How do you tell if a hoya is a hanging basket type or a pot with bamboo type?
Some of my hoyas look too stiff for the hanging basket type.
Jeri
Stupid Question!!!
I grow hoyas like imperialis,kerri,obovata and many of the other what I like to call "hardwood types" on an upright support of some sorts. All of my erriostemma types grow on upright supports.
All of my more thin viney types go into hanging baskets. I do grow a few of the climbers on home made supports that i make out of copper wire. I go to lowes or HD and get a roll of copper tubing and start at the inside and pull it up like a slinky until it's about 3ft tall. Then I cut it off and support the spiral with a piece of pvc pipe inserted into the soil.
I can get about 3 spirals like this out of a roll of tubing and it's sturdy enough to hold the weight of the plant.
Like Susan said it's just a personal matter of how YOU want your plant to look. I personally like for my plants to look neat and I dont allow them to run together in the gh. Once they become active and that's pretty much all year for me,I use my butterfly clips to keep them from grabbing holdof one another. I have gone as far as to braid the vines just like you would braid a persons hair.
dmichael
especially after using the beer fertilizer. I noticed my hoyas became rather "grabby" with one another
= )
dmichael,
Do you have a photograph of one of your copperwire (tubing) supports to post. I'd be very interested in seeing one both with and without the plant.
Doug
Jeri - David has a good point!
There ARE climbers and hangers - I believe the big hoyas like imperialis, diversifolia etc. really like to climb...the smaller ones will climb and if they like to hang, once they get a foothold, they will hang down. Those that are real climbers, don't like their growthtips held DOWN and will die off. Somewhere around here from last year there is a post about that.
Thanks yall!!! I just didn't want to do anything wrong right from the get go.
Jeri
Doug,
This is H.motoskei growing on one of my copper spirals. It is the only one that shows more of the frame as the other plants have their supports covered.
Sorry I dont currently have any that dont have plants on them to take pics of.
The copper comes in 20ft coils and is not overly expensive.
Just remove the plastic and start with the inside end of the tubing and pull upwards til it reaches about 3ft or whatever height you wish your support to be then cut that piece from the roll.
I then measure from end to end to see what length of PVC I will need,bend about an inch and a half of the cut ends of copper to be nserted into the PVC. I then choose a pot and fill it about a third the way full of soil and place the entire setup into the pot.
As my hoya grows I continue to wrap it around the spiral and clip it into place with butterfly clips. Once it has taken hold on its own I remove the clips to use on another plant.
This is H. macrophylla variegted growing on an upside down tomato cage that has been attached to the pot using cable ties. I can lift the entire thing intact,pot,cage plant and all!!
It's hard to find supports which I find suitable for my hoyas. They're either too big or too small and when space is limited you make do with what you have so I try and make my own supports for my plants buteverynow and again i'll find something suitable at a nursery or someplace.
I moved this plant to a new spot in the gh and it lost that very nice purple edging that it had.
D, how nice to see pictures of your plants...I was trying to imagine what that copper wire would look like. It really seems to be ideal as a support. I like most of my plants as hanging plants, but there are a few better suited to something like your copper idea.
dmichael thank you. That is an excellent idea of the spirals. I think to just have all bamboo hoops and tri-pods would be boring. That adds a little zip to the decor of hoya arranging. LOL
sorry I'm tired I guess.
Jeri
Jeri,
Nothing is safe around me!! If I look at it and think to myself ,that would make a nice support for a hoya I put the mind to work figuring out how to make come together.
I also have a very upscale highend nursery here that gets in a lot of plants on topiary frames. They are VERY overpriced. I'm talking around $180+ for an english ivy on a 3ft tall topiary globe. They tend not to sell many of them becasue of the high prices. Whent he plants die they throw the frames out out in teh woods behind the nursery.
Good thing about that is I have a very good friend who works as an asst. manager there and she allows me to go and get the frames to use for my plants. It's about time for me to go and make another stop there as I havent been in almost 6 months.
I'm like you though I dont want all of my hoyas growing on the same type of support so I use whatever i can find. I also use a commercially bought spiral supoprt as well. They are strong and support the plants well but they dont spring out as wide as i'd like them to,they are more compact.
I have used 1 x 4 fence wire cut into squares or triangles and attached to a support post,tomato cages (upside down and rightside up),bamboo hoops,copper spirals ( I make them), store/nursery bought trellises if small enough to fit in the gh without taking up too much room.
Like I said if I see something laying around and think to myself a hoya would grow on that,it's game!!! I am forever checking out the local recycling center for something to use.
dmichael
Very ingenious and inspirational dmichael, and thank you for sharing the photos. I too am getting a little tired of the bamboo hoops and wanted to try something different. I guess it's off to Home Depot this weekend to buy some copper tubing.
Doug
Me too!!! Do the metal trellis that you can buy conduct heat that would burn the hoyas? Carol just has them running up trees in her yard.
Has anyone noticed that if a vine runs under vinyl lap siding it will root in about a week. I have a hanging basket and if I'm not careful it will try to run under the vinyl siding and root. My observation in this case is that a moist dark spot will root them also. Is this incorrect?
Jeri
If I lived in that gh that Carol calls home all of my hoyas would be growing up trees as well!!!! Sadly,though our winters dont get bitter cold here we do have many nights of hard frost and temps thta can and do get down into the 20's. Not good for hoyas growing outdoors!!
The wire spirals that I buy are very thin but strong and I havent noticed that they conduct much heat at all. I keep 2--24" high velocity fans going in my hoyas house all the time so maybe that helps a bit and I also have a misting system which helps cut down on the heat as well.
dmichael
Driftwood makes a nice trellis/support. I have a big L - shaped piece in a giant floor pot of pothos. I need some smaller pieces that would work in typical hoya pots, meaning not too big.
http://www.gardentalk.com/?page=thumb-support.htm
This is a link to the place where i buy the premade sprials. They come 3 per pack for around $18. They dont look like much but they are strong and can support the weight of hoyas.
Thanks dmichael I just placed my order for the spirals.
Jeri
David, if you were going to buy wire to make those spirals yourself, what kind of wire do you think it is and where would you be able to find something like it? I just want some for a round hoop trellis for a small pot, but need something sturdy and not too thick.
I'd start with lowes or home depot,if no luck with either of those my next stop would be a local hardware store.
Thanks D - you recommend the copper coil wire?
Charlies Greenhouse also has those collapsable packets of 3 coils ... same price I think.
I don't want to order online though, they are not for me, but for someone here from Europe who is going home next weekend. she is giving the lady she has been staying with a small single compacta, not a hanging one, and she wants to pot it up with a simple round hoop for a trellis, and train the stem to grow around it.
Those spriaclimb supports are also availabale in Europe. Ask your friend to just google the word spriaclimb and see what they come up with.
dmichael