I have 2 very large Bella and a med size variegated one and really don't have any trouble with them at all except the variegated one doesn't bloom much and the green one blooms pretty much all summer.

I just hang them on the patio where they get plenty of fresh air and rain and they seem to love it there.
They look delicate but really arn't.

I do think that one can fuss over these way to much, mine dry out very well between waterings and it doesn't seem to faze them a bit.

It could have a lot to do with the climate they are grown in since I have heard of others having trouble growing them.

Don't give up, you just need to find what they like and you're set.
If you need more cuttings let me know and I can help with that.

Jo

This is my largest in a 10" basket.

Mentha, I have trouble with the bella too if it make you feel any better knowing someone else is having problem with it. Maybe the bella doesn't care for hot weather??????????

Jo, yours look fabulous!!!

Mentha,

I think bella likes a lot of humidity, because someone sent me a couple cuttings and they are growing like insane weeds, I even cut them up and they continued to grow a week later! My sister-in-law lives in colorado and her bella dried up and died and she gave up...I neglect mine, except for the occasional water...granted it is only a few cuttings, but I can tell it's very happy...because it just keeps shooting out new growth!

Well, I can say this time bella is going to spend it's life inside and never see the light out on the west facing porch! It's just too hot out there for anything to grow.

Thanks so much for the offer Jo, but if it dies this time I'm giving up and stick to the more beefy hoyas. What kind of pot do you have your bellas in? It sure is a lovely plant, maybe humidity is the key.

Jan, It doesn't make me feel any better because if a seasoned hoya grower has problems with it, there's no hope for mine at all. :S

saltarello,
Thanks for the tip, I think I'm going to put it in the s/w pot with the other cutting and pray for the best.

First- I LOVE the orange self watering pot!

I don't have any problems with bella either. Hopefully keeping it inside will help as I'm thinking they do prefer it to be cooler.

Good luck!

I have trouble with bella, too, and haven't grown it for a few years. I quit mostly becuase it was such a mealy-magnet - more so that other Hoyas. But I do have just a couple of suggestions...

I was reading on a site about Orchids that you should never grow an Orchid in a glazed clay pot. It's ok to use them as a cache pot, but it should never be grown directly in a glazed pot. Why? Because Orchid roots are very susceptible to the "toxins" that are in the paints and glazing compounds. Which got me thinking... I have a few particularly favorite pots that I have trouble growing in. I grow mostly in plain old plastic pots, but I have a few "pretty" pots I like to grow in. Well, maybe that's why some Hoyas seem to falter in glazed pots. Maybe some of them have more tender root systems that are affected by the compounds in glaze... Just something to think about...

Then another thing. I have a couple of Hoyas that have been doing not-so-hot. (As a matter of fact, one of them was in one of those favorite pots I just spoke of above...) I put them both in hydroton, figuring if I lost them, at least I gave it a shot. Both are looking better and have new growth. And the Hoya that was my "test" Hoya, the first one I put in hydroton, is looking like a million bucks. I'm very impressed with this method! I just have to find someone who is making hanging pots for this application...

Couple more things, Mentha. Is that Dischidia one of those "imbricate" types (that suction to trees)? I love it! I have two and am struggling to get them to grow. At this point, I've got two bits of each still clinging to life and so far, keeping them really moist is working (knock on wood...)

And I love your Lepismium - absolutely gorgeous! Where did you get it? I need one of those, but I'm not good at rooting cuttings of the jungle cactus, so must find one already rooted...

Denise in Omaha

Sorry Mentha, my whole post didn't go through for some reason...I was going to suggest trying a tray with stones and water under the bella pot and misting it everyday.

Hope your bella makes it!

Mentha, good luck with your Bella. I have a few cuttings(:o) and so far so good. The fact that Jan can't grow them is really worrying me since we have the same exact climate. If its only humidity they like, we don't lack that in FL, so I think Kelly might be right with the cooler temps to go along with them? I wish you the best and keep your fingers crossed for mine also.

Jo, that is an absolutely gorgeous Bella you have!! Congrats!

Mentha, I think humidity may be a big part of your problem since I've heard others living in drier climates having trouble with Bella.
We have really high humidity here in Ks so that's probally why mine grows so well for me. I do loose a few stems on mine during the winter when it's inside.

I grow all my hoya in plastic pots, we have so much wind here that clay would dry out to quickly and I have a problem with plants staying to wet in glazed or porcelain pots.

As much as we all would like to be able to grow everything I do think we sometimes have to make adjustments for where we live.

Good Luck with yours!

Denise,
It is probably the lead glazes, They are cheaper and a lot of them produce beautiful colors. I would make my own if I still had a kiln. When we made our own AV pots, we always used food safe clear glazes on the inside of our pots and the colorful glazes on the outside. Never had problems with root death. Wish me luck I'm going out and potting in the sw pots, call them an experiment. The cool thing about the AV s/w pots is only the lip of the insert is glazed. (see the below picture) I use hydroton in my potting mix, so maybe the soil will be airy enough.

If you want to try the Lep let me know, I have plenty. Most of the branches are about 3 ft long or longer. Cena sent me a branch and it rooted quickly in pure moist perlite, rooting can be done fairly easily this time of year, but I lost it for other reasons. You could also bury a stem sideways and it will produce plants from each of the nodes. I will see if I has any stems rooted that could come out easily since it will be repotted shortly. I could also throw in a small Dischidia which rooted in the pot while not dangling. I wonder if these should be mounted? I do know as soon as I put it on the counter, all the ants (which I didn't kill with the last spray of death) milling around magnetized to it, only a few minutes and they were making themselves at home. They don't call them ant plants for nothing, ugh! Notice the bowls of water they (and the sourdough starter for that matter) are sitting in, patrially because they were in a hot car for a couple hours but the other part keeping the ants out of them.

Jo,
I have a southern window in my kitchen with a lot of humidity and an east and west window in my living room which also stays cooler because of the swamp cooler. I think I'm going to keep it in the east window and move it south for the winter.

All potted up in a mix of hydroton, perlite, potting soil, and lipizan horse poop! :D There aren't as many roots as I'd hoped for, and one stem of bella showed burning from the ride home, I sure hope none of the others suffered.

Lookin' good!

Denise in Omaha

I got these 2 cuttings from a friend last year, it's just sitting there pouting.
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Hi Jan,
At least yours looks healthy. I bet it's making roots right now before it decides to shoot up an out. I don't feel as bad now since the one last stem I had from Cena's plant has three branches going up, the longest is about 2.5 ft. I was just too scared to cut it off and replant the cutting. Ha! It's bald in the middle, it has no leaves about half way down then more leaves, hehe. Anyway I've been causing it to survive for about half a year and it's roots were only about half an inch long.

I started my bella in an aquarium and it loved it in there. Maybe if you have one hanging around = give that a try?