I have 3 Hoyas that top my wish list. H. engleriana, H. elliptica, and H. praetorii. I have spent an inordinate amount of money cuttings of each of the three. (I am embarassed to admit the number of H. elliptica I have ordered from David Liddle) Whats worse, I have lost cuttings that were gifted and those hurt me more than if I purchaced a cutting. Poor me.....guess I need a little whine with my cheese.....
I now have a scraggly, but, healthy, single 4-6" vine. It is in a small glass greenhouse, over the sink, in a east window that gets no direct sunlight. OK, I have been growing tropical plants since the Flower Power 70's and spent 4 years studying agriculture. Yet, this dainty plant intimidates me! I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder each time I attempt to take it out of it's pot, which I can tell needs to happen soon!
I would love to hear how others have mastered H. engleriana.
Where is it the happiest,?
what soil or soil less media?
when and how often you water?
Who's on first?
Mel
H. engleriana culture
Hi Mel
I am sorry that you have had so many problems with your engleriana. I've had one for a couple of years now and is now well established. Of course the problem is that I live in the UK, where it tends to be relatively cold for most of the year (we think we're having a heatwave if it hits 100...). Given that engleriana comes from the mountains in Thailand, I guess the weather here is ideal for this plant - cold with occasional sun. I water mine at about the same rate as some of the others - in fact, I find it's one of the thirstier plants, so it gets watered a bit more than others - put it in my regular soil (compost plus approx. 30% mix of vermiculite and perlite) and feed with beer fertilizer every now and then (which can make it grow a bit scarily, but it seems to like it).
Do you have a cool spot you can place it? I'm afraid I can't be much more help, plants like this - including bella - just seem to grow better here, but I have all sorts of problems with other hoyas, like heuschkeliana, curtisii and lacunosa, which just don't like it.
Mel
During the 'Scourge of the Bella' epoch in my growing career, someone sent me 2 rooted cuttings of engleriana. She lived in Colorado at about 9 thousand feet altitude. Well - one cutting died, along with half a pot of variegated bellas which hadn't put on any growth for ages. I did have a pot of H. dickasonia (sp?) going nicely...so I potted them ALL up together and ignored them. They grew coolish...dryish and are still growing in that wierd place where they get LOTS of air movement!!! Hey...do you think that could be the answer...air movement????
H. elliptica is a real puzzle. I had a beautiful big plant of it...took cuttings and they grew some....and then one by one they started going 'south'. DL said they liked misting....so I misted...and further south they went. Now I have one miserable cutting left, growing in amongst other growing cuttings and it looks GREAT. I had forgotten it was there...totally ignored it. It is planted in Hydroton/perlite mix.
H. praetoria - same story....had a beautiful plant and it did very well until a certain point and south it went. I have given up on it. A friend sent me a nice bit pot of H. linearis which I have hanging where it gets lots of air and no rain and I have watered it twice in 3 months. Growing like mad.
Guess what I have to say is that I haven't a clue!!!!!
Good information, Hills. Do you grow your engleriana in your home or a greenhouse? I do great with bella, lacunosa and curtsii but this little puppy (and others) cause undue stress. I was able to root engleriana on a windowsill in winter and it stays cooler than the rest of the room. My greenhouse is the coolest spot at night, but, the warmest by day. I appreciate your response.
I think you hit the nail on the head, Carol. I agree that ignoring these difficult plants is the best practice. I will make an effort to improve the air circulation. Since it it growing in glass with the top open, that could well be part of the problem. Thanks!
Sorry about your elliptica. I wonder if anyone in the US is able to keep one growing?
I did root one cutting that I bought from Ted Green, but, lost it over the winter. All the elliptica cuttings I ordered from David Liddle were DOA. Apparently, it simply will not make it through the import process. Would you happen to know if Ted does anything special with his praetoria and elliptica, or, do they grow outside as most of his other plants?
Mel
Mel, I think Hillary is right on about the temperatures. I have no problem with dickasoniana, bella, linearis or lanceolata, all similar and mostly from cooler environments. I also have no problem with H. thailandica (from the mountains of Thailand) which is currently approaching weed status, of H. fusca or polynuera, some of which stay outside all year until they start budding.
I have NO LUCK at all with warmth lovers like subcalva, lacunosa, some of the multifloras, wallichii, and I have also had H. heuschkeliana sulk for a year before finally starting to grow this summer.
I think a very light mix (like all bark or hydroton) may be helpful with the bella bunch- like Carol says, good air movement is key, even for the roots.
Hmmmm Ted grows praetoria outdoors...but I don't think he still has elliptica... I tried EVERYthing in the book when mine started going south...it was a gorgeous plant, bloomed and everything. I moved it around, grew it dry, grew it wet...it simply sulked!
I keep my engleriana indoors. My new house is pretty cool and I reckon I have draughts everywhere which probably helps with the air movement. My bella grew to the point where the root ball was mostly roots so I had to repot it recently, but it seems to be doing OK. I never did any good at all with polyneura, it did grow for a while but then it died. One of the ones to write off my list I think...
I have a praetorii, I have been keeping it on the heat mat since I got it (since it seems to be one of the more warm-loving plants). It seems to be quite happy in one of the sunnier parts of the room, and I've got several new leaves on it this year. I guess if it arrives unrooted then you are all ready at a disadvantage as it's such a thin-leaved plant, it tends to dry out. It likes the beer fertilizer too, but I think I'm going to have to stop feeding with it soon, as I keep finding mould in some of my hoya's soil - EUGH!
Hola.
Like Hilary, I had no problem growing H engleriana in the UK where its cooler..it grew well and flowered well. I had trouble rooting a cutting here in the Canaries, but finally found someone selling a rooted plant. The 2 previous cuttings i had received were rather small and young, (I dont think they had a chance its so delicate) That previously rooted plant has taken well. It was at least 5 to 6 inches long when rooted. I too keep it probably a little wetter than some others but in the same mix. Basically Orchid medium and perlite...fingers crossed it gets thru a 3rd winter. Temperatures here dont vary that much thru the year, never too hot, never cold ( fresh yes at my altitude, but not cold ) my altitude is about 900ft, and we often are in cloud in the morning ( something I think akin to its native habitat) and then temperatures into the mid to high 20's. Its grown outside in a shade house..but in the UK it was grown indoors. Im not sure if in the UK its the amount of light during the year as well as the temperatures....A lot of Hoyas found to be difficult elsewhere seem to do well with the light levels there, Im not sure if it mimics their native sunlight hours?
H elliptica in my order from David Liddle was all yellow on arrival, and the leaves soon dropped and the stem didnt root. Strange as the leaves were quite thick, but thats life. The only one out of 28 cuttings from him that didnt survive.
H engleriana flowering at the moment. Very delicate with a lovely scent, like perfume, fingers crossed
Dominic
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Great information, Domanic and lovely picture. I have yet to find the courage to repot my engleriana, but, plan to tackle that task shortly.
I think David Liddle is going to remove H. elliptica from his sales list as it simply does not seem to handle the import process.
Mel
Hi Dominic! Great to see you here.
How are your bellas faring?
I grew one eliptica out to a nice plant...it bloomed and then it and all the others just rotted. Before it was 'too late' I took cuttings....1/2 took the other half croaked. The whole process dwindled down to 1 small cutting...then it croaked. Some just don't want to be in captivity...and that's OK too. LOL
At the moment, Mark, growing well and looking healthy......give them six months and they'll probably croak like the rest have done.;))
Dominic
Dominic, I think coastal Northern California and England have a lot in common, weather-wise. It doesn't get as warm in the summer or cold in the winter here, but we have our share of misty, gray weather. We almost always have some haze in the air from the ocean, so I guess we are equal overall to the amount of sun that a more northerly locale would get.
Whatever the cause, I generally have more luck here with plants that others in warmer/ sunnier climates have difficulty with, like the bella group.
There are a lot that sulk here, though. Subcalva, most multiflora types, and wallichii just to name a few, grow very slowly, are prone to die-back, and make a lot of distorted leaves. Don't even try an Eriostemma here.
Well, I'm a little late to this thread, but... does anyone happen to know of a source for Hoya engleriana in the USA? I had this plant years ago and I purchased cuttings from David Silverman, in New York, I believe. That was the late 70's and I have not seen this plant available in the USA since.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike