I'm back along w/ my pretty Macrophylla

11 years ago

Which is in front of a cold window, but still, looking good.

Am back online from home w/ my landline & recently bought laptop. First time able to say & do that in NINE WEEKS. Can you imagine? GW withdrawal indeed.

Look at this new growth, all red.

The heat in my apmt has been fluctuating like mad. This plant put on a new leaf twice in another spot & dropped them both, poor thing, now it's got new leaves in another spot, this time they're coming in, soooo nice to see.

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Comments (11)

teisa
11 years ago
Very pretty!!! I love this Hoya. Can you please tell us What growing conditions? Mine grows soooo slow. Glad to have you back too!!
emt23
11 years ago
PG you have endured a lot! Glad to hear you are able to settle in your home again. I love this macrophylla for its variety in color and the leaves on mine can be quite large or average size and variegation differs also. The only problem I can see is the drippy new vines. Welcome back!
~ Mary
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Plaidthumb, Yes, I am still here. lol Not planning on going anywhere else despite the heat, which does bother me more the older I get. I just greatly reduce the number of hours I spend outside in June, July and August and try to get outside as soon as possible after sunrise, back inside before noon, and then sometimes back out in the late evening. Less hours outside in the summer months means nothing stays as well-weeded, but I just do the best I can. I'm not going to kill myself working out in the extreme summer heat. It isn't worth it. That's true about repeated exposure to poison ivy just making things worse. My DH grew up around it so was exposed to it for many years and is more sensitive to it than I am. I wasn't around it much growing up so am much less sensitive to it now. We don't try to kill it. Just try to cut it back from pathways and keep it out of the garden. I mostly keep it out of the garden by cutting it back to the ground and then spraying it with a brush killer labeled for poison ivy as soon as it resprouts. It doesn't reallly kill it, but it knocks it down pretty hard for a few months. With 14.5 acres, most of which is heavily wooded, we'll never be rid of it so we just try to keep it back from the paths through the woods, and out of the garden. The plant in your "viney thing" photo is Virginia Creeper. Note the arrangement of 5 leaves instead of 3. It is very aggressive but, as far as I know, not poisonous. I pull it out of my garden with my bare hands and it hasn't caused me any sort of allergy-type reaction, but we have let it grown in the shrub bed on the north side of the house, and all throughout the woods as well. Your last photo is the dreaded poison ivy. We have a couple of different kinds here. There is one that climbs strictly by climbing/vining and it is always obvious because of its very hairy roots. There is another one that grows more like a tree and it is everwhere along the pasture fencerows here that are left in their natural state instead of being sprayed with Roundup or weedeated periodically. Dawn
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Comments (17)
Tiffany, the trelliseseseses 🤣 are nothing more than garden wire (2"x4" openings) that I cut and "rolled". I saw the idea on some other YouTube sites, and they work fine. Hoya vines tend to grow better when they are climbing on something, or at least pointing up, so this allows me to fasten them to the wire and they're happy. They occasionally complain because it isn't bark, but I told them to shut up and be thankful for what they have, so they're kind of placated for now. I find hoyas like to be moister than we are led to believe. Since these are now outside for the summer, they will get watered literally every other or every third day. In the heat of summer, I'll squirt them down every day. That are also fed an orchid food every couple of weeks too. They are grown along with orchids, and the two types of plants, both being epiphytes, love the moisture and high humidity of the GH. Indoors, if my humidity reaches 30%, I'm thrilled, so they struggle during the winter, but now that they're outside and on vacation, they let their hair down and go wild. Everything is sprayed with neem oil prior to placing in the GH, because by Feb / March, the mealies are making a counter offensive. The neem gets rif of a lot, and the natural predators handle the rest. Then the process starts all over again in the fall. Stay well my friend, and best of luck to you and your plants.
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greedygh0st
11 years ago
I h a t e it when that variegated macrophylla drops leaves! I know it has a bad reputation for being sensitive about its immature foliage, but I suspect it's just more noticeable because the leaves are so showy.

Congrats on your new laptop. :)
cpawl
11 years ago
Hey I did not know this hoya was a bit sensitive or slow grower.I have mine in S/H and it just grows and grows.
Try keeping more evenly moist.I think your new leaves will stop falling.
teisa
11 years ago
Cpawl, I've tried to figure out what you meant by S/H ....me and my husband have racked our brains. And we've came up with some pretty creative possibilities. But I can't think of what you meant, sorry. Could you please explain further?
I've grown mine for past 2 years and probably got only 4 leaves!!! So I should try to keep it on the moist side? thanks!
cpawl
11 years ago
Sorry teisa for the confusion.I grow most of my hoyas in hydroculture.
I use small drinking cups that I drill holes about 1/2 inch from the bottom to hold a bit of water.When I feel up to it I also drill holes all over the cup to help with aeration.
I use many different types of inert items to grow my hoyas in.I have used hydro clay,leca,pumic,and turface. Sometimes I make a mix with all of them.
I also can keep an eye on the roots this way.

Cindy
User
Original Author
11 years ago
So Hey there Cindy,

Can I add that you use SH to mean semi-hydro? I learned this earlier & I too grow some Hoyas in hydro (just a couple).
cpawl
11 years ago
Thanks PG,I had a brain freeze.Most of all my hoyas grow so much better this way.

Cindy
teisa
11 years ago
This seems cool may have to convert one to give it a try. I recently saw Sans growing like this, at a box store! Wonder if can buy the hydro clay, leca, etc. at these stores or would I have to order it? There is Not alot of variety here (Knoxville Tn) when it comes to plant nurseries.
cpawl
11 years ago
Teisa you could try looking to see if your area has a hydroponic store or look for a company that supply mpv turface for baseball fields.

Cindy
MEL_TN
11 years ago
teisa,
I also live in Knoxville and thought I would let you know that there is a hydroponic store on Clinton Highway. If you are headed toward Clinton, it is past Walmart in a shopping center on the right side. You can find hydro supplies without paying shipping charges, which can be high given the weight of expanded clay.

I'm back along w/ my pretty Macrophylla

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I'm back along w/ my pretty Macrophylla

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