us. I hope he is pleased. Norma
Where do you acquire the ingredients for your soil mix?? besides the perlite and peat which I have access to....would it be similiar to the same bark that is used for orchids?? or is this another mix all together?? Thanks Debra~
And to add to Debra's question and probably a very silly one on my part..what the heck is coir and black cinder?.....i have seen it posted before....what if you dont have all that? regular soil with added perlite mixed in isnt enough i guess?
This forum is very nice Norma...you did a great job starting it... :)
Sandy
Gemila, the mitraformis went to hoya heaven, but it will be nice to know if that really was a mitrata.
Nan: I've been to that seller's store and his store prices seem a lot higher than his Ebay prices. Usually it's the opposite. I'll probably try to get one from Carol. Her plants are usually a lot larger for almost the same money.
Oh! I forgot that too! Thanks Norma for 'chiding' Dave into starting the forum. Let's be sure we use it a lot!
Susancva...I seem to always get outbid, too, so that's why when I decided I wanted H. mitrata, I just did the 'buy it now' thing. Wish I would have thought about getting it from Carol....:(
I don't buy a whole lot of plants so I'm hoping the plant will reward my avoiding the hassle of checking the auctions all the time....and I absolutely *refuse* to use that 'sniper software program'!!
If mine arrives nicely and grows well, you *know* you're welcome to some cuttings!
I'm hoping to get ahold of some pumice one 'o these days....just not available around here!
Thanks for your insight, everyone!
Debra - yes, the bark is the same stuff used for orchids...and I use the fine bark. I have used the medium but I like the fine better.
AH, coir....loved it, hated it, now love it again! It is green coconut husk from Thailand - leftover from making coconut milk. Great way to use all that waste! It comes in Coarse, Medium and Fine and then in a compressed block that is very much like peatmoss but it holds water wonderfully and rewets very easily. The BAD news is that coir has a high salt content and needs to be soaked and rinsed, soaked and rinsed about 3 times. I find it at a nursery supply here. Once it is free of salt, it is a good medium!
Black cinder is crushed lava, actually...not the red stuff they sell which is really high in iron and nothing will grow in it, but the black stuff. Pumice would work. More bark would work.
I really mix soil like I cook: by feel and taste! As I mix, I wet the stuff, grab it in my fist and squeeze really hard. If it all falls apart when I open my hand and is crumbly, I know it is good....no wet lumps.
The object of this soil is that there is air down at the root level, and moisture. Peat just dries out too fast but it does stay more moist when mixed with the coir. If you don't want to water as often (I love to water), use more "coir peat". I find that hoyas love their roots getting a shower so I accomodate them!
One of the best rooting medium around is that fine sawdusty like coir mixed about 50/50 with #2 perlite. Wow...great stuff!!! I used it for a while but then had to repot when the hoyas rooted and grew out of the pot and with all the cuttings I have, it was a lot of work. Now I start directly in a 4" pot...sometimes in a 2".
Good news, Norma...glad your propagating is successful!!! You will be taking over Huntington Operations in no time!!!
Thanks for the description on coir and cinder, Carol... i will have to keep my eyes peeled if its available here in Canada......maybe Milan has come across it in his travels in Quebec....
Sandra
Sandra,
Coir is relatively easy to come by. Check at your local Hydroponics supply stores and it is also available in pet stores.
This message was edited Jul 9, 2004 3:25 PM
Thanks Milan, i will look for it in those places....
OH, I just remembered something I have heard about...but never used: crockery shards. Yep. Shards (fine ones, I imagine, of crockery, pottery, clay pots... All retain moisture, don't break down and provide air/space at root level). Another thing is...please, don't laugh...corks! Cut/sliced/crumbled...used in potting mixes they provide a good source of moisure, and are lumpy. I guess lumpy is one of my key factors...lumpy organic material that doesn't break down easily. ;
Well Carol, you have the recycling thing down pat if you use all those things as "soil"....lol..thats a good thing to know though....come across any of those items and stick them away for future use!....and Milan, the var. Multiflora has grown already! ....
Thanks Aloha for the soil info!! I need to check out Lowe's or Home Depot for the small bark...I've seen the medium but never the small...I might have to check out an online source.....I'm having a hard time finding seed starting medium for my seeds that I plant throughout the year....I have a small greenhouse, so I can plant tropical seeds, but I need a source for the seed starting mix.....the stores seem to think if it's past spring planting season, they don't need to carry it any longer than that.... argh!! Debra~
Debra...if you can find the compressed coir: you can cut it into 4 pieces and soak/rinse it more easily. Then mix it with # 2 perlite...it is WONderful. All the big nurseries use it for starting and seeds here: it drains immediately but holds the moisture. I am sold on it...but start hoyas in the regular mix because I don't have time to pot/repot/repot ad nauseum.... I can send you the brand names/phones/etc. from the bags if you want!
Carol
Home Depot also has the coarse construction sand, be sure to wash it and put through a strainer. I don't like to use peat moss here, because when it dries out it get hard as a rock, and it is difficult to moisten again. I love coir. I also mix it into the cactus mix that you can buy at any nursery, I use Orchid mix, African violet mix, as long as it is light and not heavy. Some people, but not in Calif. use native soils, not me. Some who have small streams, use tiny pea size pebbles to keep the soil open, but I think that would be rather heavy. Vermiculite packs down and turns to mud, so I don't use that.
Carol I won't be taking over anything, I have been assigned to be responsible for the training of the Hoya so they don't get out of bounds and take over the tropical house. They (hired help) will be doing the watering and fertilizing like they do the other plants, I do help out with the watering when our weather is so hot. I will be responsible for the mealies, but they will tell me what I can use in their nursery to control them. Staff tells me what to do and I follow the instructions. I do sell, I do water, I do fertilize, I do weed, I do clean the floor, I do propagate for sales. I also research information to save the curator time. I just love it there, they teach me so many things, and we can all discuss what ever problem that may come up. I am allowed to disagree and express my opinion. I come and go as I please, I don't have to do anything that would be too much for me, they ask me what I would like to do for the day. It's a two-way street. Norma
Alright, Susan!! did you get it yet?
I had asked that mine not be cut back...and it wasn't! It was a lovely plant - 4" pot....2 cuttings.
So far so good...I've placed it near an east window and allow it to almost dry between waterings.
Nan and everybody! I received my mitrata today from cowboyflowerman. It is a nice hoya! Gemila:I don't believe this is the same as mitraformis. Remind me to send you a cutting in a few months. I don't believe I can get one off this now. Also Nan, If you don't already have the dischidia philipinese that he is selling, you need to get it. It is awesome! Oh and Carol, it is not the same thing that you sent me a while back, it's totally different. I'll send you a cutting as soon as it grows a little if you want. Let me know!
Susan
Nan, glad to see you here, There are several books still available out there that is up to date. I subscribe to the Fraterna which I like very much. I have old copies of the Hoyan which has good pictures. There are books out there available from Rainbow Gardens, Dale Kloppenburg has several available and you can contact him directly. He even has one on disk (floppy?) Lois Duffy is selling back issues of the Hoyan. Which also has excellent information and pictures. Each author approach may be different but the information in all is great. Try Brooks Botanical Book store, I hope I can find his address. ABE books is world wide, perhaps you can get good used books cheaply. Most are in good condition or fine condition, and may be signed by the author. Norma
Susan...I would love a cutting. I am starting to get a lot of Dischidias...got a bunch from Ed Gilding and I think the names are even more confused than Hoyas!!! Hope to get them straightened out and pick up a few more when I go to Oz.
That one I sent you, Susan, with the long stringbean like leaves is F-440. Really a sexy name, eh? I love it's growth!
Oh, gee,....thanks, Susan (lol!) You've gotta stop this...I was trying sooooo hard not to buy any more!! ;o)
Guess I'll have to try 'thinning out' some of my other plants?
Thanks for the info, Norma! I be off on a search!