December Hoyas

This is Hoya cv. Iris Marie. I'm really proud of this one as I had given up on ever getting it to bloom. It took 7 years to do it, but finally it did, and at a very odd time of the year to boot. I don't get a chance to post much any more, but I generally check in once a day to read what everyone has been growing and blooming. It helps inspire me. Most of my Hoyas really went downhill after bringing them in from the greenhouse. I think the dry air from central heating has more to do with it than anything else. All the active growing tips die back from the dryness. I am currently experimenting with the semi-hydro method of growing, and knock on wood, intitial results are encouraging.

Doug

Beautiful, Doug.
I've had 'Iris Marie' for a couple of years too, and no blooms. Seven years, jeez.
I've seen and smelled this one in bloom in Hawaii, really nice, eh?

Wow, she is really beautiful, Doug. I have 'Iris Marie' that I got from a DG friend in Maine who was downsizing her collection this past summer! It's doing really well and I can't wait to see those pretty blooms, hopefully it won't take seven years for them to show!

I moved most of my hoya's inside last week because we had a couple of cold nights. They have been drying out quickly but I'm sure will be okay. I plan on moving them back out in the next couple of days. It's supposed to get down to 37 degrees here tonight! Waaaay too cold! I wanted to build a fire in the fireplace but don't have any firewood! :( I'm hoping this cold spell is not a sign of things to come for us this winter! It is very unusual for us to have such low temp's this time of year. News reports say we had only 5 days total of temp's below 40 degrees last year. It's only the beginning of December and we've already had six or seven nights of low temps here and there. Our cold temp's don't usually hit until January and it's usually only one or two nights. The weather is so weird. One night last week went down to about 41 and the next day it was up to 80! We are supposed to be warming up again after tonight with high's in the low to mid 70's which is good. I am wishing I had a greenhouse so I didn't have to worry about moving orchids and hoyas inside. I have many, many plants out on the deck that I shoved up against the south side of the house and threw old blankets over. My unheated Florida room is cram packed full of plants ... a little narrow space to walk through to get to the door. I am so glad that when it does get cold here, it doesn't last for many hours. It is stressful for the plants though, they always get ratty looking from the moving in and out, covering and uncovering.

I've been thinking about that semi hydro growing method and may eventually try it with a few. I've heard some good things about that method of growing!

Doug...
very nice and well worth the wait. i have had mine a couple of years. It has grown gangbuster compared to many other cuttings started at that time. No blooms though:( Do you think this one need more light to get it to bloom?


Bea

That is beautiful! Mine has grown like a weed since I put it in the semi-hydro, but no buds!

The darned plant has always grown like a weed, but never showed even a hint of blooming before. This year it sat outside for 2 1/2 months, and then I had no room for it inside my house so I brought it into work. I had it in a South Window, and one day I spun it around so the backside would get some light, and the side facing the sun had the surprise buds on it. So I would have to say that this plant needs as much light as you can give it to have hope of flowers - at least here in the Northeast. It does have a very sweet scent.

Doug

I just moved mine to the only south facing window in the house and will leave it there for a day or two before I find time to move everything back outside. It's usual location is on a shelf on the deck where it gets morning sun through the screen. It's been doing really well but I think I will keep it in an area where it gets more light for longer periods to see what happens!


Thanks for sharing the photo of your lovely plant, and your growing conditions.

They're really lovely Doug, thanks for showing us. I guess I'd better move mine too!!

Christine

Nice to see you posting Doug :)
Congrats on your Iris Marie bloom!

So I just returned from a long vacation and came back to my lobbii in bloom and my obovata in bloom - obovata is a first timer for me, and I'm ecstatic!

Here are a bunch of pics of my bloomers - had to take a lot of course!

H. lobbii just starting to open:

Lobbii open..

H. obovata full plant (bloom on top left)..

H. obovata bloom..

H. obovata close-up..

And H. multiflora blooming like crazy - this one and lacunosa are blooming machines!

Gabi

Wow! I think I need to go on vacation!

Gabi, Congrats on so many wonderful and lovely blooms! What a great surprise to return home from vacation and find all those beauties in bloom! Aaah, your wonderful multiflora! I remember seeing a photo you posted last year of that magnificent, large plant! My multiflora has buds and hopefully they will open in the next few weeks!

Welcome home and I hope you had a great vacation! Where did you go, anyplace really exciting?

Thanks Lin! And I appreciate the compliment on my multiflora...it's my prized possession :)

I actually didn't even KNOW that my obovata was in bloom - best surprise ever!

I went on a cruise to the Carribbean - fun times. We also stayed in Florida for a day before and a day after. And then I went to Atlanta for a work convention - not exciting but it extended my vacation by another week. Can't complain there!!

Gabi

Hi Gabi. I'd wondered where you were! Gorgeous blooms, as always, but that multiflora is beyond fabulous. I look at my spindly, always-on-the-verge-of-dying plant and think of yours and.... ah well. Glad you had a good couple of weeks and enjoyed your vacation. Welcome back.

Barb

Awww, thanks Barb :) I missed my hoya friends!!

I only hope my multiflora does well this winter - it was close to dying last winter. That thing is almost as tall as I am, and I'd hate to lose it. I'll cross my fingers for your's and mine!

Gabi

Hi, Mine bloomed this year 3 times from the same little stem a couple months back. It has rather long narrow waxy leaves with smooth edges and splashes of silver. The little star flowers with rounded tips are sort of an off white or ivory with maroon centers. Often there are little drops of a liquid hanging on the little star's tips.

I started the plant from a cutting off a plant my mother had before she passed away. I remember the plant was growing wild (so to speak) because she never pruned it. It was located in a sun room with a vaulted ceiling with open rafters. The plant had grown along the rafters as well as into the 1x6 tongue & groove ceiling boards. This was probably 10 years ago.

I also remember my cutting being potted in my usual 1/3 Perlite, 1/3 Vermiculite, and 1/3 Cactus mix for about a year before any new growth emerged.

I have it in an out of the way area that faces E/SE window. I don't even know its there except when I water it occasionally or when I get a whiff of the intoxicating fragrance. I mean literally intoxicating....a long inhalation of the fragrance from up close to the flower makes me a bit dizzy.

If there is such a thing as an aphrodisiac, this fragrance would be high on the list.

My questionis, are there ways to force them to bloom again....light, special fertilizer, some kind of stress, etc?

All of the above TRG! Do your flowers look like this? - http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/1302/

Fertilizer - a good quality fertilzer, used regularly, but very, very dilute.

A bright location, with a bit of sun early or late in the day. Most hoyas will burn with hot, mid-day sun, especially in Texas.

Stress - some people find that whacking their hoyas about will promote blooming...lol... not really. The key, especially if its a carnosa, is to keep it in as small a pot as possible - hoyas like to be pot bound.

The third key, unfortunately, is patience. A hoya will bloom when its ready, not sooner. Some people use bloom boosters but I don't like them. In some climates (mine for example), hoyas will stop blooming and nearly stop growing this time of year, and its normal because the days are shorter. To try to circumvent what nature can cause undue stress to the plant.

Good luck!!



Christine

That could be the bloom, but without so much white. I smelled the dried blooms just now and they smell of the wonderful fragrance. Would probably make fixative for potpourri.

It is still in the pot it was rooted in many years ago.

This message was edited Dec 8, 2008 3:38 PM

One of the larger leaves

With age the leaves have become smaller.

Texasrockgarden: That looks like Hoya carnosa to me also. I have one that I received in trade about 1 1/2 years ago but it hasn't bloomed yet. I can't wait for those beautiful, fragrant flowers!

Scroll down this page and check out some of these photo's of the bloom and foliage and compare to your plant: http://www.myhoyas.com/Hoya%20carnosa%20min.htm

Here is H. lauterbachii blooming at Ted Greens' last week....and my hands are big!

Gabi,
Wwelcome back! I am so excited to see your pics of the H. obovata. Such a lovely bloom + a few months ago someone sent me an unnamed cutting that had the biggest Hoya leaves I had ever seen. Well now I am thinking that it must be a H. obovata. The return address didn't have the DG name on it, so I don't even know who it was from. It was just a giftI thought , not a trade (unless I owe something that I have forgotten about~~~Oh my...if that has happened, it certainly was an accident, so let me know, please!!) Gee, I would never intentionally not send a plant and have participated in only 2 trades. They were loads of fun and I look forward to them beginning again soon. I'm saving my VA medication ags. They are those popcorn plastic buble wrap bags that I imaging would be good for keeping the plands both warm and padded.
write soon. & Wingwaves to ya,
Sheri ^_^

TRG, if I was you, I'd repot that plant into a slightly larger pot, and cut away a bit of the outside roots. If its been in the same pot for so many years, its likely to be filled to bursting with roots and although hoyas like to be potbound, even they have a limit; there's likely not to be very much potting medium left. Years ago when I used terra cotta pots, I would only repot a plant when the pot cracked open. Aalthough plastic is far superior for growing hoyas, that won't happen unless the plastic gets brittle, which takes a very, very long time. So, take the plant out of the pot and inspect the roots. If you can't see any more potting medium, its time to trim the roots and repot. If you can't take it out of the pot, its definitely time to repot, use a knife if need be to loosen it.

Christine

Wow, Carol ... that is one great lauterbachii, amazing the size of the blooms! Does that particular hoya have large leaves too? I love the size, shape and color of that flower!

Amazing Carol! I have to ask, what is the scent like? I've heard everything from "beautiful" to "baby's vomit"...yummmmm...

Shelley

I'm still waiting for multiflora buds to open.

Wow- Gabi, just saw the close-up of obovata! Nice shot!

Carol, I want that lauterbachii......

Kelly

It was mid day and the scent was quite pleasant....!!!!

Here is the variegated H. aff. macrophylla which I think may be H. tjadamaguensis...but don't quote me...I have to verify more.

Gosh Carol - I love that H aff macrophylla/H tjadamaguensis (?) ! I love love love how they
get that pinkish border when getting enough sun ! Gorgeous pic and flowers !

Paula

OH and I didn't notice at first, but it looks like one of the peduncles branched off into 2 ?!?
An amazing amount of peduncles all in one spot anyways !

Paula

Oh my ... That H. aff. macrophylla is to die for ... I really think that's the prettiest hoya I've ever seen!

I have a small plant I received in trade early last summer labeled H. macrophylla variegata. It's not a happy hoya lately. I think I waited a little too long to move it inside the house. It was in the Florida room for a couple of nights before I noticed it looking pitiful. That room is not heated and it did get down to the low forties a couple of nights! It began to lose leaves and just doesn't look good. I'm hoping I can figure out what's going on and that it will get happy again. Maybe I should put it under the lights on one of my lighted plant stands?

Lin...it looks fine! New growth coming at the top, even!!! Mine gets bright indirect light (very bright when the sun is out) and stays in a warm part of the greenhouse. BTW, remember that heat rises so if you can't provide a warm room, you can grow them UP high where it is warmer.

Carol

Thanks Carol. It lost four or five leaves recently from being left out in the cold room. I took it outside to take that picture and it's now back in a south window of the guest room where it gets bright light all day and a little sun. I'm going to google to see if I can find a picture of this one in bloom. I would love to have one with pink flowers like that one in your photo!

I am not putting my hoya's back outside until March 1st! This weather has been so odd. We usually don't have any cold nights until January or February. We've already had 4 or 5 nights of cold this winter and it's only the beginning of December! Hopefully it's just a fluke and not a sign of things to come before spring arrives! I'm keeping my orchids and hoyas inside until I can be sure! Which reminds me, I need to go drag the orchids into the kitchen or one of the bathrooms and water them!

Found a little Hoya blooming under the lights of one of the plant stands today. This isn't a great picture, and the labeled has faded completely but I think this is H. heuschkeliana?

Lin....that plant I posted The picture of H. aff. macrophylla is the same as yours...same plant. I just don't want to call it H. macrophylla until i verify that it is not H. tjadamanguensis...or something else.

Carol