Window treatments, hoya serpens, and cold weather...

I have had to bring in most of the hoyas except a couple so they are filling my house and windows.  Who really needs window treatments when you have hoyas?  I have left hoya serpens and hoya carnosa variegated outside and they love it, especially serpens.  Hoya serpens has grown so many little leaves since it cooled down.  When I first received it, some of the vines died back and the peduncle fell off but you can't tell now.

Hoya Linearis

I love this plant.  It is so beautiful the way it hangs down.  It reminds me of the Spanish moss that grows in the south.  I love the way it feels with its fuzzy, thin leaves.  I actually have 2 of these plants so if one would die then I would still have the other one.  I ordered them from Exotic Angel a couple of years ago and they got bumped around quite a bit on their journey here.  Most of the dirt was out of the pot.  I looked for them around here at Lowes and Meijers but they don't seem to have any of the more unusual Hoyas.  I did not replant them, I just left them in the exotic angel soil and they grow like crazy.  I leave them inside all year round and let them dry out and then water/fertilize them in the bathtub.  They haven't bloomed for me yet, instead they are on a mission to grow all the way to the floor.  On the one plant, I lost the bottom saucer and some of the plant is growing through the holes in the bottom.  I highly recommend this plant.  When you get it, just hang it in front of a bright window and ignore it until the pot seems light and then water it thoroughly in the bathtub.  Don't let it get too dry because sometimes the stems tend to dry out if you leave it to dry too long.  If you want to take cuttings, just get an old pop bottle and poke holes about an inch from the bottom.  Fill the pot up with Hydroton and then pop the cuttings in between them.  I water my cuttings with a drop of superthrive added.  I don't put the linearis cuttings in the cuttings aquarium because it roots fine without it.  You can just sit it on a shelf and add water when it needs it, you can mist them if you want.

Hoya Paulshirleyi/Hoya sp. GPS 8845

It is always refreshing when you root a plant really fast in hydroton and it spits out a beautiful and nice smelling bloom.  I took a plastic pop bottle and poked holes about an inch from the bottom and filled it with hydroton.  This plant was very easy to root.  I did stick it in my rooting aquarium with heat on the bottom and a florescent hood on top.  I also tried to root a Hoya Mitrata at the same time but was horribly unsuccessful.  If anyone wants to sell me one, please notify me, I will pay for it.  I am seriously thinking about ordering one from Greenthumb3000 in Thailand but it is so expensive to buy his plants and I am always worried that US customs will confiscate it.  I ordered a Sigillatis from him and it is growing like a weed because it actually
 got past US customs.  So back to the Hoya Paulshirleyi, it looks like he is growing a new leaf also.  I am very surprised this plant is not more common since it is so easy to start and it blooms so easily.  I wish all hoyas were like this.  I ordered this cutting from Ted Green along with the Hoya Mitrata cutting.  I don't know if I will attempt to root Mitrata again.  I don't like spending $20 on a cutting and it does nothing for me.  I guess I won't attempt Hoya Praetori anytime soon since it is $50 a cutting.  I tried to win a Hoya Praetori a week back from the Hoyan and lost it due to some rich guy bidding it up to $88.  I wish I had unlimited funds to spend on hoyas like he has.  I looked at the past auctions and he has spent some money on hoyas.  I hope he goes away so I can win a few before the ebay plant season is over.  :(

Hoya Incurvula Brevialata

This plant has done really well since I bought it.  I think I bought it in 2009 or 2010 from either Lowes or Meijers.  It is currently blooming.  I tend to forget to water this guy for a long time and he doesn't care, he still grows and blooms.  I love the way the pic of the bloom came out, it almost looks fake.  It is hard to believe this pic came from an old Dimage A200 camera.  This plant is an Exotic Angel plant and I haven't removed it from their soil as many people do.  I guess my lack of watering tends to make it okay for the Exotic Angel soil.  As a matter of fact, I have not replanted any of my Exotic Angel plants, even Hoya Linearis.

Hoya Imperialis var Rauschii

This plant is one of the fastest growing hoyas I have. I got this one in 2010 from Joni at SRQHoyas. I used to have a pink Imperialis but it lost all it's leaves and died for some reason. I also have mosaic but it only has 2 leaves and it is showing some new growth. I let these plants sit out when it rains and they seem to love it.

Hoya Polystachya iml 1410

I love this hoya.  If the house would burn down this would probably be one of the hoyas that I would have to take with me.  The leaves on the bottom of the plant are huge and bigger than my hands.  I bought it from a seller on ebay by the seller name of dmichael.  I just saw some posts by him on Gardenweb where he shows his greenhouse and shadehouse.  I hope to have a set up like that one day.

I recently replanted this guy into a bigger pot because he was just so top heavy and he kept falling down.  This plant seems easy to care for.  I have been watering him when dry and alternating the watering with beer fertilizer and fish emulsion.  In the winter this plant seems to stop growing but as soon as the days started getting longer he started putting on some new growth.  The leaves start out a lovely burgundy color.  I looked for this plant for a long time and finally won an auction on ebay.  I think Joni at SRQHoyas may have this plant in her collection but I think she calls it Hoya Latifolia 1410.  I don't understand why it is so hard to come by because it is an easy plant but I don't know how easy it is to propagate.

Welcome to my hoya blog...

I have wanted to start a blog about my hoyas for a long time but never had the time to do it.  I don't know what it is about these plants but i love them and can't stop buying them.  My husband just doesn't get it but he should because he has a comic book collection stored away in the spare bedroom.  I have only had a few of the hoyas bloom for me so far but I didn't start giving them fertilizer until just recently and in the winter I am awful about watering them.  I have to take each shelf of hoyas and drag them to the bathtub and that takes some time so I tend to skimp.  In the summer I put most of the hoyas and houseplants outside so they get humidity, rainwater, and then my occasional watering and it makes them extremely happy.

So I start my blog with Hoya Macgillivrayi "Lockhart River".  I got this hoya from Joni at SRQHoyas in September of 2009.  It is a big plant but it would probably be bigger if I would have started fertilizing it more often and given it more water in the winter.  I have been trying out the beer fertilizer recipe and it seems to be working so far.  I have also been trying out fish emulsion, seaweed extract, and Superthrive.