I thought I'd start a new thread as the other was getting really long. These are great threads so please bring your pictures and share!!
First off I have the mini AV, Rob's Loose Noodle, such big blooms for a little plant!!
~Brenda
Feel free to upload your new blooms - Part III
Here is a close up of Kholeria Tane. I'm not crazy about the symmetry on these (it's me, I know it, I can't make them look right!) but the blooms are awesome!!
These are my first mini sinningias and I am soooo in love! There are three Sinningia Pusilla in this jar. I think they need to be in their own quarters but I'll wait until Rain is feeling well enough to tell me that for sure!
These came from TN to ID just four days before this picture was taken! They are tough little guys!!!
edited to say that is a semi mini AV you see to the right so look how tiny they are!!!
This message was edited Oct 18, 2007 9:27 PM
This is a hoya that opened up it's bloom yesterday. The smell is absolutely divine, like the front room is filled with flowers instead of this one little bloom!
H. Verticillata
This morning a second bloom opened on H. Verticillata so here is the whole plant!
~Brenda
Brenda: Don't you just love Sinningia pusilla?? I have the same one ... got it from RainGazer in a trade and it is one of my favorites! I just love the micro mini Sinn's! I got S. 'Rio das pedras' from Jannich and it is adorable too! I think that one is considered a micro mini too. I never thought I would love such itty bitty plants so much! In the Spring I want to buy a couple of the larger Sinningia's to try but I just love these little guys.
Ok ... now I've added another Hoya to my "Wish" List!! That is a beautiful flower and if it's fragrant I just gotta get it!
I don't grow Kohleria's .... and I don't have much luck with the Strep's for some reason. I just have so much envy when I see the Gorgeous Photo's y'all post of the Kohleria's and Strep's!! I have only tried a small Kohleria rhizome once that another DG'er sent me and it died .... disappeared in the soil. I sifted and sifted and nothing! Well ... as for Streps :(
I am determined to figure out what I am NOT doing right! Gail sent me two recently and they are hanging in but still do not look great! Seems like I get a Beautiful one and within days in my house they get sad looking. I tried seeds awhile back ... they sprouted and then died too. I have more seeds planted now and will see what they do!
Well ... I don't have anything new blooming to post pic's of right now. I have a Chirita 'Crossroads' that has 3 buds ... can't wait for them to open to get a pic ... I think by Monday or Tuesday they will be open!
I wish I could bottle up this smell and send it to you Lin!! MY DIL said it is the scent of gardenias but all I know is that it is wonderful!!
I will be looking for more of these mini sinns come spring!! They are just too perfect in their own little world that you can then look into and enjoy!
I sure wish you could figure out your strep issues! I'm way too new to give advice on them, I just know they seem to like my house just fine and I'm grateful for that fact!
Post the pictures of you Chirita Crossroads even if it's just about to bloom. They have such wonderful foliage that they are a treat with or without blooms! Then you can come back and post the blooms too!!
~Brenda
OOO, I love your plants brenda. Every one of those. I've been drooling over tane.
Cindy
So glad you started a new thread Brenda and what a way to start it!
Absolutely beautiful!
Those little Sinningia's are so cute!
No new pictures to show but everything is looking healthy and for that I am grateful :)
Lin, I can certainly identify with your strep problem. For me it has ALWAYS been Hoya Bella, Lacunosa and Parrot Impatiens and don't you know for some reason I keep trying them over and over and same thing....death every single time. I have decided NOT to try the Bella or Lacunosa and have the last remaining cutting of the Parrot Impatiens that I'm trying to root but it's very touch and go to say the least.
I always run when a plant says "easy to grow" because those are the ones that I CAN'T grow *lol*
Brenda, you sure do have a way with plants!
Kim
Did you say that Rain is sick? I sent her a couple of boxes and the PS said they had tried and failed to deliver them. I hope she is ok.
Hi begoniadude! Rain has pulled a muscle in her neck and shoulder and it hurts her to sit at the computer but I'm sure she's home and recouping. Her mail goes to a PO box so when they scan the boxes into the PO it a says and attempt to deliver was made and failed when actually all they did was put a yellow notice in her box that they have arrived. (I have a PO box also and that's how it works) So I'm sure she or her DH will be getting the mail soon!
Thank you Cindy, Tane is definitely drool worthy! LOL I go and just stand and stare, it's my first Kholeria bloom and I sure hope I get more!
It's trial and error with these plants Kim!! I only show pictures of the successes!! LOL Here is a picture of all four blooms open on H. Verticillata this morning but I'm not showing a picture of the two other peduncles that blasted their flowers!! See how it works now?? LOL
~Brenda
Oh, I am loving that Hoya Verticillata! It is gorgeous and you say fragrant too?!? I added it to my long list of things to look for in the Spring. What location do you keep it Brenda? Does it get full sun in a window?
It is in one of my big front east facing windows Lin, but starting in July and then into the early part of Sept I had to keep the blinds pulled and then cracked about half way to keep from cooking the plants!. Now that it has cooled way down and the sun isn't as intense I leave the blinds open and the hoyas and streps are still happy there. Now when I'm pulling the blinds because it's zero degrees out, that is when I'm going to be watching the hoyas closely. The streps did fine with that last year.
So far most of my hoyas have the thick succulent leaves as that is what draws me and since leaves are what I'll be looking at most of the time I go with that in making choices. But I sure am thrilled with these blooms and I can tell you they about knocked my socks off when I came out of the bedroom this morning with their fragrance! And it is very pleasant! I don't know what I'll do if in the future I find I have chosen one that has one of the nasty yucky smells when it blooms. Rush it to the guest room and close the door I guess. LOL
~Brenda
I have 3 rooted cuttings of that hoya Brenda and it just SITS there and has been just sitting there for over a year. One of them is vining, the other....just sit there. This is one that is going to be replaced by a gessie this spring *lol*
Your going to be able to make some awfully good trades if you start clearing out hoyas Kim!! :0) LOL Have you ever tried the beer fertilizer that so many rave about over on the hoya forum?? I'm going to make up a batch and give it a try. I think I have about a month left to try it before your not supposed to fertilize the hoyas for the winter.
~Brenda
I water with the beer fertilizer all the time :) I use it year round too *lol* Some of my hoyas grow like weeds and some of them just sit there and do nothing and these are all going on the chopping block. I find that I only want to keep the little leaf ones that don't vine so I'm going to be parting with my whole hoya collection as they just don't bloom enough for me and I don't think they get the light intensity they need or something. Haven't figured it out. Have repotted, talked and sang but they still don't wanna do anything so......
Be Prepared when you try that Beer Fertilizer..They will put out new growth like crazy....and look wonderful! I swear by it.I used it on a small brevialta (sp)? last fall..it was only about 8 inches tall then..Honestly..Its a good 2 foot right now...I now need a bamboo hoop to hold it..LOL
Did you say rooted cuttings Kim??hee hee please keep me in mind in the spring..I would LOVE some of that one!!
Nancy,
Sticking it in the mail to you tomorrow :)
OMG Kim!! Are you Serious?? I am hyperventilating here..LOL..
Of course I'm serious :)
I'm sending it pot, soil and fern pole included :)
Wish I had more to stick in the box but I will come spring :)
((( Hug )))
Nancy,
I will recommend that when you receive it that you unpot and add more orchid mix or perlite. I haven't done that since learning more about them. Kind of lost interest in them for the most part.
Have a new found love..........gessies :)
Thank You Kim!! You are a Doll : ))
Edited to add: Oh yes..the gessie bug really hit you hard didn't it Kim..LOL..Its happened to us all....Whats NOT to love about them?..Once you get bitten you are hooked for life I'm afraid..they are the greatest!! and oh ya..they take up alot less room than Hoyas thats for sure : O
This message was edited Oct 19, 2007 10:43 AM
It is OK if I stick in a struggling variegated Compacta (hindu rope) that is rooted but REALLY struggling. You could try to nurse it. I won't send the pot with this one though so that it fits in a small tube :)
Just let me know :)
You betcha Kim..Its more than ok..lol.. I would love that..Thank You!!!
Oh Nancy now I'm excited, I better get the stuff for the beer fertilizer today!!. One gal that lives in Montana says that her hoyas love all the sun bouncing off the snow in the winter and that hers continue to grow well in the winter time. I'm hoping for the same results and if I try the beer fertilizer too ......... who knows!!!
Well rats Nancy, here I sent you a brevilata in the plant swap and you already had one! I do still have your name on a small start of aff finlaysonii but it won't be ready until spring. Maybe with some beer fertilizer it will be more than just a nub by then. LOL
Kim we have different tastes when it comes to hoyas cause the thick, bigger leaved vining ones are what I go for. We will talk in the spring!!
~Brenda
:) Hubby and I don't drink but I keep saying I'm going to buy some beer to make a batch of that fertilizer everyone raves about! LOL Kim about you using the beer too! I've known folks who do ..... and it makes them grow too! And, the older you get, if you continue to use it, the more you grow! hee hee ... I have a BIL who loves his beer. Years ago my Mom used to like a cold beer once in awhile and had to give it up when she was diagnosed with diabetes ..... she lost a lot of weight and was thrilled about that, but missed her beer. Now, if there was some kind of "fertilizer" that I could drink that tasted good that would help me lose a few pounds .... I'd be buying it by the case load!
LOL Lin your posts always make my day.I rarely read one without it bringing a smile to me face ; )
Brenda..oh noo the brevilata you sent me is very much appreciated and in its own special pot..looking happy too : )...If they behave themselves this winter I might combine the 2 pots into one huge one in the spring..I 'never' mind duplicate Hoyas..the more the merrier..Now that I know what makes most of them them happy..I can never have too many : ) uh oh..if you get that finlaysonii started on beer it will probably be huge come spring! LOL
I agree about Lin's posts Nancy. I think DG should pay her for the bright spot she brings to so many forums and to so many people!! :))))
You'll have to let me know how that brevilata does on the beer, it will be a new experience for it!! A combined big pot sounds good, I hope the newbie behaves! LOL I agree, can't have too many big pots of hoyas!
Here's blue mars from a couple of weeks ago, I love the ruffled blooms.
~Brenda
Oh Brenda that is beautiful :)
I have a little baby of her *giggles*
I have found that they hoyas REALLY love their beer fertilizer :) I usually use it on just about anything. Not sure aobut Streps yet but my tougher plants have no problems with and and seem to like it (epiphyllums etc.) I may try the beer fertilizer on a strep someday....just to see. I know they say you don't have to refrigerate the beer fertilizer but I do. In my mind it stays "fresher"
I feel bad but haven't any of you just got "tired" of growing certain plants? They just seem to "hang around" and don't really "give back" as far as blooms? That is how I'm feeling about the hoyas these days. And now that I found a new love I guess I have just lost interest. Don't get me wrong, there are a few that I just can't part with (Multiflora, Heuschkeliana etc.) but for the most part they are taking up space I am really going to need *lol* Now if I could leave them out year round, that would be a different story but I can't and they block alot of light and during the winter I really need that light *lol*
I have a HUGE basket of Sheperdii and Kentianna that will need to find new homes next spring and I'm THINKING about Incurvula but haven't quite decided for sure on that one yet. That one is not as big and I'm thinking that MAYBE that one will bloom for me *lol* I sure hope this gessie thing goes as good in real life as it is in my head *lol*
LOL Cedar ****** blushing here ******* I try to stay upbeat and happy! I am a people person (can't you tell), love visiting and chatting with people, especially folks as nice as everyone on this forum! I have good days and bad days like everyone, but for the most part most of mine are good. I feel Blessed and the older I get the more I appreciate life.
Now .... Kim - I have mentioned to folks on a couple of forums before that most plants can stay out on my deck year round and have told people they could send their plants to Florida for the winter .... but they might not want to go back North in Spring! .... hmmmm, maybe I should do a mapquest and rent a truck and head up to Maine to find your house. LOL. I love Hoya's and only have about 20, they could use some company from some of their relatives! :)
Ok ... Brenda asked me to post a pic of my Chirita's that are about to bloom.
Here's Crossroads: I got this one in trade earlier in the year and this will be the first time it's bloomed for me!
And, here's C. 'Stardust' that I got from Bluebird Greenhouse last spring. This one has bloomed a few times and is getting ready to again:
Hey Plantladylin. Is that a Begonia I see to the left of Stardust? Which one is it? It is really pretty.
Hi Begoniadude! Yep, That's Begonia 'Bonita Shea'. Isn't she just the prettiest little thing you ever saw? I love it. I got her in a trade from Snowrose a few weeks ago.
When I took it out of the container to take a pic I saw how rootbound it is! Looks like I'm gonna be repotting tomorrow!
That is one I will have to add to my list of wants. If you ever propogate it let me know. I sure would be interested in a trade.
Ok ... I will see about taking a cutting and rooting it when I repot. Will keep you posted!
You do have a way with those Chiritia's Lin! They are so big and healthy looking. Beautiful foliage and blooms to boot!
That begonia Bonita Shea is killer, I can see why beoniadude spied it out right away!! :0)
A question for Kim or Nancy on the beer fertilizer....I can only find the basic household "lemon" ammonia. Will that be ok to use? I went and found my recipe and noticed a note at the bottom of it that said the woman had been using it on her AV's with great success. Have you tried that too Nancy?
~Brenda
I have only used the clear ammonia Brenda..I don't know if it would make a difference using lemon or not?I think I remember reading to use plain but I am not certain... I do remember you should only use regular and not light beer.Why I can't tell ya..lol..Oh yes I did use it on some of my noid and duplicate av's and episcias..and a few other houseplants last winter and I really do think they thrived on it.A few of my really tiny ones did kick the bucket but I don't think they were feeling any pain when they passed on.I am going to do the same over this winter when everything is looking kinda blah.I did make the mistake tho of using it on a variegated av and it made it turn all green..honest..took the variegation right out..Never could figure that one out!
Lin you sure do grow Chiritas beautifully! Thats one plant ( out of quite a few) I don't do too well with...Can't wait to see your blooms.
Feeling no pain when the passed huh? LOL I read that it needs the extra carbs from the sugar in regular beer. Well phooey, I can't find the plain ammonia here in town so I guess I'll have to wait until I got to the city. I'm not taking any chances that the lemon would make a difference. Took the variegation out, how interesting.
~Brenda