Looks great, Brad! I'm afraid I don't have any interesting trellises. Mine are all boring boring boring. I've thought about trying one of those funny Swedish trellises before, but I always talk myself out of it.

What funny Swedish trellises? The ones that zigzag back and forth across a hoop? I made myself a version, out of coated wire. I saw them and tried asking where I could find my own and wasn't successful so I took my pliers and my wire and did some wrapping. They aren't mega gorgeous or anything but the ultimate goal is to not be able to see them eventually, right?

Thanks, GG!

Quinn, I like those trellises too. I think I'm going to do this with a couple of my other hoyas like fungii.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Actually it's these trellises that I was thinking of:

But I like the ones you are describing having made, too. And yeah I guess the idea is that you stop seeing them at some point, so that does embolden me. ^_^

Oh! I don't recall having seen those before. Or at least, it hadn't registered if I did. They remind me of the fancy tomato trellises I've seen on gardeners.com. I once tried very hard to find good trellis solutions online. It eventually came down to: make 'em yourself. By good, I mean not too huge, sturdy, and a good balance between cost and appearance/function. I found some very pretty ones that were way out of my price range and/or way too tall. Although I did find some nice ones at Lowe's also. But I was never going to find them online because they were never going to be listed online. They're the type of thing that just kind of sits there off to the side in a display that probably goes into clearance once the summer is over.

I know EXACTLY what you mean. It is mind boggling how much people will pay for even small trellises. And yes they do remind me of some insanely priced 'fancy tomato trellises' I have seen as well. There are products that are oriented toward people who have 6 plants and products that are oriented toward people who have 2,000 plants and there is us in between wanting to eat from both plates. :P

Annnyway, I think these would be pretty easy to make on my own, and I could make them square to fit my pots. I can imagine a giant square diversifolia shrub happening that way LOL.

I was on her website and it looks like she grows her hoyas in glass pots filled with rocks and no drainage. I wonder if that works. I might try it with hydroton and see what happens. I really like the trellises on myhoyas.com because they look all nice and neat. I emailed Christine and she said they have discontinued them. :( My problem always is the plant gets too big and runs out of trellis because they want to grow straight up.

Michelle

GG, I LIKE those trellises actually... wished I could purchase some here!
The closest I could make to one of those was I took a small metal garden fencing piece and bent it into shape... I now only need a plant that is somewhat large enough to put in a 6 inch pot (because that is the only size this would basically fit in)
It doesnt really look all that pretty because its just in a pot with no plant - but I just wanted to show you one idea...
Please keep in mind there is a shadow in the background wall

/Begonia.

Well, I know others on here have tried it, but I can't remember what they said.

Buuuuut it looks like I am going to have to try it. I chose to root a couple of the Liddle cuttings I was most concerned about in hydroton, among them the prescious lambii that's so dang hard to get ahold of. Well, I just stuck it in this antique jar full of small hydroton and now I can't get it out! I think the root system is too extensive already and the stuff won't budge. So... I think I'm going to wait for it to grow a bit and take a cutting of it and start that in soil and... I don't know... just try to keep the hydroton lambii at a manageable size or break the jar and free it if it starts to look like it is suffering. Ugh. Unintentional experiments tweak me out!

/Golden.

Ohhh yeah I like that! I'm amazed how neat and tidy you made that look. Great job!

That's definitely what I was thinking of doing. Just find something promising and budget friendly at HD and bend it to my will.

I just have a few supports for my hoyas. Of course the standard bamboo poles straight up... I have 2 heart shaped hoops(was looking for circles). I also have 2 different sized standard trellis made of wood. The totem that my 'KQ' is on is not visible anymore. I am waiting for Hobby Lobby to go clearance with their Lawn and Garden stuff then I will pick up some interesting trellis.

-David Kincade

You rooted lambii, I tried rooting it in soil before I had a rooting aquarium and it died. I ended up getting one from Joni back when she had the old wishlist. I watered it too little this winter and it dropped down to 1 leaf. It has since grown back 2 leaves. I consider it one of the "pain in the ass" hoyas but I do not want to lose it.

Michelle

Oh! I guess I'll just quit complaining then, LOL. It threw a new leaf almost immediately, so I was a little nervous that the situation was going to get more out of control fast. And everyone here would be shaking their heads at me going: You knew this is a giant plant - why did you put it in a jar, dummy?!

Tbh, I knew I didn't want to lose lambii, so I used the hydroton, but it looked so hearty I didn't really think I needed to. I'm surprised it can be so fussy. You'd think with those nice sturdy leaves it would be able to take some abuse.

I use mainly bamboo trellises or hoops. I have made a few towers out of bamboo that resemble those square wire towers that GG posted. My Hoya erythrina has completely covered one of these bamboo towers. I also find that the regular bamboo hoops become very unstable when larger Hoyas are grown on them so I often secure them to the pot by drilling holes and using wire. These are inexpensive trellises but there is no doubt the they will eventually have to be replaced which could be a big job with some Hoyas.

Golden I like that little trellis because it will give you a nice full looking plant once it's covered.

GG and Michelle Hoya lambii is tricky to root because those big leaves transpire and loose water very quickly. Rooting in really high humidity and misting the leaf surfaces often works great. I think this is one of the best Hoyas to grow in semi-hydro because it loves to have water available at all times. I grow mine in a bark heavy mix but with water always available in the bottom of a cache pot ( 1" below the bottom of the plastic pot) which the roots have decided to grow down into.
GG because Hoya lambii is really slow to put out leaves on the new growth you may have to wait a very long time to take a top cutting. My plant took almost two years to start filling in with leaves but it's (threeish years later) now entirely leafed out and putting out new vine growth again. I wonder if you can sacrifice some of the new roots to get your cutting out of the jar? Otherwise you could try to grow it in the jar and as long as it seems happy you will just have to keep a little water in the bottom of the jar.

Mike

Thanks for your advice in this, Mike.

The root system is so extensive that if I tried to pull it out, it would leave all the roots behind. I tried for a while and even after emptying out as much of the hydroton as I could, it wouldn't move a millimeter. It's because I used the small hydroton, I think. With that stuff the roots grab in a zillion places, whereas it's easier to shake plants loose of the medium grade (I think).

I think I just have to resign myself to the fact that this antique glass is a goner at some point. I can split the glass using the scoring and water technique for making wine bottle planters. It goes so fast I don't think it will hurt the roots too much.

Okay so here's the setup. It's in an apothecary jar about 10" high and 3.5-4" in diameter.

It has produced a new leaf, which is now full size, so a one leaf cutting could be taken, if neccessary.

My options: 1. I can break the glass now and move it to a new situation before its roots become of a sufficient mass to be endangered by the extraction.

2. I can harvest a small cutting and get it rooted now (while it's still summer), as a backup policy.

3. I can leave things as they are, allowing the plant to gain strength and stability, waiting to break the glass till the plant displays ire at its substandard quarters.

So, what do you guys think? Do I act fast or bide my time?

Thanks for reminding me about your reservoir strategy. I think that's how I'd like to grow my main plant in the end, although it would be nice to have one in soil and one in hydro and see how they do. Because, you know, I have so much room that really I need a lambii experiment going on.

GG If it were my hoya I would leave it in the glass jar and next year when it gets bigger take a cutting if you want.I grow a lot of my hoyas S/H and they seem happy.In fact this spring I even saved a few that were on deaths door by changing them over to S/H.
With lambii really not liking to dry out at all, having it in hydro is a smart idea.
All the hoyas that I just got from epiphytica I have decided to grow S/H and I am so happy that mitrata is already growing.Good luck with what ever you decide to do.
Lambii is called by my husband as my death plant.Its the one that is to be put in the ground with me.LOL

Cindy

GG,

It is almost September and if were mine, I'd wait until Spring to do anything with it.

Lisa

Thanks for the responses! It braces up my resolve to hear that you think it will be okay to leave it be for now. I do think that I will keep this plant in semi-hydro even when I do move it, as I agree with Cindy that it makes sense for lambii. (Aw I love that your husband notices your favorites ^_^)

You're right, Lisa. My first instinct was to say it was too late in the season, and then I told myself it was August and August is summer, and then I remembered Joni saying that rooting was slowing down, and then I just had too many voices in my head. But, yes, it is nearly September and as Omaha isn't nearly as dramatically warmer than Minneapolis as my dad claims it is, September is "time to wrap things up" month. Last year I made the mistake of starting a bunch of plants in the fall and it was such a trial for both me and them.

To everything...there is a season, turn turn turn...