Category Archives: Uncategorized

On the Horizon

Here is what will be coming up on this site in the next few weeks to few months:  Two new time-lapse videos, of which one will have a Valentine’s Day theme.  New photos with a new lens, that if I can figure it out, should show incredible magnifications of the smallest of Hoya flowers and many cool photos of flower parts.  There will be a new series of “How to Videos”, which I am very excited about.  The first in the series will be titled: “How to Grow Hoyas the Semi-Hydro Way”  So check back often – I think it will be informative and hopefully fun too!

New Year Changes

I decided since it is the start of a new year, I would change the appearance of the site.  I have changed the header image, and added a new page for Hoya Still Life Photos.  I hope that you like the changes.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I just received a DSLR camera (Canon EOS 60D) for Christmas.  We will see how much this 50-year-old brain will be able to do with it.  Here is a photo taken with the lens that came with it right out of the box in fully automatic mode.  I hope to have a lot of fun with this new toy, and be able to post many photos taken with this camera over the next few years.  Once again happy holidays to all!

A Word About Saucers

In the interest of this blog not just becoming another “pretty picture” site, I will periodically post some helpful information that I wish I new when starting out.  Here is another slice of advice sent to a very nice lady who asked for my input.

Hi Rita,
 
Thank you so much for sending me the photos!  You have a very lovely setup and the greenhouse and sun room are just beautiful.  I can tell you are my kind of person – the kind that loves plants!  All of your plants look very healthy to me.  There is only one suggestion that I would make.  I would have an impossible time taking care of your plants for one big reason – all of the saucers.  I only have one plant in a saucer for my entire collection.  I grow everything on humidity trays.  When I water, I water very heavily, and all of the water flows through the pots and into the humidity trays.  The reason I have so few hanging plants is that every time I water, I have to take them into the shower and water so the excess water flows into the tub.  It is a really time consuming pain.
 
There are a few reasons for no saucers.  1. The plants have no chance of sitting in a saucer of water and rotting the roots if you forget to empty it. 2.  When the plant is on a humidity tray, it contains all of the mess, and the excess water adds needed humidity to the air. 3. The biggest reason of all is that when you water heavily and the water pours through, it washes away all of the accumulated fertilizer salts.  That is why I can get away with fertilizing every time that I water. 
 
I love your plants and setup, but if you want to grow huge healthy Hoyas like me, my one suggestion is to lose most of the saucers.
 
Take care,
 
Doug

Potting Soil Advice

I occasionally get questions regarding potting soil.  I am posting an email reply that I recently made to a woman who was having difficulty with her new Hoya cuttings and plants.  It may contain some useful information for others who are new to this plant.

Hi Rita,  Do not despair!  I have made many mistakes along the way including rotting all of the roots off from my plants when I tried a soil made of Turface and barkfines.  I heard about this “miracle mix” on the Internet.  It did not work because it was too heavy to be able to heft the pot to tell when to water.  If I put my finger into the mix, the top 1″ was dry, but deeper was soaking wet.  I quickly lost those plants.  The moral of the story is don’t stray too far from the mix you know.  You obviously have been growing plants for a long time, and know how to grow tropical plants.  Hoyas are not that different from other plants.
 
Hoyas are very easy to kill when young, but not so easy to kill once they are established.  That is why I keep so many large plants; they are much more forgiving of mistakes.  It may take a while to find a mix that works for you; my mix works well for me; although I still occasionally have some problems when the mix does not get mixed well enough and a plant ends up mostly in peat.  Wet and cool is going to rot your roots in quick order if your mix holds too much moisture.  I think your instincts are correct, if your pots feel heavy to you, it is probably holding too much water.  I have never used pumice, but it sounds a lot like turface, which was too heavy for me to tell when to water.  It is very important to have an airy mixture that holds moisture for a few days.  I think more than anything in my mix the large #4 perlite is the most important.  Small perlite is no good. You need to have large chunks (1/2″) which hold moisture, but allow the mix to breathe.  For the most part, I think your mix is fine, but I might try to eliminate the pumice and replace it with #4 perlite.  Until those cuttings are well established, for best results they need to be warm, humid with an airy mix that hold moisture for a few days, but allow the soil to breathe.  That is the best advice that I can give.
 
Don’t give up!
 
Doug