Thanks for a great hoya weekend!

Thanks to Carol and Patricia (YEA!), I had quite a bit of rooting to try to figure out this weekend. After seeing Heather's post on her "rooting home," I got busy and made a "rooting home" of my own. I took a combination of everyone's suggestions, and figured, hopefully, I'd have luck with at least ONE of them, right?! Anyway, I got two wet/dry heating pads, put cookie sheets on top for even distribution of heat, placed two disposable roasters with plastic lids on the cookie sheets. In the roasters, I put the "baby hoyas," each in a plastic cup with perlite/potting soil mixture. Snapped the lids on and, VOILA! I then took the long vines and put them in plastic baggies filled with some potting soil, and set them on the heating pad, too. I took two pictures of my "rooting home - PLEASE give suggestions if you see something else I should do! Then, for the cherry on top - I GOT MY FIRST FLOWER!!!! Two pictures of h. nummularoide follow also. What a great hoya weekend - hope all yours were great also! Karen (Now, where did DH go to.....has anyone seen my DH??)

This message was edited Oct 16, 2005 5:19 PM

Rooting home, picture 2

Proud mama's picture 1

Proud mama's picture 2

Looks great to me! What did you do with DH.....plant him.....lol!
:) Donna

Excellent on the blooms! Don't you love the sweet fragrance?

Looks like you have a good set up going. I have not used the heating pads and don't know how warm they get, but, you might want to keep a close eye to make sure it is not too hot. Also, you might want to loosen the top of the roasters and let your new cuttings get a little air circulation. Other than that, looks great! You should have some rooting action going on shortly!

Right on, Karen! I'm rooting for you (yes, pun intended...)!
Ann

Ditto on what Mel said. If your pads get too warm, you could put gravel in the cookies sheet and then put the roasting pan on the gravel. You will have to play around with it. What a clever girl you are!

Ever find DH? Careful, he might take up a hobby like, um...snakes or something! LOL

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll watch the heat, and get some gravel in there. As for the air circulation, do I just take the lid off for awhile each day, or leave it "tilted?" Thanks for your help! Karen

I did find DH - I HAD planted him - he said that he didn't mind the dirt, but the rooting hormone really offended him!! LOL!

LOL!!!! Karen, had to LMAO when I read about you planting your DH and the rooting hormone bit!! Oh dear. I get such a kick out of you guys here.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand... I like your setup. I admit I'm not quite sure about the inflated baggie thing, but I went out this weekend and got all the aquarium supplies and some glass bottles for the bubbler experiment. Forgot to get the wet/dry heating pads, so couldn't get started on my rooting home. Thanks for the pics of yours.
OH! Congrats on your first flower!!!!

Barb

This message was edited Oct 17, 2005 8:31 AM

Karen, looks fantastic, I love the idea of the roasting pan. For air circulation, you could just get a mini fan. Check out ebay, I found one on there that is a mini fan humidifier. Can't remember the seller. I think it was $4. Congratulations on your blooms!!!
Heather

When I have used an enclosed system like yours, Karen....and still do on a miniature scale, I release the top when the inside gets steamed up...there is such a thing as too much humidity. You may just have to play around with it and see what works best.

Carol

Thanks for your suggestions!!! I just don't want to lose any of those cuttings, so ANY help is appreciated! Now, how long do I have to be patient for them to root???

I used to use something on that order ( a large plastic storage container). I would make 3 or 4 pencil sized or maybe a bit smaller holes in the top. That is what I did with my setup and it still stayed very wet in there but it let some air in. Worked good.
Marcy

Oh, boy it is my turn to have a great hoya week!

Like Karen I just received some wonderfully generous cuttings from Patricia and am now in the throws of rooting heaven. I have put some in water (if they are woody and nubby), and some in the baggy (with babies I ordered from Carol - all of these seem to have more "tender" stems and/or leaves). I hope this makes sense to folks.

One question: is it OK to put more than one cutting into a baggy to root? I have put the rooting baggy on top of the digital cable box for some warmth. I hope that is not going to be too warm. In fact, how do I know if it is too warm?

Another question: Do the cuttings in the bag tend to be a little more "limp" since they are in a warm, soggy (but not wet) environment? If they are not supposed to be a little limp, please let me know and I will abandon the baggy method immediately.

I am both nervous and doing the happy dance!!
Ann

Ann, some of the ones I put in the baggie started looking pretty limp. They too, were the delicate stemmed ones. I actually checked on them, and a lot of the leaves fell off. With the ones that were still hangin on, I put them in perlite, put a bag over the pot and set them on my heating pad. I don't know, but the ones that are doing good in the plastic baggie for me, are the ones that are thicker stemmed. I might try the same thing. They just seemed to dehydrate in the baggie. Tell me what you decide to do. I'm new at rooting myself.
Heather

Thanks Heather, I am pulling the sp. Tanna Island out of the baggie right now!
Ann