Old dogs/new tricks

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks...'THEY' (whoever they are) are wrong. I have recently learned a very new aspect about plants, from Mark Randal in fact.

In this picture, you will see an illustration of what happens when the growth point of a vine is held down below the mid growth area of the plant: it tends to die. New growth will come out usually at the node where the dieoff happens...sometimes at the node where the most critical 'bend' happens.

To avoid this...I now wait until the long vine is long enough to be clipped down with the lower half (with the growth point) allowed to face UP, most of the time braced on a leaf. I sometimes am able to make a half circle so that the growth point ends in the UP position. I found this 'new trick' pretty neat...thought I would pass it on, although most of you probably know it already!!!!

Here is a closeup shot.

Here's the plant that taught me- H. calycina. Note that I have tied it down twice- each time the lowered growth point stops growing and a new branch starts at the very highest point of the plant. I try to let the new stems get as long as possible now, before tying them in. That can be tricky, as the long stems try to grab hold of everything, and are fragile to boot.

You know i've noticed a few of my hoyas doing this. I think i'll try clipping all of the new growth upwards until it's long enough to bring back down and reach the lower extremities of the plant and see if the dying off stops.

Plants like H. merrillii on which all of the new growth seems to stay in an upright position arent dying off it just seems to be the ones on which new growth hangs downwards.

It'll be interesting to see what happens.


dmichael

I have also noticed that some, when I clip it to the bend in the hoop, grow a bit longer and then start bending/growing upwards on their own.

I wonder if it has something to do with 'how' the hoya 'travels'. For instance, H. lacunosa does grow UP by little roots along their stem...and most hoyas do as well, in the wild. H. lacunosa loves to hang as do many others. But the larged stemmed hoyas like H. calycina seem to want to wind their way UP, and then put out roots along the stem to stay there. I can barely get H. archboldiana off the tree it is growing up!!!

Rambling here...not sure where I am going...but there is a thought in there!!! LOL

Here is an example of what I was talking about above. The clip was lower and had held the tip down...so the new growth went where it WANTED to go, and the tip died...

Very informative. I've had this happen too and thought it was my inexperience. I've noticed that some want to hang down, others want to climb up. I thought that maybe I had a 'hanger' 'climbing'.

Very interesting Carol ... thanks for posting this, I am loving all this information. I am learning so much here!

Carol................hehe I am just killing myself laughing here:) Remember all those cutting I got last summer from you, well lots of them are on a 2 very large tables that hubby made for me and some are on the window ledges. Those on the table are not staked yet and yes they are growing like crazy with their tips up and grabbing their neighbour. Every once in awhile I gently untangle them. This spring them all go into hanging pots. Now the ones on the window are staked and the tips are always dying off. Here's the kicker and why I am laughing so hard, I have been blaming hubby and the kids for getting to close to the windows and hurting the plants. Poor hubby I told him he needed lessons on how to open and close the blinds without harming the plants. Poor fella he insists that he very careful and never touches them because he knows how i love my plants. Many of these and come to think of it only these ones have tips that die off and start again. I have indeed clipped them pointing down and very low. hehe should i tell him! hehe Looks like i am buying the next lunch to make up for my complaining.

Thanks Carol for this.

Bea

You have me laughing too!!! Too funny!

Carol

hello everyone !!..havent been on here in forever.....my laptop died and i ended up having to get a new computer...anyway i was looking over what i have missed and saw carols tips.....i have a question...are there certain hoyas that i should use this method on and ones not to?...the reason i ask is some hoyas like my carnosas for instance totally fill the hanging pot and hang down...yeah i know it is a stupid question ...but hey...i had to ask...and sadly it looks like i have lost a couple this winter...sigh...anyway it is great to be back...
hummingbird

THELMA - welcome back!!! Honestly, I don't know the answer!!! I am still learning who likes to hang down and who likes to climb UP. It seems to me, in my recent observations, that it is a preference of the thinner leafed, even thicker leafed plants like macgillivrayii, ischnopsus...NOT heuskeliana, nor lacunosa. Perhaps if we just treat them all the same...'don't tie the growth points DOWN' it would be a good rule.

Carol

thank you for the welcome carol.. :)

I tried this on a cutting that I received in January. It had grown 2 1/2 ft tall, so I decided to wrap it around a hanger that I shaped into a circle. Soon after, it had new growth at 4 nodes and it looks like it may have a pundacle growing too.

thank you for the tips...hummingbird