I have a Hoya carnosa I've left outside in dappled shade this summer. Is there an upper limit on temperatures for Hoyas? The highs are averaging around 100 now.
Hoya's and heat
I think it would be fine as long as it's in a well shaded area away from the intense Texas sun and gets good air circulation.
Hopefully some of the more knowledgeable growers will be by to offer you some advice.
My big Hoya carnosa is permanently outdoors, but hanging in a tree, which cuts down on the direct sun; and we get similar highs to you (with low humidity) in our summers here. I moved my plant in October 2006 (I moved house) and that changed its orientation to the sun and about 5 or 6 leaves got sunburned and developed white dead patches. Other than that, it never skipped a beat. In fact in summer 2007/08 it actually flowered twice, something it has never done before. Have a look at these temperature numbers, they are from our lovely little autumn heat wave this year -
Tue 04/03/2008 96.3
Wed 05/03/2008 100.2
Thu 06/03/2008 101.3
Fri 07/03/2008 102.2
Sat 08/03/2008 103.6
Sun 09/03/2008 104.4
Mon 10/03/2008 104.0
Tue 11/03/2008 101.1
Wed 12/03/2008 102.6
Thu 13/03/2008 103.5
Fri 14/03/2008 101.5
Sat 15/03/2008 100.9
Sun 16/03/2008 103.8
Mon 17/03/2008 104.9
Tue 18/03/2008 81.7 (back to "normal" for March)
My carnosa sailed through this and was only watered twice during the whole time (we are also on serious water restrictions due to drought over the last four years). Direct sunlight is the real agent of damage, not heat. Early morning sun works the best for Hoyas I find, though even that can be too much for some of them, as many forum members will attest. However H. carnosa is quite likely one of the toughest of the lot - there are good reasons why so many of these plants have survived to be handed down to grandchildren!
I have just moved house again and fully expect that I might again get a few damaged leaves before the plant settles down in its new spot. Luckily, it is now winter and the plant will have several months of spring to gradually get used to it's new home before the summer comes again. Hopefully this will limit any problems.
Hope this Helps, Ciao, KK.
PS: Here is a link to my journal entry for this plant http://davesgarden.com/tools/journal/viewentry.php?rid=154976
KK,
Thanks so much for the info. I will relax now knowing they can take the heat. And apparently do without water. Looks like we have another week ahead of 100+ temperatures.
I looked at pictures of your Hoya what a beauty! I hope mine looks like that one day. Actually I'd be happy if it blooms.
Perhaps I should have mentioned that mine is variegated..I don't know if that matters?
I cheer with KK...carnosa prefers cooler temps than most hoyas....but it is sunlight that would really bother it, especially a variegated one. If your heat is dry...you could really water it WELL and mulch it in the pot. I have mulched all of mine under trees because the rain often is protected by the trees from wetting them.....
Hi Carol,
Mine gets mulched every spring with about an inch of home made compost - it loves the stuff. IT is a lot easier than repotting it, which I am reluctant to do while it is apparently happy in its current abode. I think a lot of Hoyas go through a kind of establishment crisis - if they survive the first year or two they then seem to be good to go from then on. There are exceptions of course, but I do feel that is true for a lot of them. I know the variegated cultivars are generally a bit more tricky - I have one of the variegated compactas and it barely grew a leaf for the first couple of years I had it, but it is looking good now - nothing like some of the huge ones some of the forum members have - but it IS healthy, has NO mealy bug, and actively growing so I will be very happy with that.
Cooler temperatures would be nice on the humans too, not just the Hoyas! During the big March heatwave the worst thing was the high overnight temperatures - for a fortnight we didn't go below 70F/21C and it made it nearly impossible to sleep, with the consequence that everyone got very tired and cranky!
TTFN, KK.
Yes....they do seem to take a while to 'adjust' to pot growing....yet put them on a tree and 'Bob's your uncle"!!!! I am giving mine a hit of chicken poop too (well dried and aged)....they take off like scalded cats!!!
We never got to Adelaide when we were in Oz....but I would have loved to make it. Did get to the Tasmin Straights and up to Darwin from Brizzy....driving, of course. Terrific trips!!!
Cheers,
Carol
That must have been some trip Carol, especially the driving part.
When I was about 19 or 20 I spent three weeks on a bus, camping in tents at each stop. We went from Adelaide to Port Augusta, the straight up the middle to Alice Springs, did Uluru and the Olgas, then north to Katherine and Darwin with side trips to Palm Valley and Kakadu. On the homeward leg we came down the middle of Queensland and NSW, hitting a lot of tiny outback towns and taking in the Parkes radio telescope, before ending in Melbourne and getting the overnight train back to Adelaide. It was brilliant, but very exhausting with all of the constant travel and "roughing it" and I will never forget it.
Ciao, KK.
KK,
Gorgeous hoya and great info. I keep some of mine outside in the Spring/Summer months, and have found that some don't like to be in direct sun (they only get direct morning sun). So I learned this year to only keep a certain few "stronger" ones in direct sun (like carnosa), and others are further back on the balcony..in the shade (like obovata, which burns SO easily).
Your trip on that bus sounds exactly like the trips I take every so often. I use a group called Trekamerica (you've probably heard of it..lots of people from Australia and England go on these treks - I'm always the only American!). Anyway, there are trips that you choose and you can go anywhere (Alaska, Costa Rica, Northwest, Canada, ect.), and you can either do the camping trips or the lodging trips. I do the camping ones - we are in a van for about 2 weeks and camp out every night at a different place. When I did the Northwest one, we went to 6 or 7 states in 2 weeks!! So much fun, but I agree that it is VERY exhausting. Anyway, they also have a Trekaustralia - I've never been there, so when I finally decide to do the trek, maybe you can help me decide which places to go!
Gabi
Australia is SO diverse and fun!!! Full of snakes! Choose a (theirs) spring after a wet winter when the outback can be blooming. That's what we did. We did Brisbane-Townsville-Mt. ? where they mine - ThreeWay - Darwin - and back. Then we did Brisbane - NSW thru the lovely Snowy Mountains area - Melbourne - Victoria - Ocean Highway and then back to Brisbane along the coast. We camped and stayed in small towns lodging. GREAT magnificent bird life!!!! In the outback we passed the time counting the roadkill! and dodging the 'roadtrains' (HUGE articulated trucks the size of trains). We drove a Morris Mini!!!!!
Mt Isa? Carol? You drove a mini! Brave woman! My trip was in May (last month of autumn here) Even so, it was 44C/111F in Alice Springs (which I handled OK) and 33C/91F with saturation humidity in Darwin (which grounded me with heat prostration for an afternoon). Adelaide might get hot, but it is very rarely humid, unlike the east cost and north of the country.
Ciao, KK.
Yeah...a tiny car...we went to pass a Road Train and almost got sucked under!!! Darwin IS hot and muggy...loved Kakadu!!! Stayed with friend of friends in Elizabeth Creek. YES...Mt. Isa. Fascinating country!!! It had rained alot that year and the outback was full of green and wildflowers!!!! and wildlife!!!! One day our roakkill tally was 47! Mostly Roos but some Imu and one Water Buffalo!!!!
What can I say? Roos are dumber than Emus? They are both good eating though! In Queensland the state sport is either rugby (not REAL football, ie Aussie Rules) or running over Cane Toads. They even made a film about it which is a real hoot as long as you are not too sensitive or squeamish. Outside of feral vermin reduction, though, Roadkill IS a problem, many species get clobbered in high numbers, it is often the smaller reptiles and birds that you don't even see that cop it the most but it is difficult to find a solution.
Oddly, one of the BEST films for really giving people a sense of what it is like to travel and live in the outback of Australia is Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I remember the first time I saw it how accurate its portrayal of both the country and the people was. As a child I lived in Ceduna for a year (a very small town 3 days driving over the other side of the Eyre peninsula from Adelaide) and I have such clear memories of the sheer distance of everything.
I am glad you enjoyed your travels here and survived them safely,
TTFN, KK.