Thanks Marcy.
If you refer to the one that is in that pix, it's H.deykei.
It was'nt hard to build the GH, the problem was where to place it ,although it is
just 3x3 meters.
Hoyas: latifolias, new hoyas, addictive personalities - #2
Such beautiful hoyas you have Maykela! Is your climate mostly mild all year round there or will you heat your greenhouse?
I was recently able to get this beautiful hanging basket of hoya kerrii. But I could not leave it just hanging as it wanted to because the window where I hung it gets cold and I need to pull the blinds. So I rearranged the stems to go up and over the hanger etc. Is this going to upset the kerrii, to be forced into a new position?? The only way it's going into a window here at my house is like this but I could take it down and put it on a plant stand if it needs to do it's own thing and hang at will?
~Brenda
Brenda, it should be ok - there are some hoyas who like their new stems growing up, and if you rearrange them to grow down, the stem will die off at that point and then start a new one growing upwards - I don't know if kerri is one of those hoyas, in fact, I don't know which hoyas do that at all, none of mine do...I am always wrapping and twisting and rearranging stems, and haven't had any problems. That is a nice looking kerri, by the way. I like the way it looks hanging.
I would have never thought of a kerrii as a hanging basket with such heavy stems and leaves but was pleasantly surprised with this one! Here is a close up of it. I just love it!
edited to say thank you TamiF!!
~Brenda
This message was edited Oct 7, 2007 9:43 AM
I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I finally worked up the nerve to ask my husband if he would hang several plant hooks over our big windows and he did it without blinking an eye!! My hoya collection is small potatoes (pun intended, I do live in Idaho LOL) compared with most of you but this really opened up the possibility of lots more hoyas for me. But before adding more I am going to wait and see how these all do this winter with wood heat and cold windows. If they need to be moved to the small greenhouses I have upstairs I'll do it but I'd really like to enjoy them like this instead!!
One side of the front room......
And the second side as of this morning. I spent all yesterday afternoon and evening rearranging plants, it was great!
~Brenda
And the whole room looking out....
~Brenda
Brenda, all of your hoyas look great!! I like them hanging in the window like that, and your husband did a super job spacing the hooks the way he did. Are they drilled into studs? I never seem able to find a stud in my walls or ceilings.
I grow all of mine in front of windows, and some just inches away from the glass. I have found leaves pressed up against the freezing cold glass before, and they seemed none the worse for wear. When the temps drop to -30 with horrible wind chills, I will find frost on the inside of the windows, and even the bottoms of the doors, and still haven't lost hoyas to cold temps.
I actually have great growth in the winter, with the high light reflections off of the snow. I don't stop buying hoyas because of worry about how they will do in windows, I am afraid of having them freeze solid in the box if we were to get a really fast and sudden cold snap. I don't know about Idaho, but we have dropped from 40's to single digits in a matter of hours.
Congratulations on freeing up TONS of space for future hoyas.
S
Oh yea!!! Just what I needed to hear about the hoyas in the windows! Thanks so much!! I do pull the blinds if it's going to be in the teens or below but I only keep them pulled when it's below zero. I want the light coming in!!
He didn't find studs with all of the hooks but he used some really long screws and they also have a bit of added support because they are each resting on the trim to. He pointed to a couple and said not to put a 25 pound plant on them but I don't have anything that big so no worries!
Isn't it crazy on the really cold days to be driving in your car with the heater going full blast and still have the windows iced up on the inside?? And lets not even mention what happens with your nose with the first inhale of really freezing cold air! That's when you know it's cold! :0)
Hmmm, maybe I better rethink the idea of another hoya order before winter. LOL
~Brenda
Now to figure out a way to utilize the upper windows. Any ideas?? I'm not real fond of heights but I might make an exception for hoyas :))
I did get a big NO on hanging anything from the elk horns. LOL
~Brenda
Brenda,
With your plants being in a box, they might be ok if you were to order again this year. I am done ordering and trading until spring, mainly because of the temps, but also because I just got everything potted, and in place, and it was daunting to say the least!!
Sadly (or maybe actually gladly), I have several open spots on plant stands, and many open hooks right now, so just when I thought that I was done collecting, I see the possibility for yet more...After convincing myself that I would never have pots or places for the 27 cuttings I just potted, I am shocked at how well everything went into place, and am amazed that there is yet still room for more!!
Have a great weekend!!
Sara
Ummmm Brenda, they have extension waterers!!!
I think I will be content with a few new things from the round robin box and what I'm working with in the mini greenhouse that's upstairs, for this year anyway.
So what do you think of like a whole curtain rod across the middle of the big window anchored really well on both sides?? Not for curtains of course! DH may draw the line there since he already claims to live in a potting shed. LOL
~Brenda
Thanks Brenda, you have beautiful hoyas,lot of space for more, and very good
light.
Jerusalem is one of the coldest places in Israel, the summers are hot and dry,
and winters are very cold (Zone 7-8).Last winter I lost many hoyas to the cold,
for that reason we build the GH and it will be heated.
Hey Brenda,
Thanks for the great shot of kerrii - now I know I can put it into a hanging basket, no worries! I was wondering how I was going to pot it up. I might do it this year, but my plants are all ready slowing down.
I will try and get some shots of my place soon - just got a new digital camera that's very very shiny!
Brenda,
I love your plant set up! What a beautiful location; it looks like you live in a rural paradise. The Hoyas look great against the fall colored Aspens outside. That is some window! The only way you could ever fully exploit all of that glass for your Hoyas is to put in some type of hanging rod with a pulley system that you could easily lower so that you could water all those baskets, without having to climb a ladder. I've had plants that I take care of, where I work, up high where I needed to get a ladder to get at them. That got old real fast. Plants need to be at a comfortable height to water.
Your plants look very healthy. Good growing!
Doug
Seems DH is a little picky about his elk horns!! LOL!!! And such perfect hooks, too! Looks like a paradise out that window!
Karen
What beautiful window displays AND WINDOWS. Love that woodsy look. Hey...it looks almost as if that road goes straight into your house. Ha. Comes right at ya.
They do make hooks that are on a pully set up (like Doug said) that you can just pull it down to water & then send it right back up. I bought one once, but have never put it up. Plants however lose a lot of appeal if you can't see anything but the bottom of their pot. Ha. They only ones I like hanging up high are bella (cause the flowers all look down), and some that get so long as to drape WAY down around the sides.
If your 3 hooks above the window turns out to be not enough...you can always just lay a rod across them and have even MORE space for hanging.
Marcy
Thanks all for your comments, I've lived on this piece of property for 18 years and I never tire of it! It's actually a subdivision of sorts but the lots are a minimum of an acre and with the great trees I have to "look" for my neighbors.
I hope your greenhouse is a success Maykela! I look forward to seeing your place and your hoyas Hills!! Susan I love the feel of being in the rurals but am also glad that town is only a two mile drive away!
I do believe DH would draw the line at a pulley system for watering my plants Doug, LOL especially because I would also have to have some type of blinds that would be operated that way too. Our summers are short but for about three months there would have to be blinds in those upper windows to block the direct morning sun from any hoyas.
I guess I'll worry about filling up the lower ones for now :0) although I'm not giving up on an eventual plan for those higher windows .... even just a shelf at the sill level to set plants on instead of hanging them, maybe some shade cloth behind them for the short summer months???
I think in the spring if I were to put some of the australis seedlings on the entertainment center and I ran a clear line of something up to the elk horns they could climb up there and intertwine. Then technically they would not be "hanging" from them, right Karen? LOL
~Brenda
Very good points Marcy! I don't just want to see the bottom of pots! Long hanging vines would be a must!
~Brenda
Hey Marcy, I thought the same exact thing about the pulleys. How bad are we??? Our minds can surely think of some great things with (hoya) determination, we just happen to need our hubby's to contribute to our masteredly thoughts. Sometimes I think they wish we would just stop thinking of these new ideas.. I know I have had many genuine bright ideas that just keep him busy. Might I mention they (ideas) work well.LOL
Teresa
Hi Teresa! So what do you think of the kerrii now? Thanks to you it's now hanging right here in my house!!! I love it!
Thanks for telling me it was available and hooking me up with TamiF, I appreciate it!
~Brenda
Oh Brenda I love the kerrii! It looks so healthy and some of the leaves are HUGE!
Looks like you have a perfect spot for it. I love those big lodge windows and the scenery is breathtaking. Looks like the leaves are changing. Better catch you hubby before the hunting season catches him. ;o)
TamiF has been such a sweet giving person.
Thank you again TamiF for the opportunity!!
Teresa
Well here are my plants in their new location. I bought the bookcase especially for them to sit on. My only worry is that they don't get enough light at the moment so am thinking of getting my spare lamps to shine on them.
I have a plant "ICU" where I keep the sick or rooting hoyas where they get a bit more light - closer to the window- and a bit more warmth from the radiator and most are on the heat mat.
Very nice looking plants hills!! Do you have the OTT light bulbs over there, they are nice and bright. Or you could try wrapping that little alcove with mylar like Hoya24 did for some of his hoyas. That would reflect some light! LOL
May I ask what the hoya behind the TV is? It looks to be sitting on the hearth and to have variegated leaves. I like those leaves!!
~Brenda
Re addictions, new hoyas, etc: Just got my last order in for the year - from Carol. I got patella (pink), vitensii (which is flowering!!), dennisii, h. sp. #920307 (Carol says it's a new one), lauterbachii, and blashernazie. All are fabulous, and healthy, as always!!
Karen
Here's h. vitensii blooming! THANKS CAROL!!! (Especially for the little extra new one, sp. 910307!!!!!)
Karen
Awesome choices Karen!! Great looking plants and a beautiful bloom to boot!
~Brenda
The one behind the "TV" (it's actually my computer monitor!) is my very sad polyneura - leaves going yellow and those that aren't are all wrinkled :(
I forgot to take a photo of my retusa. Here it is still with its rosette, and it's about to flower massivley again - will take photos when it does!
Here is my sick polyneura. I don't think it's going to make it much longer...
Hills,
polyneura seems to be a tricky one to grow for everyone. I am on my third basket full right now. The first one came as cuttings from another DG'er. They grew well for a while but then began to have problems and eventually died.
My second basket was an Exotic Angel plant and had issues when I bought it but I got those c;eared up and it did very well for almost 6 months and then it began to slowly decline until it just finally died also.
I'm on my third and final attempt at growing this one. I bought the plant in the picture a few months ago and it is doing great for the moment,no yellowing leaves not black spots or anything like that. yet!!!
I was looking over the plant last week to see if it might be forming peduncles as many of my hoyas are right now and while examining it I found this crazy looking set of leaves that looks like angel wings.
There is only one set of leaves on the entire plant like this. You cant really see any great detail in the pic but these 2 leaves have extra points of growth actually on the leaf itself that look like wings.
Regarding H. polyneura. It seems to be one hoya that does not like to be fussed over.
Hills, my advice to you is to cut off as much of the dying leaves as you can (so that the plant will stop spending energy trying to heal itself), and throw it outside in as bright of a location as you can (yet sheltered from the elements and severe cold). Your weather is, I believe, similar to mine was in Eugene, Oregon (very cool, cloudy, and rainy) and, except for the really cold nights, I kept mine outside pretty much all year. It is a cool growing plant and it seems to have great difficulty in indoor conditions (for me, anyway).
Good luck,
Ann
Susan, I grow all of my hoyas in a gh and it's not unusual here to have 94% humidity @ 5 am in the morning! It doesnt get much more humid than that and I have still had some minor issues with polyneura at times. So far so good with this new plant though.
I used to have the same problems growing H. curtisii and managed to kill 2 baskets of it before I have finally learned what it likes and now I have a very nice full 8" basket of it growing like a weed.
Not to change the subject but what are everyones temps like now?? Monday and tuesday of this week were in the low - mid 90's for us with record breaking highs on tuesday. The lows for those nights was in the high 70' low 80's. Then on wednesday our high was in the 80's and night was 70 something. Yesterdays high was in the 70' and last night was supposed to be 51 well when I got up at 5:15 this morning to let the dogs out, I also turned on the weather channel only to find out that it had in fact gotten down to 47. A major change from how the week began,that's a difference of 48 degrees from how we started the week.
We don't normally have frost here until sometime in December but last year Halloween found us with heat on and a good frost that night,i'm wondering if were not in store for the same this year? I hope not as i'm not ready for such a drastic change just yet. Seems like anymore there is no smooth transition from one season to another. You go to bed and its summer and when you wake up in the morning its winter. There are many ,many mornings here where I will drive to work with the heat on and have to drive home with the ac on.
dmichael
The weather here in VT has been freakish. Where I live, you can set your watch by having the first frost always by Sept. 15th. This year we have yet to have one. I still have four baskets of Petunias outside that look great. This long without a frost is unheard of here.
My H. polyneura looks only semi-OK. There are a few yellowish leaves and some good ones. If all the leaves were nice and dark green I think it could look spectacular. I think this is one of those Hoyas that is a little too finicky for my tastes, and if this one craps out, I won't be replacing it. If it likes lots of humidity it won't like it mid-winter at my place because of the central heating making it very dry.
Doug
That's one good thing about me growing my hoyas in a gh, I can retain the humidity part all year long and grow them year round. Dont get much in the way of blooms from Jan till mid march but I do get a tremendous amount of new growth on all of them during the winter.
Doug the 47F here this morning wouldn't have been so bad if we had of gradually worked our way down to it. Instead we just went from 80 something to 47 and it felt VERY cold to me when I stepped outside this morning and the cold usually doesn't bother me much.
How cool are we talking here Ann? Above 50 or even less than that? Thanks for your advice!