I am a closet Hoya fan. I only have some of the more common ones. I have had two of these ( I believe Silver Queen ) for many years. They are pot bound in hanging baskets.
Amount of blooms from Silver Queen Hoya?
This year is unbelievable! Both plants have soooo many blooms I couldn't begin to count. I do nothing more than water and rarely add a water soluble fertilizer. I know over the years the blooms spurs accumulate but they normally bloom all through the summer. This is amazing and hard to capture the full effect in a photo.
I hate to tell you my friend it sounds like you've come out of the closet. I can hear the excitement in your post. It sounds like you are sinking fast into a hoya addict too. LOL!!!!
Jeri
I see the first post dropped the photo. Let me try again.
Hi Jeri ~ actually I've been there for years. Just nowhere near as knowledgable as all these good folks! It is exciting anytime they bloom but this bloom phenomena just astounds me this year.
I'm surprised mine even bloomed before I joined DG because I always thought the old spend bloom stems were ugly I broke them off. I didn't know they would rebloom on that ugly stem. I thought I was being tidy. LOL!!!
Jeri
Podster,
Those hoyas are absolutely stunning. My theory is that getting blooms on a hoya is like hitting the jackpot gambling - instant addict! Ha! (I don't gamble - the first time I tried, and lost, I kept thinking of all the hoyas I could have bought)!
Jeri, LOL.. Funny what we do, before we know better huh.
Sara
Don't you know!!!
GORgeous hoyas, Podster...you GROW girl!
You know, it fascinates me how these guys take abuse and neglect. I leave them out in winter. On frosty nights, I will set them on a wooden church pew and cover with a sheet. If we suffer a hard freeze, I will move them to an enclosed back porch. (They are cumbersome to move.) One had a wrens nest in it so I rarely watered it. Both have roots that are covering the surfaces. I water sporadically and fertilize barely. The more neglect they get, the better they seem to like it. Amazing!
This message was edited May 26, 2007 7:14 AM
They are beautiful. I think neglecting them a little forces them to be stronger plants.
BEAUTIFUL hoyas!!
Hey Podster! ~waving from the C&S forum~
Those are magnificent plants. I was out of the closet.. went back in after losing about half my collection one winter and shipping nearly all the rest to a Hoya friend.. now I'm tippy-toeing back out again and finding the NEED to have more. These guys' pictures make the NEED to have new ones considerably more intense.
This is my Carnosa, though I don't know if it is Crimson Queen or Crimson Princess.. or something else. Maybe if it "sees" yours it will do the bloom thing!! How much sun and/or shade does yours live in to bloom like that?
Barb
Barb...yours looks like 'Krimson Princess' (all of the H. carnosa varietal names confuse the heck out of me)... as someone said... "The Queen wears her white ermine on the outside"...ya know...it's the only way I remember it. Silver Queen is also a 'local name'...not a hoya name...and they are all H. carnosas. I have never seen so many blooms on a H. carnosa as on Podsters'...amazing...and yes...they thrive on neglect!!! Barb, yours looks like a mixture, or a varietal that has reverted on some of her vines....
Waddevah...it is awesome!!!
Carol
Hey Carol! This one has had some solid green branches since its baby days, so I'm figuring it is indeed a mixture of varieties. Not a problem, of course, cuz that way it would produce different shades of flowers ~ IF it ever decides to bloom!
Thanks for the ID on the Princess/Queen thing. I could never remember which was which... and the older I get the less I remember! Sheesh...
Barb
Hi Barb ~ that is a beautiful variegated Hoya. I have both the K. queen and princess and they have never offered the first bloom! I console myself with the gorgeous foliage.
H Krimson princess http://davesgarden.com/journal/j/viewentry/111523/
H Krimson queen http://davesgarden.com/journal/edit/viewentry.php?rid=111522
My Hoya get bright filtered light, morning sun and afternoon shade.
Thanks, Pod. I also noticed, thanks to your pics, that the leaves on H. 'Krimson Queen' are much rounder than those on H. 'Krimson Princess'. I love the foliage also, but would love to see a bloom on one of them.
Barb
Even young vareigated carnosas will have the green leaves as well as variegated. I have heard that you should take the stems that have all green leaves off, if you allow them to dominate, the whole plant will go green. I have never done this, though, and the variegated Krimson Princess plants I have are a mix of both solid green and the variegated leaves.
Also, I never fertilized my hoyas until recently, and it seemed to make no difference to them when it came to blooming!
I had often wondered why the K. Princess has some solid green on it. I don't think it is just leaves, I think a whole stem is green.
Bhavana have your variegates bloomed? When you fertilized did you use a standard fertilizer or one to promote blooms? pod
yes, I have the carnosa sometimes called Krimson Princess, I bought it as a fairly large plant and it bloomed a few years later. That was quick, considering the wait for pubicalyx and plain green carnosa to bloom. The flowers are a pale pink, just like plain green carnosas. I was hoping for a darker pink/red flower, I have heard rumors that some "strains" of K Princess have that color - does anyone have one or has anyone ever seen one with dark pink red flowers?
I just started fertilizing my hoyas on a regular basis, for years I did it on and off, but not consistantly enough for it to make a difference. I use a bloom fertilizer by Peters, one from Miracle gro and occasionally the beer brew fertilizer. I really love fish emulsion, haven't used it for years but may start again using a very weak solution since alot of my plants are indoors.
I was wondering if the bloom fertilizer might inspire these variegated Hoya to bloom.... Might be worth a try.
I am still trying photos to get the full effect. I have taken a series of shots that I am going to post. Please ignore me if you feel that if you've seen one bloom, you've seen them all. LOL
If you look into the depth of the plant, you can see even more blooms.
The plant on the left is fuller on the other side. It has many blooms but not as crazy as the one on the right...
and another....
and a last one ( for now ).
I took some cuttings earlier this year for others and wonder if this inspire the spate of blooms.
What bothers me is ~ some things bloom like this in an attempt to reproduce before death. Hope this isn't the case...
Podster, those photos are amazing!! I personally NEVER get tired of looking at hoya blooms. Your plants don't look anywhere near death.....I certainly wouldn't worry about that if I were you.
There is a small, family owned greenhouse/floral shop in our town that had a hoya like yours. It bloomed like that all year long, and was no-where near death. I had inquired about buying it, but the elderly lady who owned the shop wouldn't sell it, as it was her mother's plant, and grandmother's before. I would stop in, and just look at the flowers, and smell them. One day, when I went in, the plant was gone. I asked the husband, and he told me someone had STOLEN it!! I was absolutely crushed. All that was left of their heirloom plant, were some cuttings that they were able to pick up out of the driveway. Ahhhhh, some people's children.......
Anyway, thanks for sharing your pictures, I would never want to leave home, if I could get my hoyas to bloom that much. I am happy with the few that I get here, and there, and since I have to grow indoors only, (ok, I choose to grow indoors only, due to the short growing seasons here, and the fact that we got some snow last week, and sometimes in July.....)I will live vicariously through growers like you, and Carol, and others.
Sara
Sara ~ thanks for letting me know you appreciate the blooms. No doubt the folks that had the greenhouse hoya had perfect conditions. Here in the warm these will bloom sporadically throughout the summer.
How sad for those folks to have an heirloom Hoya stolen. It brought tears to my eyes that any plant person would do that! How horrible.
Years ago, I saw a Brunfelsia (yesterday, today, tomorrow) in a GH with a similar story. It was a gorgeous tree. Not for sale but made me go in search of... I now have two ~ this one is similar but only blooms once in the spring. It smells wonderfully.
If things bloom and are fragrant, I am hooked. I have wracked my brain and can not remember where I picked up the first of my Hoyas. Sometimers disease here... sometimes, I can remember and sometimes can't... LOL
Podster,
very nice photos of your carnosa....Sara's post says it all....I am the same, i grow mine mostly inside and if i get a few too, i am estatic....i never get tired of looking at pics of blooms from anyone on here...great growing!
Sandy
No, your plant is not blooming because it is close to death - it is blooming because it is mature, has long enough vines, and happy with the light it gets! Just enjoy! I think nothing beats the outdoor air also, except maybe the humidity of a greenhouse. Maybe with your plants being outdoors with so many flowers, you will get a seed pod or two. That would be cool. Let me know and we will make sure you do what you have to do to get the seeds. I got mine from the pods, planted some in a saucer which my cat promptly knocked over...then waited a few months to plant the rest which was pointless because the seed are only viable for a few days. Seed pods are not too common, so I was a little depressed - also, my pods occured on a hoya that has two varieties growing in one pot, pubicalyx Pink Silver and the plain carnosa - so maybe I would have gotten a cross from the two. Not that the world needs another carnosa cv, and I don't know much about the whole propagating thing, but it would have been interesting to see what, if anything, would have resulted from those seeds.
I don't believe taking cuttings does anymore for hoyas except make them a bit fuller - I try not to do this, obviously because the flowers come from the long vines, but sometimes you just have to share, right? I still have the the hoya I grew from cuttings from the first plant I ever saw - and fell in love with!!
As for fertilizing, it can't hurt, but I think the age of the plant and the light it gets has more to do with flowering than anything else. I have noticed over the years that the K. Princess blooms quicker than other carnosas, and the vines do not have to be quite as long - of course this is the case in my environment. If I were you, I would hang your K. Princess outside next to those other two, let it see how a real hoya behaves!
This message was edited May 28, 2007 9:50 AM
LOL ~ oddly enough when these two started their blooming behavior, I promptly relocated the rest of the Hoya next door. We shall see...
What does a seed pod look like? Never knew they even set seed.
I didn't mind sharing cuttings as I had such large plants. I also tried to send some bloom spurs along so they wouldn't get impatient waiting for the blooms.
I appreciate all of you that don't get tired of looking at the blooms. It boggles my mind this year...
Pod, I am very much enjoying your pics of so many blooms... coming back several times to see them, as a matter of fact! Please feel free to post more if you can. I would love to see a close-up of a bloom cluster if you can get one.
Barb
I am not sure if pods differ from variety to variety, but the one on my carnosa/pubicalyx plant looked like a long stringbean, only it was much harder and a smooth dark brown. They start out small and then grow long. Eventually, they burst open and all of the seedlings get taken by the breeze, each one with it's own "fluff" parachute, kinda like dandilion seeds.
I caught mine at the bursting point, but I have heard that you can take pantyhose, kneehigh or thigh high ( if you are the sex kitten type that wears thigh highs, like me....)
Anyway, I digress....
cut a "tube" section a bit longer than the pod, slip it over the pod and twisty tie at both ends. When the pod bursts, the seeds will be caught inside. Sow immediately if not sooner, they are not good for long.
Now I will have to get stronger glasses and inspect on a daily basis for the seeds. Thanks for the heads up on what to look for.
This photo shows the lovely rose color of the Hoya bud. I always wish it would stay that color...
Barb ~ I am afraid my camera isn't swell on closeup shots besides they are all pointing down. I'd have to lay on my back and it is just to hard to get up these days. Sorry... Will this one do?
That's great, Pod.. thanks! After I posted, I envisioned having to lay down on the concrete and aim the camera up.. focus.. get the right angle.. etc etc etc... and said to self, "Get Real!! Like I'd ever be able to get UP without help!" ~snicker~
I love the depth of color of the buds also.
Barb
Believe it or not, I actually did that the other night. My dogs thought that was great fun. On the other hand, I learned how hard it is to get back on my feet. Especially with the help of those two!
WOW! Nice shot!! I can't even imagine having that many open flowers on a Hoya. You've given us something to shoot for, Pod.
LOL trying to imagine getting up from there with the "help" of two pooches. ;)
Thanks!
I won't post the blurry photos that they helped with... : )
Amazing, these guys are still at it. I am seeing lots of new buds and also spurs that haven't begun yet.
This photo was taken June 3rd...
