My H. Limoniaca decided to grow behind the trim and into the ceiling. DH caught me as I was gathering ceiling removal tools and put a stop to the process, so the growing tip got broken off. Will it branch? Will the broken tip maybe cause it to send out branches elsewhere? Will it be ok?
Lee Anne
(waiting for DH to go for his nap so I can investigate the ceiling farther and maybe rescue the tip)
Broken growing Tip
Most everyplant will response to 'pruning' whether it's intentional or not. :-) I would trim the broken tip back close to the next node with a good clean pruning device, and watch them branching out.
Happy gardening.
Kim
That's too funny that he "caught" you digging into your ceiling for a hoya stem!! And it's even more ridiculous that I would have done the same thing!!!
On that note of cutting/pruning, what is the best way to cut a hoya when you want to do a trade or propagate? I just cut wherever, without much thought. Is there a *right* way to do it so that it will branch out or continue growing on that same vine? I've noticed that when I cut a certain vine that has been growing, it just stops growing from where I cut it - this might be a stupid question, but is that supposed to happen??
Gabi
Usually new growth will come from the node below the cut. The best propagating wood is not a fresh vine with new leaves and not an old one with crusty bark. Inbetween is best.
So you're saying to leave the ceiling alone then?
:))
So Carol, if I'm cutting for trading purposes, it's best to cut right above a set of leaves and a node, or can I just cut anywhere on the stem and it will still branch out at the node below where I cut?
Thanks,
Gabi
The tip in the ceiling, 3gs, if it is a new tip, has about 1 in a million chances of making it!
Some hoyas...H. cv. Ruthie is one, will start from a new vine with immature leaves. That is rare.
Gabi, Yes. In other words, no matter where you cut it in the internode....the new growth will come from the lower node and the roots for the new plant will come from the upper node. All growth, generally, happens at the nodal points. Sometimes roots will happen at the bottom of a cut, along the stem...but generally from the lower part of the node.
Some hoyas, if they have adventicious rootlets along the stem, are best started by laying them down ON the soil and weighing them down.... lots of ways to do it.
Carol
Great explanation Carol. I totally get it. Thanks :)
Gabi
LOL, 3G ... now if that happened to one of my hoya plants I'd probably be grabbing my spritzer bottle of water and spraying the ceiling every so often in hopes of seeing some hoya vines popping through the ceiling! hmm ... a ceiling covered in hoya, now wouldn't that be something!
hehehe...don't tell DH, but that's exactly what I'm doing.