This question has probably been asked before.... Are there certain (types of) hoyas that just do not do well traveling in cutting form? I found ciliata difficult (though I did manage to root part of it), and wonder if those fuzzy-leaved ones are generally easy to dehydrate and/or rot...?
Any others that people have consistently had difficulty with as shipped cuttings?
I am still undecided on what to get out of David Liddle's catalog....
keyring - what are some of the hard to root ones?
I think that any of the very thinly leafed and thin vined hoyas are difficult...like H. patella, H. hypolasia, H. clorantha...not impossible but iffy. I have tried H. graveolens many many times and it never lives.
Carol
thanks carol. i'm looking for a challenge. now where can i find cuttings of these?
David Liddle order thru Sara!!!
Sometimes I have had luck simply ignoring the Dead as a Doornail look to the cutting and letting it be....a couple of times new growth has come up from the roots...
Carol
I had a "friend" join in the David Liddle order with me this last spring, the most recent one that Ann co-ordinated. She ordered about 8 cuttings, and when they arrived, they looked awesome!! I have no idea what happened to them, from the time they left my house, but by Friday of the same week, when the invoice came from David, there were 3 she did not want to pay for. Because the order was in my name, and I was responsible for paying David, I paid for all of the cuttings. I told her that if she was refusing to pay, I wanted the plant material back!! I was pissed, and honestly, as I type this, I think that I still am.
Anyway, I have all of the "sticks" that were returned to me (none of the cuttings had any leaves left, and were very dehydrated and wrinkled) still in a vase, in water and vf-11. I finally have roots on 2 of them, and one has sent a leaf out at a node. They are by no means ready to be potted, but I change the water every other day, and they aren't rotting.
I think that Carol is right when she says that sometimes if you just ignore the ones that really look dead, and be patient, there is still hope, and they make it and even thrive after a while.
I put hypolasia on my list from David. Not one of the cheaper ones, but I wanted to get some that were different too. I also have a lot of the unidentified hoyas on my order this time around. The more persistant I am with the tougher hoyas (I have restarted chlorantha and erythrina at least 3 times each), the more confident I become in my rooting and growing abilities.
Cheers,
Sara
I can't believe that someone would place a group order and then refuse to pay for the cuttings that they did not think would make it. I ordered two "expensive" cuttings from this DL order ($16.50 Austrailian), and if they don't make it, that's OK. I know that it is a crap shoot, but I am going to take the chance. I would never hold someone else responsible for their loss or try not to pay.
Wait a second....Sara, are you saying you're NOT gonna pay for ALL the cuttings that don't make it????
Haha...just kidding :) I can't BELIEVE that your friend would expect YOU to pay for cuttings that didn't make it! Well, I'm sure she's not a "friend" anymore.
Gabi
Gabi,
We are pleasant with each other.....Our kids have been going to sports classes together for the last 5 years. There are three of us who all collect hoyas. We have all gone together for the last 2 David Liddle orders, and the first went really well. Needless to say, she has NO idea that there is an order happening, and I no longer "offer" cuttings of my plants in trade. My other friend is planning on helping me box, and transport the cuttings to the Post Office once David's boxes arrive, so that will be fun.
I know that cuttings are risky, and I think that they do too. However in this situation enough time had gone by from the time of the cut off date to the time of arrival, that I believe there may have been some "buyer's remorse". I just wish she would have said something when the cuttings first got there, as my other friend and I would have bought all of hers, and split them up between us.
It is all water under the bridge now.....
HA! Gabi, aren't you just a funny funny girl!! I wish I could guarantee every one's cuttings, including my own, but since I won't win the lottery by not buying tickets, I guess I don't have the financial backing to pay for all the cuttings that die. Now, if I were independently wealthy, I would "buy a round" of David Liddle cuttings for everyone!! HA!
S
I think i've been in on at least 4 orders to DL now. The only problems i've ever had rooting hoya cuttings and not just from David,have always been the very thin leaved wirey stemmed ones which dont seem to travel well at all. Ones like dennisii,chlornatha,sp tanna island.
In my orders i've received old hard wood,semi firm new wood and some a bit on the green side but have never had any problems getting any of them to root. Some have been a bit slow to get growing once they do root but eventually even those grew into nice plants.
If I buy and of the thin vined/leaved hoyas I always try to get them form Aloha hoya already rooted.
dmichael
Here is a picture of my "sticks". They are far from plantable, but not as dead as some may think. I don't think it shows, but there is growth on one of the nodes of the really brown sticks.
Ahhhh, but I am so slow to throw in the towel. Sometimes it pays off though.
S
I wonder what she did to screw them up in just a few days? Maybe she didn't put them in the water deliberately thinking they'd die and she could refuse to pay? That is too bad, if she had been upfront about it, you could have gotten them right away.
I just started another thread before I saw this one, I just got some yellowed but otherwise ok cuttings in the mail and I am worried they are not going to make it...now when i look at yours, I am relieved, they probably will be ok. It may take longer though.
LOL Jen,
I guess not much could look worse than those huh? I posted a picture of my DL cuttings from fall of 2006 on your other post, to show leaf color. Some were pretty yellow, but filled in well with green. I just kept adding vf-11 to the water as I changed it, and they were green before they were rooted enough to plant.
Honestly Jen, I wondered the same thing. She had already decided that she didn't want them, and just didn't care. Believe me, they were awesome before she got a hold of them, and THAT is what really makes me mad. Ohhhhh well. I hate seeing mistreated plants (cuttings) as much as I hate seeing mistreated animals. Those sticks had beautiful, healthy leaves on EVERY node. They were firm when I gave them to her on a Monday, but gone on Friday. Oh well, they are mine now, and won't go in the garbage unless they rot.
Sara
She must have never even put them in water then. Or she did worse to them, cause there is no way they could have gotten to that point so fast without some kind of abuse or neglect. Sometimes people regret spending money, and then are too embarrassed to admit it. It is so painful to see because we all know what a hassle it is to get these plants, they are not easy to come by, and for them to make it practically all the way around the world just to have someone almost kill them in 4 days, it is heartbreaking. But, if they have roots, they could make it. I have brought other plants back from the brink of death, and seen and heard of hoyas in worse shape, once heard a story of one coming back after there was NOTHING left above the soil level, so you never know! Good luck with them!
I just wish David would say which ones have thin leaves and wiry stems, LOL.
Thanks all for the good discussion. I posted during lunch and am only just getting back online to browse. Seems like there's hope with yellow or dry.... but not rot. ugh.
I definitely should have read up on the old Liddle threads earlier. With the recent aloha hoya co-op, I experimented and found better luck with chopped cuttings. The ones I left long also rooted, but just seem less vigorous. Of course, dmichael had already said something along the same lines in an earlier thread.....
A round of hoya cuttings sounds soooooo decadent!
Maybe when chopped smaller, there is less plant for the new roots to support than with a longer cutting. Also makes for fuller young plants later. I hate single cutting plants...well, hate is a strong word...I would RATHER have 2 cuttings going at once in the pot.
smaller cutting=less plant to support - yes, and probably also something to do with the fact that looped cuttings are on the surface, while shorter cuttings are inserted at an angle - obvious bottom and more water down there.... OTOH, all of the buried parts of ciliata rotted off......
I'll be chopping the long ones up anyway - just a question of whether to do it before or after roots have started growing.
Maybe that's what I should do with mine....our DL order got lost twice in Los Angeles and arrived as stems...lol...some of those cuttings are 3 feet long.....maybe I'll chop em up....thanks for the idea.
When I order from DL I always cut them into as may 2 node cuttings as possible. As many of you who have ordered from him before already know,some of the things he sends are between 1-3 ft long at times.
I've gotten as many as 10-12 2 or 3 node cuttings from one single vine. I think you run less risk of loosing the entire thing this way and it does make for a fuller pot much sooner. On my first order to him I left the cuttings whole and rooted them and then chopped them up later but found it easier to just go ahead and cut them as soon as they arrive.
dmichael
I don't think it matters when you chop, as far as before rooting or after, but I would chop before for the above reasons, if you have the length.. Sometimes, as in the case of shorter cuttings or one cutting not making it, you have to wait for the cutting to get a little longer so that you can make it into two. I am waiting now for that with cummingiana and pottsii - what is it with pottsii anyway? Soooo slow and no branching. I have a huge cutting, been rooted about a year, it puts out a new leaf every other month, but that is it. Boring.
Jen...sometimes if you chop up a recalcitrant cutting, it will decide to grow correctly!!! Don't know why...
Ok carol, enough with the big words, i don't have time to look for my dictionary every time you post.
(recalcitrant -adj- to be stubbornly disobedient; obstinantely defiant of authority or restraint; difficult to manage or operate; not responsive to treatment)
....couldn't you just say "tricky" or "difficult" or "pain in the butt?"
(just kidding, I kinda knew what it meant but looked it up just to be sure)
Jen I have pottsii-0022 and pottsii-0489 both form David Liddle and they grow like wisteria (outta control) almost. At least everyother day I have to unwind the vines from around the baskets of the plants next to them.
You gotta get some more light in that house!!!!! or hang those babies out under a tree!!!
yeah, low light. My cross to bear at this point in my life. Skylights are really the only solution, and I don't own my house, so that is out. I do have the pottsii in one of the brighter spots, I think I am going to move it to the 2nd brightest spot, where it will actually get about 45 minutes of morning sun. I never thought that seeing such a small amount of sun shining directly on my plants would give me such a thrill, goes to show that you really start to appreciate things when you don't have them!
Also, in the pottsii's defense, it was an old growth cutting ....I didn't know myself that old growth cuttings were not the best, but now I do. I'd like to take this moment to tell everyone else that! When you give someone cuttings, no old growth! It takes eventually, but much, much slower. Especially under less than ideal conditions, like what I am dealing with.
PS - If I hang them out under a tree, they become trapiezes or personal playtoys for the squirrels. Not good.
Well, Jen - recalcitrant has its own meaning but I will do my best to speak more clearly.... didn't mean to overtax the grey cells!!!! LOL I am surprised I could even spell it!!
Carol :>)
just jerking your chain there, Carol. Though I am a little brain dead, I am halfway thru a summer anatomy course that is only 5 weeks - meaning they take a whole semester and cram it into 5 weeks, without leaving anything out....it's pretty draining. And right before this one, I was in another 5 week science course. I am beat mentally. I am surprised I can spell my own name right now.
I have a new cutting of verticillata, a long 2 foot vine with one set of leaves at the bottom with a bit of stem below them, no nodes except for the leave's node. I potted it up with the leaves just above soil level, since most of the rooting hormones are there at those nodes, and now I have this long vine sticking up from the middle - should I cut that off? Is it too much work for the cutting to support while it is trying to put out roots?
I also got a cutting of thomsonii, but it lost a leaf and the remaining leaf is very thin and wilted, beyond repair. The long vine looks ok though, even has little fresh -ooking roots growing out of it here and there, I coiled it into a circle and pinned it to the surface of the soil, I am hoping it will root that way, but am I dreaming when it only has one leaf, and a leaf that looks like it is on it's last gasp?
thanks-
If thelong bald vine is new growth...I would cut it above the node after the set of leaves. If it is just bald but not new growth, I would bury those in the soil too. Nothing to lose!!!
ok, that is what I will do then. I left those long vines on cinnamomfolia cuttings, and if I remember correctly, the only prupose they ever served was to half poke my eye out everytime I walked by. Thanks
I am not quite as bad as an ex MIL I had...she would save 1 teas. of leftovers!!! But I do consider the fact that plants have one purpose in this world - to grow. There are little growth centers all over the plant, mostly at the nodes, and if the stars are aligned correctly and the plant is in a good mood, there IS a chance to get new growth! So, with everything to gain...why not try!!!
So, why is it that I simply cannot grow certain hoyas? Dunno. Must be a personality thing!!!
maybe some hoyas are like disas. They say you should get 10, expect 4 to live, and only one to do well.....
Well, both of the leaves on the above cutting are gone as of today, so I basically have 3 sticks in the pot now. The stems attaching them to the node just got soft and then started to dry out and that was the end. I also lost one half of the yellowed carnosa cutting today. And a leaf off of the up-until-now-looking good australis Lisa. Drat. Oh well, I learned something this week. Sending cuttings overseas on a ten day trip at the hottest time of the year in a 5 X 9 envelope is NOT a good thing.
Even if they make it, it is long enough waiting for cuttings to get off of their behinds and do something, when you have compromised, handicapped or dysfunctional cuttings, it is even longer. I will be watering sticks for the next 5 years. I really am upset about that verticillata most of all.
