I found a nice hoya at HD. It was labelled bella and sulawesii but I knew that Angel mislabels. So I looked it up and it turned out to be brevialata.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/82508/index.html
New hoya
Here's a dark overview.
And the erroneous tag.
It looks really full and healthy! Congrats.
Blessings,
Awanda
Thanks Awanda!!
I bought that same Hoya at Home Depot about two months ago. Thanks for correctly identifying it for me. It is a funny thing about these Hoyas from EA, they disapear from my local HD as fast as they bring them in, but they hardly get any in. For every Hoya they receive, it seems like they get one hundred Pothos. Maybe each store is only alotted a few, because of the slow growth nature of Hoyas. Anyway to score a Hoya, you have to check every week and just be extremely lucky.
I was at Home Depot yesterday and they had nothing, then I went into Lowes and they had both old looking kentiana and lacunosa, full of mealy bugs (ick!) The lacunosa was in bloom, but I have enough problems right now, I can't buy an infested plant.
That is a beautiful plant you bought, looks very healthy, it probably wasn't in the store long before you came along and rescued it. Does it weigh 5 tons from being oversoaked? I just bought DS-70 about 6 weeks ago, I lost mine over the winter and it just takes too long to grow from cuttings. It took almost a month for it to dry out!
I heard a rumor from a pretty good source that Exotic Angel has a version of a variegated lacunosa now, with the lighter specked and flecked leaves. Has anyone seen that? I don't know why I continue to buy these EA plants, they really don't do that well for me - out of the 5 or 6 I have purchased in the past year or so, only 2 are thriving.
All of the EA Hoyas that I have bought from HD have been soaked as well. What is the deal? Do they come in from EA that way or does the HD plant department do it after they arrive in the store.
I think the HD plant department soaks them. I recently picked up another EA Kentiana....I couldn't resist, it was so full and beautiful. I gave my other Kentiana to a friend that is starting to get into hoyas thanks to me! Anyway, I must have gotten it on the day it arrived, because it was BONE dry. Now, I didn't get it from HD, but even the nursery I got it from drowns their plants. I usually reach up to look at a tag of a hanging plant and my whole arm gets drenched from tipping the basket.
I'm happy to say my kentiana is thriving...it had 1 peduncle on it when I bought it. Now that peduncle is in bud, and 3 other peduncles have developed! The whole plant was rootbound (which I don't usually see with EA plants), so I took it out of the pot about a week after I bought it and put it into a slightly larger hanging pot. I couldn't even change the soil (which is what I usually do with EA plants) because there were mostly roots and no soil (it was so rootbound that roots were hanging out of the drain holes). So I just added a little of my soil mix to fill up the pot (on the bottom and sides of the pot). It's been about a month since i've had it and no problems at all. I think you should take the bottom saucer off and let it dry out if you're going to keep an EA hoya in its original pot and soil.
By the way, I was just in HD a few weeks ago and there were about 7 brevialatas. They were very healthy looking but I just don't have any more room!! Boojum, yours is gorgeous...none looked as good as that one.
And yes, there is a new speckled type lacunosa in HD. I've seen pic and they are gorgeous. I know of a HD near me that has them....I might just cave in and buy one.
Sandyc keeps her EA plants looking gorgeous by watering them from the bottom. EA puts wetting crystals in the soil because the box stores don't water them..and they take months to dry out!!! Sandy sent me a beautiful lacunosa a couple of years ago and just before it gasped its' last breath I repotted it and washed off all the old soil. It is now a beauty!!!
I completely agree...repotting is the best thing to do (for me at least). It has worked for me in the past with EA plants, and I've heard of many people having a hard time with EA plants if they are left in their original soil.
I think that carnosa, kentiana and some of the other sturdier hoyas do ok in the EA soil. I have had problems with ds-70 and lacunosa. Surprisingly, I have an EA linearis that is doing great. But yes, it seems the attitude of garden center workers everywhere is: MORE WATER=GOOD! They haven't figured out that it is death to some hoyas, and other plants. And it isn't just the box stores, it is garden centers too. I have seen it in a garden center near me. The plants come in from the grower, and whether they need it or not they get soaked. Not just watered, but soaked. It is kind of stupid if you ask me. I mean, these people work in the business, there is plenty of information out there if you want to learn, don't you think they would get the urge to at least page through a book on houseplants now and then just to brush up on their job skills? It really irks me to no end.
Hey, there they are with a hose in hand watering perennials and why not drench the tropicals too every day. Actually the hoyas are drenched and the perennials and orchids aren't watered at all at my HD. That's why I check a lot-to see if there's any great plant to save before they kill em.
What do yall use to kill the mealy bugs?
I've used soapy water twice and they are still there.
Jeri
Try mixing rubbing alcohol and water (and maybe adding a few drops of dish soap) to a sprayer, then only spray the foliage. You can use a q-tip dipped in pure rubbing alcohol to get the ones you see.
Hope that helps,
Gabi
Are mealy bugs yellow?
Aphids are yellow.
100% alcohol works fine. I just put a sprayer top on a quart bottle and have them all over the place.
See threads about Imidocloprid or BATS or BTS...not going into it here.
Get rid of the ants.
Thanks Carol. Orkin just came out and sprayed the entire property for mosquitos, fleas, ticks, spiders, ants & roaches. It's a new outside service they just came out with. I'll let you know if it works.
Jeri
Safer brand insecticidal soap works good for any bugs. I started seeing those bright orangish yellow aphids on the new growth on outside hoyas about 2 years ago. I have never seen aphids that color before, wonder where those little guys came from?? For some reason aphids don't gross me out like mealy bugs and spider mites.
Funny, but spiders, praying mantis, wasps, and even ants I believe are natural enemies of aphids, mealy bugs and spider mites. As much as I hate spiders, they are beneficial around your plants.
oh, and by the way, I went to Home Depot for something non-plant related the other day and saw from way down at the other end of the store that there were some very hoya-ish looking plants hanging in the garden section. I found one of these brevialatas that was not soaked to death, and looked pretty good. It is the one EA plant I have never come across...I am not particularly enamoured with the flowers, but I like the foliage and it looked healthy, so it came home with me.
This message was edited May 21, 2007 6:59 PM
It hasn't showy flowers....but they really smell good!!!