That is the way I feel about the plants. The more you know the worse it gets. I am sure some people are going to look at that and say she has to be kidding. I know that before I read a lot about AV I had really pretty ones. I just did like my Grandma did and it worked pretty well.
Cut Curtisii
lol....I agree to a certain point....but I didn't know much about Curtisii when I first got it, and I didn't 'fuss' with it (I swear!) but I still failed, miserably with it.
I own & grow literally hundreds of plants indoors without a greenhouse and most of them do pretty well...except this one:(
But I will add, again, that the two smaller ones I own at the moment are doing pretty well.
I wasn't trying to burst any bubbles....just trying to get a 'feel' for growing this particular plant from someone who appears to do well with it...sorry.
What seems to end their lives?
A greenhouse grower told me that what kept him in business was just one thing..............people don't know they have to water.......i thought it was funny...................sometime this week.........i am going to list and show pictures of what i have just acquired in the last two weeks...........Lin sent me some cuttings and i want to reciprocate...............
****take note Lin............and thanks.................
All I've really seen about the curtsii is that when they have the heavy cap growing all over like the EA plants do that you have to be real careful with the watering as that cap holds in a lot of moisture! I just bought one of those moisture meter things to try and make sure I don't over do it with the water on this one, now lets see if I end up better or worse off. LOL
In regards to what you learn and then try to implement I have to tell a bit of a story...I've never had much of a green thumb and I'm determined to learn and to be successful with the various plants I'm getting into so I try really hard and study up etc. My aunt on the other had has always had a green thumb....so I've been sharing most everything I've been getting into with her, Streps, AV's, hoyas, alsobias etc. Well on Saturday I went to her house and was shocked to see all of these things stuck willy nilly into old clay pots with regular off the shelf potting soil and getting very little to no fertilizer and you know what??? Everything was growing and blooming like crazy!!! I have yet to see a bloom on my alsobias or stretocarpella and there are hers blooming away!!!! Little ones that I gave her and mine are much bigger but nada on the blooms. And then I look over into this other old clay pot that is half full of regular potting soil and see where she had cut the top half off a strep leaf and just stuck it in the dirt and she has all these big babies growing in there!!!! She graciously dug one out and gave it to me! LOL I tell you I just wanted to lay my head down and cry! LOL I kill myself with making light soiless potting mixes and using humidty domes and getting grow lights etc etc and she is out growing me by a mile on her window sills with Wal Marts least expensive brand of soil!!! ! I just have to laugh or I'd give up. And her hoyas all look fabulous, growing like gang busters no matter if they are near a window or not! Oh well, I enjoy working with the plants so I'll take comfort in that!
Just had to get that off my chest. LOL
~Brenda
Brenda I know what you mean. Makes me crazy some times.
Well Hey Everybody! I just decided to pop into the hoya forum and lurk a bit .... and what do I see but a bunch of my AV buddies and Houseplant buddies over here in Hoya's!!
Great job on your plant Makshi and ..... Brenda, that is one Big Beautiful pot of Curtisii .... Wow! I have this plant and it is not well. I think it is staying too wet because of the soil. I need to repot it into a lighter mix probably with some bark mixed in for drainage. I sometimes use orchid bark for Hoya's. Hopefully I will be able to save this guy. I have one little pot of H. cummingiana .... cuttings Nan sent me in my very first trade on DG a year ago. It hasn't done much at all in a years time! It's not dead, just not growing.... I need to read up on that one I guess!
I have a few generic Hoya's and would love to have more. hmmmm ... if some of y'all are worried about cold temp's and frost, you are welcome to send your plants to Florida for the winter! hee hee ... no guarantee's that you'd get them back though! :)
How thoughtful of you Lin, a hoya daycare! :)))) I'm sure my wood stove will keep them warm enough this winter!! LOL Now as for enough humidity with the wood stove going........ I'm working on that!
~Brenda
..... we have lots of humidity down here too!
Lin...you stinker! LOL!
I don't know what killed my Curtisii's, Diane.....I swear I tried everything.
The one that is doing well is in some really loose soil (I always mix some of the Schultz orchid mix with a peaty type of soil like the standard Miracle Grow in the green/yellow bag or ProMix) and is getting quite a bit of light in the south window. The one I just brought in last night is in the same type of soil and has been hanging outdoors in a tree where it gets a good deal of indirect light and of course it was getting a lot of warmth and humidity.
I don't think this one likes a lot of water (especially at the crown)....but the next person might tell you differently from their own experience.
When they do have that large 'cap' of foliage at the top of the basket, I recommend watering from the bottom (setting the plant in a deep saucer of water and letting it soak up what it needs) so that the crown doesn't get/stay wet.
At my house, with the reduced light in the winter, that seems to be a general rule....don't let the crown/stem(s) of any plants *stay* moist. (Since they're receiving less light, they'll use/need less water.)
Even though it's often discouraged, I water a lot of my plants (not necessarily or exclusively hoyas) near the edges of the pot or from the bottom during the winter months.
I'm just going to leave the little one in the south window where it's happy, and try the other one in the east window......and I'll see what happens.
Don't let my lack of past success discourage you, though, Diane....as you can see, Brenda is having great success with hers, and I'm sure others are, too...for some reason this is one of those I haven't been real lucky with.
It seems that some of us have great luck with some plants that others don't. Like you and your aunt, for example, Brenda.
My mom, too, has terrific success with a few plants that I haven't had the greatest luck with....and it seems she does nothing special with them at all!
May everyone's H. curtisii plants thrive and prosper!