I can't find the thread where dm talked about blooming H. diversifolia...after seeing it growing all over Palawan in the Philippines, it should be grown dry, especially in the winter. I know that I am going to grow my plants a lot drier in the future. We saw plants that were pale green and leathery from lack of water...and when the rainy season starts up in about a month, they will perk up. Hoyas in the wild have no one to water them....and luckily the humidity is high enough that with ambient humidity they thrive through it all. We also found it growing at the seashore...smack in the face of wind carrying salt water spray...so good news for those living on the coasts!!!!
H. diversifolia
Carol I think I may have said in more than one threrad that I was going to bloom diversifolia this year!!! Like you I just cant recall which they were.
That's my hoya goal this year,make diversifolia bloom!!!! The way everything else is making peduncles i'm surprised that it hasnt made any yet. I have 2 clones both from Mel. I'm not sure where she got them,I need to ask her that. The only noticeable difference being in the size of the leaves. Both grow like weeds!
I do live a mile from the coast ,get the wind but not the salt spray. Although I use well water to water all of my plants with and when we put the well down (about 35-40ft) you wouldnt beleive the amount of small whole seashells and broken pieces that came up so I imagine there is some salt in the water
The pipe going into the ground had to be washed down because there simply wasnt any driving it down after a certain point and at about 20 or so ft we hit seashells.
dmichael
AhhhhHa! And the public benefits of Carol's trip takes shape! Very interesting Carol - so H. diversifolia really likes to be grown dry in the winter so long as it is in a very humid environment.
Thank you!!!
Ann
I had always been told that "Philippine Hoyas like to be grown wet"...but there hadn't been a speck of rain there for 2 months...everything was dusty and the hoyas in the trees were like leather. So...I am going to assume that growing them dry in our winter (same as theirs) is the clue...not bone dry...but drier. Their rainy season is like 100% humidity 24/7. Diversifolia IS a 4wheel drive hoya...it can take anything but it was amazing to see it growing over the sand on the beach of a small cove...salt spray blowing in from the S. China Sea.
Carol
I will be writing a more extensive article for Stemma (june issue)...I believe Ted is going to write for Fraterna...I haven't had a moment to breathe let alone write something for my website... Soon children, soon.
LOL
I have read someone who mocks my statements above. Actually...there ARE plants that need to grow dry in the winter...I was told so by David Liddle (archboldiana and dennisii and macgillivrayi are a few). Did I say 'not water them"? NO...I said grow them drier...which means not wet...which means let the soil dry down about 2" AND provide ambient humidity. Seems that the entire thread was not read...nor understood...nor the brains given by her God were used.
Traveling in a foreign country and observing how plants grow is NOT rocket science. Any half-wit can do it. One simply has to understand that the whole world has varying weather patterns = wet/dry/hot/cold/windy/not windy/hurricanes/no hurricanes etc.
Carol
Uh, Carol..... remember the source. I for one, appriciate your input, practical experience AND your considerate ways. I don't like and don't use the word 'suck' but there is a bumper sticker floating around that says "mean people suck" and I happen to agree. Thanks for the info! -joanne
Thanks Joanne....
One more thing: In the Northern Hemisphere (i.e. north of the Equator) winter is considered to be roughly Dec. thru March...right? Well, here in Hawaii we don't get snow in the winter but our weather is different from 'summer'. It tends to be drier (due to storms in the N. Pacific...it is complicated). Anyhoo...saying 'winter' IMPLIES 'during the winter months' which for areas near the tropics tends to be the dry season (of course, at high altitudes in these countries they may have rain due to other factors such as convection etc.
South of the Equator the seasons are reversed: and everything about 'highs' and 'lows' move opposite to the N. Hemisphere...
And .... isn't one of the characteristics of a hoya that its adventitious roots are used to gather moisture out of the air? Hence, the reason it can thrive for periods without water in climates with 100% humidity?
Yes...that is my feeling and I am fairly certain I am correct. The diversifolia growing in the mangrove swamps was a much better color and healthier than those growing beside the dusty highway...because of the ambient humidity, I am sure.