What to do?

I have a hoya that I got from Tombstonejan. It was a healthy cutting but has now decided to climb the house. I peeled its little fingers from the stucco wall and now have a leggy plant 7+ feet long. I had rescued this chair and was going to refinish it and give it a wire seat to let the hoya climb upon but am wondering if it is really big enough for the job. Should I cut the really leggy pieces off and root them or just wrap them around. It is currently only in a 6"pot so repotting is the first step. Not a great pic because of the glare, but here is the critter and the chair.

6" pot is really not too small, Frogs...have you any old tomato cages? They work wonders as the " trellis" and you can keep the long runners, just wind them around. my 2cents.

Carol

Carol's "2cents", as always, speaks volumes. Tomato cages are wonderful and very cost-efficient - I used one for my hindu rope until it got too heavy for it. In my opinion, that chair would make a mighty fine trellis. DON'T cut the "really leggy" pieces off!!! Leaves will grow on them eventually. Wind them around whatever trellis you end up using.

Thanks you two. Hmmmm scheming now. What if I used half of a full 7' arch attached to the fireplace (never used.) I could hang the plant at the arc and let it go as it will. Will it continue to grow this quickly? My grandmother used to have a hoya that was so big we used it for a "fort."

YES!!!!!
PERFECT!!!
It will continue to grow as quickly as it has, except it should slow down over winter (well in my zone it will, might just keep on growing down there).

Winter will be over in a week or so here lol. The cactus are all sending out bloom shoots now. The more I think about it, the more I like the arch. I love the things. Michaels gets them for $5 and you can toss them anywhere. Yes I use them for tomatoes too.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/436436/
This beast eventually tried to take over the patio roof.

Ok, if I wasn't already green with zone envy, that tomato plant sure did it for me!! Just incredible, frogs!! Post a picture once you have it set up, eh!

Hey...the arch sounds perfect! That hoya will climb in and out of it and soon it will be a mass of leaves and flowers. If you have a protected place in the garden where it does not get AS cold (I read where it may freeze again tonight) you could leave it outdoors .... once you find out what it is and if it is H. pubicalyx or H. carnosa. Do you know what it is?

Carol

They are saying only 43 tonight. The arch would be next to the house on the north side. I have a cactus garden there. It is a carnosa I think.

H. carnosa can take low temps...as long as it isn't exposed to FREEZE for a long time (and out in the open) it is very hardy. Especially being next to the house...as long as there is an overhang . Should be really fine.

WOW, but it's colder on the north side.
I heard that San Diego is warmer than Los Angeles, especially if you are inland about 20-30 miles,
I would think it need more sun, and less water. Get some Eleanor's F11 that will put leaves on those vines, and wrap it around and around and use those green ties to fasten it onto what ever you decide to use.
Too bad you don't have a chain link fence, what a wonderful fence cover. I think I would use it to cover my lath house, and wait until it flowers, it will smell so good and the neighbors will want to know what it is they will smell it all the way down the block, at least across the street. LOL Norma

I think I put my Hoya carnosa on my north side chain link fence. Won't the neighbor be surprised when it flowers. I may just experiment, you gave me the idea, thanks, Norma

Hi all, I'm new to this forum. I used to have a Hoya carnosa when I lived in Germany. At the time I didnt' even know what it was....only a few months ago when I recognized the flowers on the PDB and then looked further into the leaves etc did I know for sure that's what I had. It was handed down to me by an elderly neighbor who passed away. I loved the waxy flowers and their scent. Being in Berlin, of course I had this plant indoors. Now I'm wondering from this thread if it's possible to grow it outdoors in the garden soil (rather than in a pot) as a fence climber. Our winters get down to about 40 and we have a lot of rain for 3-4 months during the winter...no rain at all in summer, but that's not a problem because we have a drip system for watering. Summers get hot and dry. Where I would grow this, the plant would get about 4 hours of morning sun and then indirect light for the rest of the day. Would this location work for a Hoya carnosa? My final question is about it's growth rate and how much it climbs. The area where I'm intersted in putting it has 3 trees nearby (about 1.5 meters away in either direction away from the wall). Would the Hoya overtake the trees problematically or would it be controllable?

Thanks so much for any and all feedback!

-Julie

I would think that you could grow it outside easily. You have no frost. Sounds like heaven to a hoya to me. My grandmother had hers in the ground. Norma was just mentioning putting it on a chainlink fence. Mine was a cutting year ago and has grown to 7 ft, of course not all of that has leaves yet. It is a climber. I had to remove it from my stucco walls but it is not an out of control kind of plant.

Norma, the North (and slightly west-canyon you know lol) side of my house bakes in summer which is why there are cactus there. They seem to like it there. It is one of those useless areas they like to put around CA houses-not enough room to swing a dead cat in. At least my has a wide cement walkway so my cactus and potting bench are there.
Janice

So......Janice & Carol......just what kind of hoya is that one? Sure is pretty! I have a 14 foot long wall in my office that separates the two halves of the room (wall is 7 feet high). Me thinks one of those fellers would grow in both directions along the top of that wall and look pretty darned great!

Where can I get one of these plants?
I have a sweet potato growing in my kitchen window for the leaves as a vine. The purple vine is very attractive.
Thank you

I am told that the H. carnosas and the H. pubicalyx are the most cold tolerant - there are others like H. globulosa and H. polyneura who really thrive in the cooler temps., but the carnosas and pubicalyx are tougher and more tolerant of other conditions, too. You could, Salvia Lover, give it a try....the hot dry direct sun in the morning may be a problem...but spritzing with a hose would help.

Kachina - Frogs said it was a H. carnosa...they DO love to climb!

Janeth2 - often the big box stores carry the H. carnosas and H. pubicalyx....