Wow!! I was at Lowes today with DH & I was checking out the house plants & happened to glance up & saw a pot that had miniture leaves & it was Hoya Carnosa & then I walked around the rack & low & behold there was another pot & it was Hoya bella. Whoopeee!!!
Now, I don't have a green house, what should I feed them & how often should I water them to get them to bloom the way I've seen some on here bloom?
TIA,
Jan
I'm Estatic!!!
Jan,
What a score!!! Hunting for them is half the fun. How miniature are your leaves on your carnosa? My thinking is it may not be a regular old carnosa.. I don't have a green house either, I keep all mine in east or west windows. Nice and sunny, but not enough to burn my leaves. Your H. bella will take more water than your H. carnosa will. I water when the soil is dry down to about an inch. I am on my second H. bella, I seem to always kill them. I have taking cuttings off again in hopes of starting a new plant. To me they are very particular. But are very beautifull in full bloom. I feed my plants every watering, I feed half of what the directions say on the container, I also mist any where up to ten times a day with fertilizer in the water. Not much humidity here so I have to create some. Hope this helps in some way, congrats on your score!!!!
Tammy
I water H. bella like you would an African violet. I keep water in the drip dish. One of them I have in a self-watering pot & I make sure the bottom of it stays full of water.
I don't think they like to be drenched, but I do think they like to stay moist. My mix is light & airy so they don't really get "water-logged",or soggy feeling, but they do stay moist. I notice they start to look "distressed" if I forget them and their bottom dishes go dry for more than a day.
HTH
Marcy
Marcy---I have been following your orders to the letter and my beautiful baby is doing wonderful.......Also see there is another on ebay !!!!! Thank you for the 2 I got.....Sandyc
So glad you like them and they are doing well for you. Yes, I was able to find a couple more out there, altho this bella isn't as large as the one you got and only has one bloom at this time. The macgillivrayii is a mass of long healthy vines tho. I was tempted to keep it, but I already have 3 from different sorces.Don't think I need another. Ha. Sometimes I have found large H. bella at a store called "Mainly Seconds". It is a strange store with a variety of many plant type things in it. So if you have one of those near you, you could check it for hoyas. I NEVER see any at our Home Depots or Lowes like others find though.
Marcy
One of them has long skinny leaves & then other a shorter skinny leave. Not near as large as leaf as on my other Hoya that I was told is very common, but I can't remember the name. I have the pots on the front porch, so I'll check them tomorrow & perhaps take pics & post them.
I really appreciate everyone's comments. Hopefully, I won't kill them. :)
Jan
Marcy,
I will have to try that with my H. bella. I try to keep her watered but still the leaves look very wilted. It seems like the dirt pulls away from the roots at top also. Do you leave water in the drip dish at all times, or let it dry out for a day or two? I've noticed the sun is moving as well, and she maybe getting to much sun. Going to go get her in some water now.
Thanks for the info.
Tammy
I will let the dish dry out for a day or so some of the time, (usually I don't get to it until I see it drooping..ha ha), but I think it would be happier if I would keep water in there. Like I say, if I forget it too long, I will see the branches start to get real droopy looking.
However, if you are getting brown spots on the leaves, I would say the SUN may definately be your problem. We had a heat wave last week and the sun suddenly started buring leaves that previously were OK with it. I had to do some fast shuffling to move them out of any sun at all. I really don't think the bella likes much sun, as mine are in shade & they bloom there fine.
It's a real bummer when leaves get burned too because the leaf will not recover it's nice looks, and all you can do is try to keep any more from burning.
Marcy
Hey Jan,
I was just wondering if your new Hoyas are Exotic Angel plants? If they are, you might want to water them a little differently. The soil EA uses is like a spounge and can hold water for a very long time, which can cause the plant to rot. They are also prone to mis-labeling. It sould like you may have a H. lacunosa. They have smaller leaves like you described.
Congrats on your new treasures!!!
I found an almost dead Exotic Angel plant and pointed it out to the clerk. She took the plant and threw it out. I asked for the pot and when I looked at it I noticed that the holes (in the bottom of the pot) weren't punched out. You might want to check that as well.
Thanks for the tips about the potting soil & the holes in the bottom. I'll try to get pictures posted later. Going to go for my morning walk.
Jan
Here is a picture of the labeled h. bella.
This one is labled h. carnosas
Hi Jan,
looks like the plant with label H.bella is actually a H.kentiana and the one with label H.carnosa is a H.lacunosa. Nice plants!
Vilde
Thanks for the correct IDs. I was really wanting h. bella though. I did get them for 1/2 price though. The person in that dept. said they were trying to get rid of them for their new shipment coming in.
Jan
I agree H. kentiana on the first and H. bella on the second. Wowzee, you really did score. Great job Jan. My Kentiana's love the sun. I have them in fast draining soil, and water them every two to three days during the summer. And of course have to mist the heck out of all of them. Great job!!!!
TamiF,
We have lots of humidity here during the summer, so I probably won't have to mist, but I do mist during the winter when they are in the house.
How lucky you are. They sure look nice and healthy.
Sandy
Tami...her second one is not a H. bella. It looks like a H. lacunosa to me.
Marcy
Marcy, your right. Sorry Jan, you will enjoy H. lacunosa just as much as H. bella. It blooms for me often. And not as finiky as H. Bella. Thanks Marcy for correct name.
I tried checking the Plant files here but most of them just have the flowers, so I couldn't compare the leaves & when I did find one with leaves, I tried clicking on the picture to enlarge it so I could see better but it wouldn't enlarge, even though it said it was a thumbnail of the orginian. Does onyone else have this problem?
Yes, that happens to me sometimes too. Christina's site has a good picture of the leaves of H. lacunosa. Here's a link to the page so you can compare.
http://www.myhoyas.com/Hoya%20lacunosa%20min.htm
This is another site that has a lot of pictures of hoyas leaves:
http://botanova.tripod.com/blad.html
I just went for a little tour through the leaves on that site Marcy. There sure are some cool different ones aren't there.
I've been gone & then super busy, so hadn't had much time to spend with the hoyas, but I noticed today that one of my new ones has a bloom. It isn't a very good picture, but thought I'd share it with you. It is on H. laconosa. It is about as big around as a quarter. Just to give you an idea of the size.
Jan
Do you like the scent of the lacunosa Jan?..i find it a bit strong after awhile....the flower sure is delicate and pretty....
Sandy
It is on the front porch, so I didn't find the sent too strong. I really liked it. I'd love to get more hoyas, but I'm not sure where I would put them, but I bet that I would find a place. :)
Jan
Yes i find those are my famous last words, "I know i can find a place for it!"...lol....You are lucky you can keep it out on the porch still....
Sandy
I'll be able to keep them on the plant for about 1 more month. I start watching the evening temps in Oct. As long as they stay above 45, I can leave most of them there, as we have about a 4' overhang over that area.
Here is a link to good flower photos.
http://www.bigislandgrowers.com/ghp/AHcompdex.php
H. lacunosa will be a favorite!!! Blooms like crazy...watch for mealies, they love it too!
Carol
what do meali bugs look like?
Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for them.
Jan
Jan...I wouldn't leave the lacunosa out in 45 degree nights. I lost one 2 years ago the fist few nights that got below 50. A lot of them will be fine out in 45, but I think that one is touchy to the cold, especiallly if it is wet.
I live where I can leave a lot of them out all winter, but some I bring in early, and lacunosa is one of them. Another one that is sensitive for me is brevialata.
Marcy
Thanks Marcy, I'll remember that.
Need all the help I can get. lol
Jan
For anyone wanting additional Hoya culture information I have some suggestions.
Carol at Aloha Hoyas has good resources that I frequently access. They include:
Hoya Temperature Tolerance: http://www.bigislandgrowers.com/ghp/AHtemps.php
Hoya Growing Conditions: http://www.bigislandgrowers.com/ghp/AHtips.php
Hoya Lighting Information: http://www.bigislandgrowers.com/ghp/AHlight.php
Also, her photo compendium where you can see blooms and leaves is really nice: http://www.bigislandgrowers.com/ghp/AHcompdex.php
And, of course, Christina's website also has a good array of blooms and leaves: http://www.myhoyas.com/index%20(ENG).htm
This website is loaded with information: http://www.simones-hoyas.de/Hoya%20Arten.html but it is in German so you will have to access AltaVista's Babelfish http://babelfish.altavista.com/ to get the translation.
Thanks MsKitty, that's great info. I really appreicate all the help.
Thanks, Ms. Kitty! I just expanded "My Favorites" list! =0)
Hi Jan!
Carnosa and bella is easy to take care of, even for me and I live in the north of Sweden. Carnosa likes to dry out between watering. It now lives in a east window and is blooming quite a lot :) Very easy to take care of. The only ting it dosenīt like is to much bright. The leavs burns very easy.
Bella needs to never dry out, if it does then it must certainly dies. It like itīs soil to be moist, and not in direct sunlight. Other than that itīs a very easy plant to grow. Good luck!
/Marie
Thanks, Miss Kitty, that's great info!