I found a big ol' H. polyneura at Lowe's today (YAY!!) I keep reading about these finds, but I didn't think I'd EVER come across one here! I've had a smallish plant I got about a year ago that has been a little touchy. Did fine at first, then a lot of leaves yellowed and dropped. Then it grew nicely in spring, but then started having problems again. Upon looking at Carol's website, I saw it prefers cooler temps (I'd had it in the hot GH...) and brought it inside. It seemed to stabalize, but hasn't grown at all and looks pretty puney. So I was elated to come across a nice big potfull...
So, would those of you who grow it well please give me some advice? Moisture - let dry between waterings or not? The label (an EA label, mind you...) says "no direct sun - only filtered sun" - is this correct? Is some morning sun ok (as it is with most Hoyas)? At this point, I don't even care much about flowers - just want to know how to make it flourish. I love the leaves...
Looking forward to the great advice I constantly see here...
Denise in Omaha
H. polyneura - a biggun'!
I should have a degree in killing this hoya!!! FINALLY I have one growing - and happy!!! It IS in the greenhouse and it does get a lot of light...but I am growing it very very dry, almost like a dischidia. I reckon there is enough humidity in the air... it is also in a very small pot!
EA adds wetting chrystals, remember....if you start to lose it you might unpot it and get rid of the soil it came in...or restart it. I sure would like to have a big plant of it someday....don't think I am cold enough here, tho.
HTH, Carol
Denise, I picked one up at a HD late last week for another forum member. It goes in the mail to her tomorrow. I can't keep this one alive and I usualy have good luck with the ones that like it cooler. Oh well, I guess this just leaves me one more space for something else.............. -joanne
Picked up the very same one at Lowes, huge to say the least! I now have 4 "specials" from EA, three "carnosas" (all different) and they are outside growing like weeds!
I have had good luck with these ever since I started treating them like cactus. Ha. Like Carol said, they seem to like to go dry (real dry) between waterings,and then drain well. They also like shade better than any full sun (here at least).
Marcy
As soon as I saw you guys confirmed it needs to be allowed to dry, I went out and repotted it into my usual mix. I also removed the saucer to allow more air to the roots. It's definitely soggy right now (the root ball I had to leave on, that is...) It's been rainy and overcast here, but this afternoon it's supposed to clear off and be sunny for the next few days, so that should aid in drying. Thanks for the advice, and if anyone else has any tips, please chime in. I have a feeling this may be one that will seriously challenge me!
Denise in Omaha
My year-old H.Polyneura has been slowly dying since I got it. I finally took the one "stick" that was left out of its pot and transplanted it into my regular hoya mix and put it in a plastic bag. There was barely any roots on it...sigh. I'm not holding out too much hope for it. But it sure can't hurt it!!
Christine
Christine,
That's basically what happened to my first one. I got a smallish plant off eBay (looked it up - it was a little over 2 years ago, actually...) and I ended up cutting back the whole thing, so what I have left is the woody stump of the original, and one cutting that took hold and is in good condition. Not anything to be proud of!! I'm hoping that having a healthy big plant will give me a better chance of keeping it alive. I guess we'll see... At least the EA plants aren't terribly expensive.
Denise in Omaha
My old one was dying (I thought), so I took a bunch of cuttings and stuck the old bald- vined thing out on the North side of the house by some other plants that were kinda regects and didn't even get watered that often. It was definately root bound, but I didn't even bother to repot it because I was just going to wait until it was really dead & then toss it.
Well, you can guess whats coming. That old plant got rock hard dirt from the lack of watering it was getting, but amazingly started putting on new leaves and they looked GREAT. So I just left it over there in the shade and watered it very little, and within a year it was all filled out again and looking lusher than it ever had when I had it up front and watered it with the rest of the hoyas.
Now, I DO water the cuttings more often until I get them going, but I make sure they drain fast and after I pot them up, I water them less than the rest.
That is why I came to the conclusion they would rather be cacuts. Ha.
Marcy
Mine started out as a small plant. I had killed one before this one, so I changed the culture of this one by watering less (almost dry) and kept it in a cool spot during the winter....it went outdoors this summer and has grown like crazy!
Lucky you, Denise, to find a big 'un!! This is another of my favorite hoyas even though I've never seen one bloom, in person.... I love it's foliage!
Congrats on your new purchase!
hahahah "rejects"
I tend to do that with plants that seem to lose the will to live. they usually get "kicked" out of the house until they figure out if they want to live or not. sometimes I wonder if they converse with each other and figure out that it's not so bad being a domesticated plant.
I'll usually give a particular species two tries. If I kill it twice, I give up. The only exception has been Adenium obesum (Desert Rose...) I'm on my 5th or 6th and have kept this one alive for 3 years so far. No flowers though, dang it!
Denise in Omaha
Something just occurred to me. Since H.Polyneura and a few other hoyas prefer to be grown on the dry side, wouldn't it be beneficial to pot them in a (dreaded) terra cotta pot instead of a (usually preferred) plastic pot? I'm at work and can't remember if I did that, but if I didn't, I'm going to put mine in a TC pot. I used to put all my plants in TC but now agree that hoyas dry out too quickly in TC. I'm totally paranoid about the ones I still have in TC drying out.
Does anyone else think this is a good idea?
Christine
My only objection to TC is that as the TC dries...the tiny little feeder roots die as well as they stick to the porous surface of the TC. Another solution is make the mix you plant it in with less organic material...or...just don't water as much. :>)
If you try a plant more than once, make sure you get it from different sources before you give up on it. If you are trying EA plants over & over & they are failing, it could just be that soil and then trying to revive them after changing it. I had that with a lacunosa and a incurvula. I could not make the EA ones live, but when I tried them from other people and places, they did fine. If you try them from different places, and they still fail for you, then it is just not your type of plant. I have some of those too. Ha
Marcy
I have one lone hindu rope that survived out of a EA 4" pot. I got frustrated because every pot I tried to put it in, it would pull the pot over (it's a little over a foot long). I stumbled upon a beautiful ceramic orchid pot on sale. I lined the inside with some screening to keep the soil from falling out the holes and planted away. since the pot is a tall cascade style, it really accents the rope, but I think the plant really likes the extra air it gets from the side vents. it has actually popped out some new leaves by the base!
I get more compliments on that one stinker than any other plant in my house.
Do you have a picture of it? We love pictures in here. Especially unique ones that get compliments.
Marcy
That IS a neat idea, gaiadisciple! I see some pretty orchid pots at HD that have butterfly-shaped holes on the sides. I'm tempted to go buy one now for one of my Hoyas and see how it does. What do you use for screening material? Is it the fabric-type stuff that's actually used for screens?
Denise in Omaha
I'm with Marcy. Pictures, pictures, pictures!!!! If this works well I am going to try making my own. I'm an artist and my preferd medium is clay so I could just whip some up! I am in the process of making some rooting jars. I have always rooted in clear glass jars and recently read that they do better and root faster with the root end in the dark, so I thought I would try it. However, it is hard to find the right size and shape in a dark or solid color so I thought 'DUH! just make them. So I am :~)
-joanne
Joanne, do you "do" stuff on commission? Like hanging pots? With a specific design??
Bec, I can do most anything with clay. I have not tried a hanging pot yet but I'll try one and see what you think. I start classes next week and have to get my studio back in shape but after that I'll try one and send you a picture. What kind of design are you after? -joanne
Becky and Joanne, I just thought, for some inspiration here, that I'd show you this clay planter that I got for a present a few years ago. I never plant anything in it but it has held an assortment of plants that I put in, pot and all. Currently it holds H.Serpens, but this is an old picture. Some people are creeped out by it, but I think old plant brains is cute.
Christine
Joanne, you have mail!
Christine, it's kind of what I am after, a planter I can put pot and all in. Just not the smiley face LOL.