my big basket of serpens is quickly dying off. I plucked off any dead vines and am trying to get the survivors to develop new roots. Seemed most of these survivors had some part of their stem pinch off.
my question is, should I repot them (once new roots start) in a regular basket, or do you think this species would like an african violet pot?
hoya serpens question
Gaiad, I've had luck growing H. serpens by keeping it in the same small pot it came in (4"), but replacing the potting medium to what I pot all my hoyas in. I also water it twice a week but never let it sit in water. I offer this advice because I don't know what you would consider a "regular basket" to be, nor do I know what an "african violet pot" is.
Christine
What potting medium do you normally use?
1 part regular potting soil, 1 part perlite, 1 part orchid bark. That said, I've recently started using cactus potting soil in place of regular potting soil. My serpens came planted in a mixture of mostly sphagnum moss, and just kind of sat there until I changed it - good for starting I guess, but not for growing.
And then there's the semi-hydroponics I've started experimenting with.....
Christine
Thanks for that information. I had picked up a drowning H. lacunosa. I used a blend of Cacti & Orchid. Glad to know I was going the right direction.
the soil I use is usually just regular potting soil with lotsa lotsa perlite in it.
H serpens grew well for me in the UK, it was no trouble and bloomed well. Since I moved to the Canaries, Ive had difficulty establishing it. Nearly all cuttings have failed. A friend sent me a mature plant last year, and after a few weeks when it moulted like crazy, I put it in the coolest spot I have, with a good bit of fresh air, and its bounding back....so far. In fact its one of the few Hoyas I have which is actively growing at the moment with the days short. I really dont think this Hoya likes it too warm, and needs lots of air. It also seemed to be one of those Hoyas which responded well to day lengths in the UK..Long summer and short winter light levels, like H engleriana and a few others.
I keep mine on the damp side but not soaked
Dominic
Explains much Dominic. I have mine hanging high in a window, in a room that has a ceiling fan on for awhile every day. I also never feel warm in that room. Yes, damp, but never soaked.
Perlite will break down over time, and hoya roots like breathing space, a lot of us like to add more chunky stuff like sticks and stones, as well as the perlite.
Christine
Dominic,
How did you grow yours in the UK? What kind of soil? Mine is dying off fast here. I think it's too wet, it did well in the kitchen (cool with light) but it's too cold in there at the moment. I think I'm going to have to have another go at it, and cut off all the dead bits.
Hills
Hilary,
When I was growing in the UK I used a different mix to most of my Hoyas now.....I used to use a cactus compost mix with a lot of grit in it and Perlite in a bright spot but only morning sun. It did dry out in between waterings...However, the one I have now, which was sent to me last year is in what looks like a normal peat potting compost, in a plastic pot. I havent changed it as its doing so well, just hidden the plastic pot, but here it never dries out. It does get loads of fresh air tho and is in the coolest spot, as its under shade outside. Min 55 degrees at night in winter.
Years ago, over 20, I used to buy most of my Hoyas from a nursery near Bournemouth, Long Man Gardens, and all his were grown in a cactus type compost very successfully, which is what I followed there until I moved here. This is the one I have growing here now in the conditions described above.
I should also add that the cactus compost was more loam based than peat
This message was edited Feb 10, 2009 1:24 PM
Beautiful plant, Domanic!
I have tried many times to save plants that are declining by removing all the soil and any rotted roots and re-potting. Truth be told, it is rare that the plant will revive and rejuvenate for me. When I take cuttings instead, they will usually out grow the original plant in a short period of time.
Mel
I tried that with a bella variagata, and it just nose dived.....but other people have had success I read. I did it to a H wayetii, tho I wasnt brave enough to wash all the compost off.I just knocked a lot of it off, and then spread all the half covered roots into a much more free draining medium, watered carefully for a while, and it came back. One thing I have noticed...or it may be just coincidence, but I bought a H bella last spring, and as usual, it started to die almost immediately.....So, I took loads of cuttings straight away. All the cuttings are doing very well, I must say, and are now healthy growing plants with no signs of rot at the stem and the leaves are plump, as opposed to the thin shiny ones it had when it arrived. I wonder if some plants just give up after all the moving around from pillar to post...Transport, new locations all the time, changes in environment, and they just give up when you get them home. However, if you get them to root again in a specific environment, and then leave them there, they do seem to adapt to it and grow much better having had much less stress. Ive found rooting H serpens works better for me if there are at least 4 sets of leaves, and its laid on the rooting medium, pinned down, and a little more medium sprinkled on the top, then it can root all along the stem.....a 2 leaf cutting just seems to sit there forever
Dominic
I have found that H. serpens likes growing very much like H. carnosa...cooler, dryer,darker than most. I have also found that I am very good at killing it! I can just love a plant to death!!!!
Carol
Dominic, that is a fabulous serpens you have, great growing!
I used to have a little serpens that I got in trade. I had it planted in my terrarium (with the light on all day, hot and humid) and it seemed to be doing real well. Then, I read where someone mentioned that serpens preferred cooler temp's and lower light. Well, I dug it out of the terrarium and potted it up - it didn't live long. :(
... but, it was only a little one, so no great loss! ^_^
