my Violet Barn order came

16 years ago

I received my order today from the Violet Barn and am reasonably satisfied with it. I must say though, some of the hoya cuttings are *tiny*. There is only one 3-leaf cutting per 2" pot, and even the leaves on those have been trimmed down. Yikes. At least there are no signs of pests (yea!), but I'll isolate everything for a few weeks anyway. Check it out:

hoya australis "lizard isle" (notice trimmed leaves){{gwi:967110}}

{{gwi:967120}}

hoya publicalyx "bright one"{{gwi:967112}}

hoya multiflora (shooting star){{gwi:967114}}

nematanthus "hawaiian jade"

columnea carnival

columnea alladin's lamp{{gwi:967116}}

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Comments (6)

ines_99
16 years ago
Shiver, the leaves being cut is something alot of growers do, it has something to do with there being less foliage for the cutting to "worry" about or support, so that it can put it's energy into making roots. They are small, but that isn't a bad thing, as long as you didn't pay unreasonable prices.
ines_99
16 years ago
I just checked the prices, and I guess $5 is good for a rooted cutting - you could have bought much bigger cuttings for at least that much and sometimes much more but not rooted...of course, when you buy bigger cuttings you can cut them down into smaller sections and plant 2 or 3 per pot, which makes for a fuller plant later. But sometimes, with the hassle of rooting, it is nice to get plants already rooted.

I don't buy alot online, and I am not always the smartest shopper- I just paid $35 for 4 small rooted plants in one pot! Some would say I am nuts, but it was a hoya I wanted, it is rooted and growing, and it was worth it to me. I am not sure how Violet Barns rooted plants compare in size to other growers, but I would imagine that the price is on the lower end, and worth it for small plants.

so good luck with them, and I also wanted to mention to be patient as far as flowers go, they are not likely to bloom quickly.
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Ann - provided your violets are semi-minis - Rob's ..., but not Rob's trailers - the size about 3oz solo cup is the one you need to maintain - exactly what Fred advises. So next time you do your repotting - 1 of March + 4 months - you trim the bottom of the rootball, remove lower row of leaves and pot your violet so the lower row now is just above the soil. Long neck is not harmful - just unsightly. So if it irritates you - you can do it now - or wait for 3 more months if it is not that bad. If any of your violets are trailers - and Rob has great semi-mini trailers - you need to increase the size of the pot every time you repot keeping the pots shallow. They look the best and grow the best in bulb pans kind of pots. Personally I do not believe in clay pots for violets, especially for minis and semis except for using as a cashepot. You can grow them in solo cups - and just insert them in a pot for decorating the table or whatnot - and when the bloom is over - back to the shelf. Since you are interested in streps - you never put them lower in the pot, quite opposite - you try to plant them in the position King-of-the-Hill - and add more perlite to the mix. Get prepared for the super blooming! Irina
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They look lovely! However, be careful of the ones you've planted in the larger Oyama Planters. They are way overpotted (especially the one on the right) and could easily drown because the small root system cannot absorb the water fast enough. AVs should never be potted more than one size up at a time. Once my semi-minis hit a 3" pot, I just whack off half the rootball and place back in same planter with fresh soil. (You should have seen the look on Mom's face when I did that to her Milky Way Trail! LOL) You can fix the overpotted AVS one of two ways: Pot back down into the pots they came in (it was the soil you needed to replace ~ the pots were fine); or, if you have them, place in three-inch or smaller pots. Remember: Underpotting is seldom fatal; overpotting usually is. But, again, lovely, lovely! Linda
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I would put them in a terrarium (a ten gallon fish tank is excellent and cheap too), cover with plastic or vinyl (a Jiffy seed lid works fairly well), and put them under lights to put some size on before introducing them to their ultimate growing spot. Water as needed without making the media sloppy wet. Watch out for excessive condensation and vent if needed. On the flip side watch out for drying and water if you see wilt and the soil is dry. Hint: often if the soil is wet and if the plants are wilted then more than likely the roots are rotting - if this is the case, pull the plant out of the media ASAP and cut the rot out which might mean cutting the entire root ball out and more, then repot to a more porous media. I've lost many over the years from the VB (and other vendors) due to treating them as "ready to go" plants. When it finally dawned on me that these are baby plants and are probably grown in perfect conditions then I changed my methodology and have had almost 100% success with growing baby plants on. When they fill their original pots then move them to the next size pot and start weaning them from the terrarium. If they wilt then cover them again and continue to introduce them to more "normal" air until they can be removed from the terrarium. As for replanting them, I would stay with a tiny pot with drainage holes, fill with good potting mix, add water, put a planting hole in the middle, and carefully transfer the tiny plant with whatever roots you can salvage to the new pot. Backfill the planting hole to cover the rootball. I often use Solo 2 oz rinse cups with holes cut on the bottom rim filled with perlite to start new begonias which is comparable to what the VB does (they use a lot of vermiculite instead of perlite). Remember that the VB sells most of their plants as terrarium plants but often some of the begonias can become very large plants. Here is one of mine from the VB when I let it grow to whatever it wanted to: This is Shamus. This is Maid Marion in a very large cookie jar: Here are some rexes I got from them but they quickly filled this tank and when I removed them I lost most of them. Moral of the story is to slowly introduce them to the outside air. Finally here is Queen Olympus which took a few years to get her to the outside of a tank but she is doing just fine. Here she is inside a round fish bowl with other begonias last year before moving it outdoors. And here she is after spending summer outdoors:
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shiver
Original Author
16 years ago
With plants this size I imagine it's going to take me years to get a bushy 6" pot, let alone a blooming plant. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that these plants appear to be healthy, but I can buy *much* larger rooted cuttings for half the price almost anywhere. When you're shopping for the more unusual types and have to resort to buying online though, I guess this is all you can expect. So hoya blooms, I'll see you in 10 years! ;)

I tried to order from cowboyflowerman and can't get through. He doesn't answer his phone and won't return messages. I give up. :(
gabro14
16 years ago
I was going to say the same thing about why the leaves get cut, but that's a heck of a lot to cut off! And so strange how they cut the australis...I can't see why they would cut it that way. Oh well, it'll grow in no time, and then you can cut off those weird looking leaves!

Cowboyflowerman is HORRIBLE with communication, but his plants make up for it! Don't expect a reply anytime soon, but with enough emails to him, he just *might* reply. I think you'll be really happy with his plants...they're nice and full, and I've ordered a lot from him. Never had a problem.

Gabi
ines_99
16 years ago
Yeah, you can also get cuttings for free. But buy and grow your plants to enjoy the foliage first and foremost, because that's what you will spend most of the time seeing. I think they are beautiful plants, and look at the flowers as an occasional bonus. Besides, some hoyas that I bought full size took over 10 years to bloom. They are not a plant for the impatient. And in the meantime, get a lacunosa or a bella, they seem to be early bloomers, or they are for me.

Some Australis grow pretty fast, and so does pubicalyx in most cases, I don't know about multiflora, I never really wanted that one - but given the right conditions, they won't be small for long. SO if you are a little disappointed in the size, it's no big deal, believe me - you WILL be buying more! Live and learn, right?
gabro14
16 years ago
I don't know how he'd get free cuttings now, unless he had plants big enough to cut from in order to do a trade. Either way, I preferred plants to cuttings in the beginning of my hoya collection....but that's just me -it's an individual choice.

As for multiflora, that is BY FAR my fastest grower! And it blooms even as a cutting. I don't know about australis yet, since I just got my first rooted cutting...but I've heard that it's a very fast grower (as in foliage).

Great choices, Shiver :)

Gabi

my Violet Barn order came

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my Violet Barn order came

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