up close and personal

Finally, for the first time, my Hoya is blooming.

Isn't that something. Wow!

I've never seen a flower like that before. It's perfect.

I just said to Pam the other day that I'd never seen it bloom. I got a cutting from my Mom many years ago, and I finally get blooms. It sits right beside the television, and I didn't even notice the buds.

oh how pretty must smell reall nice
Wilma

Beautiful photo echoes! I got some from my mom too. Just in January she potted up some cuttings and gave me a pot full. I didn't even know they bloomed. I will have to check her mature plants more closely.
Susan

Great Picture Brenda.

Thanks for the nice comments. If you want yours to bloom Susan, don't trim it back. The blooms are actually on the scraggliest stems.

It's lovely echoes!! Ü What a wonderful surprise (I bet the scent twigged you into searching for the bloom ;)

I think the scent is strongest at night. It seemed a lot stronger in the evening. But no, I finally noticed something different from across the room.

BTW Thank you so very much for the plants! Ü

You are so welcome. Are you on Linda's puter?

That I am. Ü

It is soooooooooo gorgeous here....the Camelias and Magnolias are in bloom EVERYWHERE!!! I think they think I'm weird getting so excited over plants that are almost like weeds here.;) Butchart took my breath away! AND the nurseries (oh to have a couple of hundred to spend....if only WestJet could understand our obsession)!! As it is it's a running joke here, between the others, wondering HOW Imma gonna get what I bought home. ;) Never mind the trades!!!

This message was edited Apr 3, 2005 8:28 AM

Never mind if you go over the top. Just get a good box and mail a pile home. I'd be doing the same oohing and aahing. But mostly in the nurseries.

Brenda, that's fabulous! I was just about to post a question about how to get a Hoya to bloom...I know they won't for several years after being repotted, or moved; that they don't want to be overwatered....but what's your secret? I've followed all the rules for years and nary a blossom.

The first time I saw a hoya flower was in the home of friends who have wonderful taste in plants and collectibles. I was absorbed in taking everything in--there's so much, I always see something new--when I saw a dead looking plant with what looked to me like something you'd find in a Hawaiian cocktail.

"Dale!" I exclaimed, "How CAN you be so tacky?" And then was embarassed to learn it was real, and that the plant had dried out during one of their absences. I wonder if that is the secret--neglect. Anyone know?

(By the way, I was only half serious with her--they are fond of making fun statements, and John once did a CBC interview (Johnny on the Spot, remember him?) wearing a t-shirt and a silk top-hat. Since it was a serious subject, I think even "Johnny" was a bit taken aback!)

Double Wow! That is beautiful. Fuzzy blooms - very curious....
Jo

Yes the blossoms are so perfect they don't look real. For years I don't think it got enough light. For the past few years it has been just off to the side of an south east patio door. Not over watered especially in winter, and fertilized from early spring with Schultz's 10-15-10. But most importantly, I quit cutting off the parts that got too long.

Thanks for your appreciation.

This message was edited Jul 3, 2005 8:59 AM

Those are wonderful hoyas. My mom too has a couple of those, that are old, and have lots of blooms. They look fake, but in the evening, they can smell up a whole room. Just lovely

Beautiful, echoes!
:) Donna

Thank you Donna.

Where exactly do you grow the Hoya, Brenda? Mine is in my pond glasshouse.......oodles of humidity...I'm certain that's what does it.....very pretty! Elaine

Great thread! Pam you could try the bus.--- I will pick them up for you;o) LOL!

This message was edited Jul 3, 2005 9:00 AM

Ah thank you Joelle......such a sweet gesture! ;)

That's a beautiful picture Brenda. I too have a hoya that never blooms but at least the foliage is lovely.....green with lots of white.

Ahhhh the secret of getting a Hoya to bloom, nobody knows for sure but there are a few things to try which may encourage them to bloom.

-Don't be fooled by those thick leaves, Hoyas dislike having the soil dry and it actually can kill them. Hoyas are mainly native to tropical rainforests where there is plenty of moisture year around. Their roots will die if the soil goes completely dry and then rot when watered again. Keep them well watered but never let the soil go completely dry, just don't have them stand in water. Soil moisture can remain the same in Winter as they don't go through a rest period, only water less if the location gets cool in winter
- Bright locations with indirect sunlight are best. If the leaves go brown and crisp then you have too much direct sunlight. Variegated leaf types may require more light then their plain green bethren.
- Moving and/or repotting doesn't really disturb their "bloomability" and/or health as long there are no drastic sudden changes to the environmental conditions.
- Fertilize 1/8-1/4 strength with every watering. I myself use 4 weeks of balanced fertilizer (20-20-20) and then 2 weeks of bloom booster (10-52-10).
- The higher the humidity the better

If you want to have fast blooming Hoyas get H. bella or H. multiflora, only problem with those is that they are more sensitive than H. carnosa.

Super Echoes. You def. need a diary for each of your plants. Friend Shirley has had a hoya at least 15 years, without a single bloom --- never ever.

Inanda

Panama Creel---thanks VERY much. By your guidelines, I've not been watering mine enough and rarely have fertilized it, as per the directions of someone who gave me the original cuttings. But come to think of it, his didn't bloom either! It may not be getting enough light, either.

Big changes on the way, I expect flowers to pop out all over. Well, maybe next year?

Careful what you wish for, some people absolutlely dislike the fragrance of H. carnosa and pubicalyx (another easy to grow Hoya) blooms. Multiple blooms indoors can get an overpowering sweet smell in the evening that hits you like a wall when you walk into the room. Someone once told me they smell like "chicken feet", to me they smells like Honey.
Edited: Oh and BTW they'll bloom year around, there is no "blooming season". Also they'll bloom again and again from the same flower stem so don't trim after the flowers fate (not all Hoya species do that though).

This message was edited Apr 5, 2005 5:18 PM

Thanks for the information Milan. Mine will be getting better treatment in the future as well. Jeanne recently gave me a cutting of a different one so I'll be able to start off on the right foot with that one. Hopefully I'll get some blooms too. When I was a kid my mom had one that used to bloom a lot. I have to admit that I found the fragrance overpowering and not one that I particularly liked. Also, it used to drip lots of sticky nectar or something. LOL So Rosemary, make sure you put yours in a spot where that won't matter if you do start seeing some buds.

Sandy

Milan, thanks, I've got your information and will get it my mom this week, and her's should take off as well. They bloom, but not as often as she'd like. She's got one like the one posted here at the start of this thread, and it just smells lovely in the evening.

Gorgeous picture echoes! How long have you had yours, and what do the leaves look like? I've got several different types of mostly carnosa-type hoyas. Milan, do you know what type of hoya echoes has? I think its a carnosa, but the flowers look a little lighter pink than mine.

Yes looks like carnosa.
Flower coloration can vary in accordance to growing conditions, furthermore it can be very challenging to get the true color to show up in a picture as those fine hairs cause light/color distortions. I usually touch up pictures manually so that the color looks similar to what I see on the real thing :).

Ah, that explains much - you're a magician 8-). Thanks Milan.

I just discovered today that my "regular" carnosa has an umbrel full of flowers that'll open in about a week or so. I shuffled them all around last fall, so they've been paying me back by not blooming early this spring - usually they start about mid-end of February.

Here you got part of my Hoya mess :), many more blooms behind the blinds.
Needless to say that I don't open my blinds there. It's gonna be a heck of a job untangling those guys when I want to put them outside once it's nice and warm here.

LOLOL You're going to be a very busy man soon Milan!

Hey and Archie's getting pretty close to blooming again for you!

Wow!! It's hard to concentrate on looking at the blooms with all that vibrant writing everywhere. You really are a magician. How do you do that? It's going to get worse with the blinds....maybe you should start untangling now. *Ü*

Hey, Milan, you REALLY are into hoyas! And to think that before this thread I hadn't even realized I could get different types. I think mine is like Echo's...will find out if it ever blooms. Meanwhile, it's been taking over the downstairs. I have to keep cutting it back--just did a massive trimming. Now I'm wondering if that is why it doesn't bloom? The darned shoots even worked their way behind some boards. My DH was complaining he was having nightmares about it coming after him at night. He started calling it kudzu. (And I'm thinking of fertilizing it? I must be mad)

Rosemary, it likely doesn't bloom because you keep cutting it back. Those shoots will eventually produce new leaves. Most often though, they'll produce an umbrel first, and bloom long before any leaves appear. Make a trellis for it to climb up instead, and let it keep all of its shoots.

Yep archboldiana will bloom very soon again, should be another week or two. This time only half the amount of flowers but still better than nothing :).

If I untangle them now then they'll be tangled again by the time I move them. I just watch that they don't grow through small holes and crevices where I never would get them out again (and they absolutely love to grow into these places)

Peduncles are more likely to form on new growth so constantly cutting it back could inhibit flowering. Just turn those new shoots around and let them intertwine with the existing stems.