I've been rooting my hoyas in perlite/baggies this year and have had tremendous success getting roots. My question is this - how do I transition the rooted cuttings out of the baggies/perlite into regular soil mix?
My first attempt was with H. davidcummungii and after I potted up in a normal environment, it quickly started dropping leaves, so I put it back into a baggie.
Anyone else had this problem or have suggestions? (photo: H. subcalva using this method).
Thanks!
Julia
Julia, it does work well, doesn't it? The cuttings I got from you last month rooted up faster than I've ever seen (I used the baggies/perlite method for the first time). I've used pure perlite before without the baggie- seems like the Hoya don't want to go into mix, as mine always fuss and slow down once I put them into my regular mix.
I'm going to leave my cuttings from you and DL in the perlite for a while, and see how they like that.
Julia after potting up rooted cuttings I always put them back into a humid environment until the leaves firm up. That way I know they have adjusted and are starting to grow.
Blessings,
Awanda
That's what I do too, pot them up into soil and then put the baggie right back over them...
Yes, Mark, it does work well! And as we talked about, you only have to spritz them with water/rooting hormone a couple of times a week, if that, so it's a pretty hands-off method, and provides great humidity.
Thanks Awanda/threegardeners....maybe that's the key - keeping them in a baggie for a while longer after potting them up into a regular mix. I'll try it and report back...I guess the challenge would be not over-watering as soil retains more moisture than perlite.
Julia
Julia I find that once they're potted in soil and put back into a humid environment they really don't need much if any watering.
Blessings,
Awanda
When do you transplant them into regular mix - once you see new growth?
Julia
Maybe the secret to some of these Hoyas is to not move them into regular potting mix at all, but to leave them in the perlite. I have over 60 pots of hoya cuttings in a perlite and hydroton mix, and not only did they root in record time, but some have put on incredible growth for the first time ever. As long as they continue to look good, I am going to resist my urge to plant them into a mix only to see them regress or stagnate - if my past experience holds true.
Doug
Wow, they're only in perlite, Doug? Amazing. Are there any drawbacks to only perlite, apart from getting used to white "dirt?" How often do you have to water?
Julia
Doug - what size perlite do you use? I tried using perlite in the bottom of my pots, only to find it turned into "cement" after awhile. BUT, I was using the run-of-the-mill perlite - perhaps larger perlite? Thanks -
Karen
Julia when mine root I put them in the regular potting mix and then put them back into a a tray with a humidity dome over it.
Blessings,
Awanda
I bought a giant bag of coarse perlite last year, but found that it also has a lot of small particles and dust in it. I always sift it in a colander to get out the smaller bits before using it. Maybe the "cement" problem is from to many fine particles?
Julia,
I'm only in the earliest stages of this experiment. The cuttings have only been in the perlite for 3-6 weeks so take that for what it is worth. The perlite is nothing super special. I bought it on ebay from the glassman - 4 cubic feet for only $10.95, but the shipping brings in up to around $28. It is called Krum large Horticultural Perlite. It is nice stuff with a mixture of large to small, but probably not that much different from what you can buy locally. Perlite seems to be able to hold a fair amount of water, yet lets your plant roots get all the oxygen they need. Right now we are not in the heat of summer, but I can get by with watering every five to seven days. Of course the roots are still relatively small along with the plant mass, so it might be an entirely different story with a medium to large plant in hot weather. I'm going to carry on the experiment until the plants start to go downhill - if they start to go downhill. I will report back here periodically on their progress.
Doug
Please do report back, Doug. I'm curious to see how your experiment goes. Perhaps I have my cuttings in gallon-sized plastic baggies, so perhaps I'll gradually open the baggies, reducing the humidity, and then transfer them out all together. I've learned that drastic changes make grumpy hoyas.
Mark, I'm sure it is the particles that gum together and make the "concrete." I just bought a bag of orchid bark...my hoyas seem to thrive in that. (BTW, hope you got my email about the H. cinnamomifolias I spied for cheap at the Oakland Longs!)
Julia
Doug (Hoya_24),
Just a little note on your perlite/hydroton mix experiment. I have used hydroton for over 2 years now and I'm very happy I switched to semi-hydroponics - S/H (also called passive hydroponics or hydroculture, for those who would search any info about it).
When I started I read at Ray's website (http://www.firstrays.com/) that, in general, he does not recommend mixing pellets with other mediums of a smaller size, and about perlite, following his experience, he found that perlite brakes down with time and starts clogging the holes (I don't know what pots you use but for some of mine this could happen, especially when roots fill the pot with time). Perlite is quite easy to break into smaller pieces just between fingers. Additionally, Ray also pointed out that it prevents more air to get to roots, filling the spaces between pellets, which kind of defeats the whole idea of S/H.
I never used this kind of mix so can't tell for sure it would happen but his explanation was credible to me and, as my hoyas grow in straight hydroton for two years now I can tell you that this worked for me.
I don't know if you intend to keep the cuttings in this mix to grow the S/H way but I encourage you to try straight hydroton. It's so clean... no dirt anymore... Oh, I would almost forgot, if you continue S/H culture and your cuttings are ready to be fertilized, the fertilizer should have all micro and macro nutritions available (hydroponics ones usually have it) as the pellets and perlite don't supply any nutritions (they are inert). I use MSU or Dyna-Gro Grow.
There is last thing that would go against using perlite/hydroton mix on my check list: flushing the pots. Depending how you fertilize, the salts buildups should be flushed from time to time so if I had perlite in pots they would probably float in my bathtub. I usually take hoyas once a month, put into bathtub and give them a shower. It also helps me to get rid of all dust from leaves. I have a very dusty place...
Ewdy, I've tried a few rooted cuttings I received last year in the semihydroponics method as well. It is to early to say for sure what the results are. Ray's website warned that in transferring plants into S/H from other media they may suffer a set-back until a new, water-tolerant set of roots develops. My plants, which were well rooted, did stop growing for several months, but now most of them are starting to make lots of new stems, and they all look quite healthy, so I have high hopes.
I think not the advice to not mix hydroton with other media would only apply to the S/H method. I have other plants in a mix of fine orchid bark, hydroton and perlite (1:1:1) that are watered in the regular fashion, and they also seem quite healthy.
Yes Mark, it was purely S/H advice.
Doug, if I missed the point of your post, please, disregard mine.
Ewdy, you did have some good points.
Maybe perlite has a limited life for use as a medium? I wonder how fast it breaks down just sitting in the pot?
Julia, I did see your email, thanks! I'll try to head over to Oakland this weekend and check it out. Did they have other Hoya?
Interesting you should mention that just now- Marilyn's Garden (the grower who supplies Long's) uses a super heavy (physically, not drainage-wise) mix for their Hoya. Some sort of succulent mix, I guess, with a lot of sand and some sort of stone. Her plants look really healthy though.
Have you ever looked at her soil and tried to figure it out?
Hi Mark,
There were others - all mislabeled! Common "Pink Silver" also an australis cultivar (ssp. australis, I believe, which she labels "coronaria" and another fuzzy australis (perhaps ssp. tenuipes?). And a huge pot of "Krinkle 8." I was able to place an order through Longs to get other hoyas of hers...a few years back she was able to supply me with a 12" pot of green kerrii, a javanica, hindu rope. She's also had bella. The cinnamomifolia was growing in 6" pots for only $10.
Her soil is strange - a lot of sand and loam, not airy at all. I wonder if her greenhouse is really hot and they need that dense soil or something. It is weird.
Julia
Wow....great find on the cinnamomifolia!!!
When I transition to my standard mix from my large perlite/hydroton/black cinder rooting mix, it is not such a difference, as my standard mix is JUST that plus fine orchid bark. It is still very airy. I did find the perlite becoming cement in the bottom of the pots...and can't afford that much hydroton so I mix the two. Works wonders. I do not like the ready mix soils.... I figure that I want to encourage the roots to come out and LOOK for the moisture...not slug them with it!!!
Carol
I want to thank Carol for reminding me to make the cuttings LOOK for moisture......all of my cuttings I received from her during the swap are poking out little moisture seeking roots
yay!!!!
GREAT!!!!
I finally ended my perlite experiment and moved everything to their new airy potting mix. Although I had perlite mixed with hydroton, the perlite started to cake together at the bottom of the pot (Carol I think that would be your "cement syndrome") restricting drainage and making it hard for the roots to get through. I will say though, that I have never seen such beautiful roots as those on the 60 pots of cuttings that I removed from the perlite! They were a mass of heavy, healthy, white, massive roots that I hope will continue to grow well in their new medium.
Doug
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY. We are winning!!!!
Very cool, Doug. I found the same healthy roots with perlite. Let me know how the transfer goes...that's the dicey part (for me anyway!). I've kept the baggies on even after repotting into a "normal" mix....
Julia
I tried rooting in the zip lok bags with perlite and the first time got a really nice bunch of healthy white roots! That was in the winter time and the bags were out in my unheated florida room. I tried the same way again this spring and forgot about the bag .. when I found it out there the cuttings had rotted ... so hot and humid and in a plastic bag - not so smart of me.
I use a mixture of perlite, orchid bark and potting soil for all of my plants. I like that it allows more air flow, drains well and the plant roots are not sitting in a heavy, wet soil and rotting. I have even been known to use the orchid bark mix that has perlite, bark, charcoal etc in my mix. At first I thought maybe I shouldn't use something with charcoal but it hasn't seemed to do any harm yet. Since I use a mix that drains quickly I have to water regularly but that's pretty easy since I have a hose out on the deck, and one out in a corner of the yard available for the plants hanging in trees. I guess I'm lucky that my plants can stay out pretty much all year round.
