Marji I found similar pots in "Re-store" - I don't know if you have them in US, but there is some good deals there. They sell donated stuff, (usually from house renovations and also store close-ups & similar) anything from windows, kit. cupboards, light fixtures, appliances and on, and on, and on. They were very inexpensive, smaller cost me $1.00/ea and larger square $2.00/ea.(I bought all they had-even if I don't hve a pond!) These are sold in garden centres for potting pond plants, probably cost at least $6 and up. But the 'holes' are smaller than pirate girl's pot. I think it still would work. (BTW, someone used these kind of pond baskets to screen turface-can't remember who it was). Try similar type stores for better prices. Maybe even dollar stores have something like that some times. Rina

I really like that look, too. I'm going to have to follow that philosophy with my compact growers. I was looking up spicata vs Trinidad and have you seen this flickr account? Too fun. Source: Fundación Jardín Botánico Nacional de Viña del's photostream I stuck my original pot of 'Silver Feather' out on the balcony and since it's a mass of rhizomes at this point, it must have 20+ baby plants popping up... so far. I think I'll need to transplant it into a bigger pot soon, but I think it will be crazy by the end of the summer. I totally agree that you are going to have a lot of rhizomes on your hands. Incidentally, I got this order of Episcias (and a couple Streps) in from Out of Africa, and I had to post pictures, because only we Hoya people, who spend hundreds of dollars on a cereal box full of survival-challenged unrooted cuttings... only WE could appreciate how truly deeply and utterly spoiled Gesneriad people are. Doesn't it look like I'm about to have a baby shower here? lol... and I didn't even have to find a Corgi to get a free plant! You should have seen me shaking my head in baffled amazement.

68-72 degrees is fine for any Hoya. I keep my place at the same temperature and they're all fine. There are Hoyas that like to be kept above 70 degrees, but I have many of them in my collection and they are fine at these temperatures because the indoor environment is so stable and protected. Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro is a great choice and it's my primary fertilizer, too. I've had my plants drop peduncles and leaves just from being moved from one room to another, and I often receive cuttings with peduncles that later drop them, deciding it's not a priority to maintain them in their current state. It is just the process of acclimation - the plant changes its game plan when you change the playing field. Our pets also act a bit off when we move, plants are just more disconcerting because plant behavior can be harder to read. But a few dropped leaves and yellowing, when you have a ready explanation like this, is nothing to worry about. Just keep an eye on it until you know it's not on a downhill slide. It should stabilize quickly. I would be interested to see what you mean about burnt leaves (but not from sun). I can't really think of what would cause this. Certainly not lack of fertilizer. Where do you have your plant now? Does your apartment not have any good windows? I know this can be an issue if there are buildings or trees nearby, but I have Hoyas that bloom in a north window even though there is a building right next to it. Some of them don't bloom much, and others bloom constantly. So, if you can get your plant RIGHT against a window (unless it's west-facing - not all Hoyas like that), it should be alright without a plant light. If you do want advice on plant lights anyway, we can help you. But let us know a little bit more about what you'd be looking for in terms of aesthetics and coverage. Most plant lights are rod-type deals, like a fluorescent light fixture, but if you are only looking to supplement the light for a single plant, a compact fluorescent might be more practical for you. Question for the group: I personally mix my fertilizer into room-temperature filtered water about half an hour before I'm ready to use it, and then I use it all, because I have a lot of plants. But could you mix a gallon's worth, use half of it, and leave the rest till the next week? Or does it need to be remixed fresh. I never really thought about it before, but I know that the vitamins and electolyte solutions for chicken water have to be mixed daily and I wondered if fertilizer compounds were equally sensitive to degrading. Just to be clear, I'm only asking about the lifespan AFTER mixing with water. I did Google around, but I had a hard time figuring out the right search terms. I found one FAQ for an organic fertilizer (Neptune's Harvest) that said, "Our liquid fertilizers have an indefinite shelf-life, until water is added." And some forum posts from growers saying that they had issues with organic fertilizers which they'd pre-mixed and then let sit for a while. They reported that it changed color and expelled gasses. And that it depended on how sterile the vessel and water were. They reported no problems like that with pre-mixing chemical fertilizer, although several people claimed it was stronger the fresher it was. Anyway, just wondering if anyone knew the actual science behind it, beyond personal observations. This post was edited by greedyghost on Mon, Apr 21, 14 at 13:36

Tammy I don't have the official description of this species so I pieced together info I dug up online. This species is an epiphyte that does not seem to do much climbing so it more than likely grows hanging from trees or perhaps rocks. The terrain would almost certainly be hilly and this is especially true at the higher elevations. Remember most Hoyas grow not on the ground but scrambling through vegetation and shrubs or hanging directly from trees. If a seed falls in an appropriate place it will grow so you can also find Hoys clambering over tree roots or rocks in some habitats. It really depends on the species but think climbing vines that don't root in the ground but instead high up in the trees. The link below shows the living bridges that can be found in the Khasi Hills region of Northern India. This is an area that receives a huge amount of rainfall, one of the wettest places on earth. Check out the two videos for an idea of the forest types seen in the area, obviously much forest has been cleared for agriculture so there are also large areas that have sparse tree cover. Hoyas are plants of mature forest and do not reproduce well in areas that have been cut, for this reason many species are becoming rare as the forests of Asia are continually cut. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a0QoCxf6xU Mike Here is a link that might be useful: Living bridges made of fig trees.