I would have to say Caudata.It started out looking really good and then lost almost all it's leaves and then started putting out leaves again..It is thriving from neglect,I have put it in a place where it gets morning sun and late evening sun.Any tips on growing this plant outdoors?
What is your hardest hoya to grow ?
Some of mine seem to be VERY touchy to overwatering. (Or even watering too often). My caudatas are like that. I have to treat them like cactus and then they are happy. They even seem to like more sun than the others.
I can't get my waymaniae to grow either (altho I did manage to get 2 cuttings to take...they aren't growing either). I have an Imperialis that drops a yellow leaf every time I give it too much water too. My bellas I have in self watering pots and they seem to do OK there.
I have the same trouble getting some of them to grow. Seems to be the more rare and better ones that do that too. The common pubicalyx clones I have all over the place are climbing the trees and taking over. Ha. My Kerris are headed up the tree too. I hope Paul doesn't decide he wants to prune the olive tree any time soon. Ha.
Marcy
I do not have H. caudata yet so can't comment on that one. My most finicky one seems to be variegated bella for which I haven't found the "sweet spot" in care yet. A H. serpens which I got not too long ago didn't look good initially but seems to have acclimatised now and shows some growth. Worrisome was H. imbricata which just sat there doing nothing for the past few month but low and behold just yesterday when I checked I noticed a new stem creeping up my custom made tree simulation post (Yipeeeee). H. imperalis suddenly stopped growing this spring after growing like crazy during the last winter. Brought this one inside a few weeks ago and now it starts growing again (moody?).
Milan
Hi Milan,
I was wondering for future reference (if i ever get another), what kind of potting medium to you have your serpens planted in now and where did you get yours? The reason I am asking is the one I bought from Pike Lake this summer was in a very soggy soil (I think) and I should of pulled it out of there right when I got it instead of leaving it in there to rot away...I guess I was thinking it would be fine in there and it wasn't...also, I find the var. bella seems to like being under the grow lights with some misting....the leaves are pretty pink colour before maturing as they grow...Its a very pretty plant....
btw, the minibelle has sprouted some new growth already!....I can't believe it....
Sandy
Hey! Marcy! Thanks for that line about your caudatas. I'm going home and repot the caudata into clay. Last weekend, I got the idea to try changing some of their pots to clay and you will not believe this, but all of these hoyas became a beautiful dark green color(very enhanced color) so I think I'm on to something.
I just know the reason we don't see all these rarer ones in stores is because they are so slow to grow.
My Caudata, was one of the ones I re-potted into clay a couple of months ago, and it just took off with new growth. I have found that mine like to dry out before watering again. It also receives early morning sun. The hardest plant for me to grow is Waymaniae, it just won't do anything for me. Susan it is amazing how the color comes back to the plant after re-potting into clay. I'm on my way to the greenhouse to do more re-potting into clay pots:-)
Blessings,
Awanda
H. hypolasia was my biggest problem child...until I threw up my hands and hung it outside under a tree...it has grown like a weed....sometimes it is really hard to know!
I have 2 H. Caudata and both growing like weeds one is in full morning sun and the other is in bright light.
I have 2 H. Caudata and both growing like weeds .... one is in bright light and other is in bright lite... also keep on the dry side.....
Carol, can you ship to Calif. yet? Norma
Bella is the one most likely to die in my care. I had a beautiful 8" overflowing pot that dwindled to a few lonely strands..
I repotted what was left in the potting mix suggested by Carol Noel, brought it into the house in the air conditioning and placed it under a flourescent light above my kitchen sink.
The little sucker produced buds, which blasted, but it looks healthier than ever.
My imperialis could also look a little more robust.
My notes from David Liddle say....constant moisture!
Imperialis....I had bunches of trouble at first...now nothing. Air flow increased and that could be the answer. Air flow, I find, is really critical!!!!
Carol my husband has a rather huge fan,he picked it up at work it's 4 foot by 6 foot and he put it in his shop but where it blows it's right on my hoya's that are hanging right out the back door and I do believe air flow increases growth,plus watering everyday and I have plants that are blooming for the first time this year,yesterday I found camphorifolia in full bloom.My first to see this hoya in bloom and it's so pretty,it smells like butterscotch.before I had moved my hoya's to the back of the house in the shadehouses ,they were growing but not as well as they are now,But I have a couple that are puzzling,but as long as I can take cuttings from these plants all hope is not lost.
4 foot by 6 foot? Wow....that is a collosal sized fan! That must be one windy shop. Ha.
I think you may be on to something with the air flow thing however, as mine do very well when they are out on the olive tree, and it is always breezy out there except on very rare still days. When I bring them in the house, they just seem to hold all growth for later.
Marcy
I am thinking that airflow is the reason I can take a plant out of the greenhouse (where I have a ceiling fan 'moving' the air) and put them outdoors where they put on tons of new growth and bloom. Most folks grow the plants indoors so "outdoors" is not an option year round, but consider small fans and/or something to give different breezes (not blasts). Another key is "moving light"...light that is not constant - another reason the plants grow better out of doors, in a window etc.
David Liddle grows in large shade houses (80% shade cloth), and for those that need more shade, they are in an area with even less light.
I some of my new cuttings 46 miles up the mountain to a friends' house where they could grow in the cool, misty breezes they prefer: H. pauciflora, H. patella (both the pink and the white forms), H. fusca, and H. engleriana...H. microphylla lives up there, too. Now THOSE will be very difficult to take care of....! Long rides!!!!