Hi Tina_2, I am very interested in trading for your variegated rope hoya. I have the Krimson Queen hoya. I have a hoya named H. publix (I think, I may have spelled it wrong). It has dark green leaves with white specks and is a prolific vine that flowers cream with red centers. Very sweet smelling and forms huge nectar droplets. It's flowering now if you would like to see a photo. I don't have any rooted right now, but I could send you a nice long piece of the vine with plenty of leaves if you like. As you know hoyas root very easily. I will be making a post today of plants that need to go before the frost so if you see something on there I'd be happy to send you another plant too to sweeten the deal since it sounds like your hoya is rooted. One of them is lemon grass which I see on your wish list. LMK, Catrina

I have hoya carnosa ept cutting pink, red with lighter pink. Willing to trade for any hoya that I don't have, pls see listing at my member page. file:///E:/My%20Documents/My%20pictures/epi%20pink.jpg epi pink.jpg (JPEG Image, 505x665 pixels) file:///E:/My%20Documents/My%20pictures/hoyacarnosa.jpg hoyacarnosa.jpg (JPEG Image, 505x665 pixels)file:///E:/My%20Documents/My%20pictures/epi%20red%20with%20pink.jpg epi red with pink.jpg (JPEG Image, 665x505 pixels)

Many years ago, I received a Hoya carnosa rubra from Bob Smoley that is not variegated at all. I have no idea what it really is, so I've always left it labeled carnosa rubra. I've yet to find anything else quite like it... At first glance, it does look a lot like the plain green carnosa, but there are many differences. The leaves are typically rounder, larger, slightly fuzzy rather than waxy, and it really doesn't climb like carnosa tends to. It's vines are heavy (but not rigid like kerrii or obovata) and it blooms profusely for me. So, does anyone else out there have an UNvariegated rubra?? Denise in Omaha

I am also a fan of Foliage Pro, mostly because it has all the micro-nutrients plants need, not just the main elements. And the 3-1-2 NPK ratio is also good. But lately I've started rotating fertilizers. I used "Grow" and "Orchid-Pro" from the same manufacturer, Dyna-Gro. People say balanced fertilizers (with all equal NPK numbers) are also good. And there are good things I've heard about MSU formula. It comes in powder or liquid and in "pure water" or "well water" formulas. RO, distilled or tap water with not a lot of dissolved minerals are all good with the pure water formula - but use the well water formula if your water is hard, too alkaline or has a lot of minerals dissolved. Powder is cheaper that liquid - but keep it very dry, as it absorbs environmental moisture too easily. Jack's Classic is another manufacturer that I've heard recommended and plan to try as I run out of my fertilizer supplies. One thing I would not use is "bloom booster" (high middle number in NPK). Knowledgeable people say it's a gimmick and that high phosphorus formulas do not actually encourage blooming. There are some negative opinions of high nitrogen (N) fertilizers, but if your medium is partly bark, then high N helps. This is because as bark degrades (as bacteria consume it gradually, in other words), they need a lot of nitrogen, which may leave the plant with a deficiency, unless a high N formula is used. Finally, no matter what you use, there is a pretty broad agreement on fertilizing "weakly weekly" (half or even quarter the label dosage, but with every watering), and on flushing pots occasionally, perhaps monthly, with pure water, to wash off all the accumulated fertilizer salts.