Congrats Aurora! He's a keeper! So, what are you getting and when are you getting it? You're going seventy miles a minute with your collection - not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that!

That room modification also sounds very exciting!

One thing though - there is no such thing as "LED T-8 lights". There are LEDs and there are T8s, which are fluorescents, different technology from LEDs. You might have gotten one or the other, or both. But hey, that's also great. In my dim indoor environment, lights gave my plants a huge boost like nothing else.

RE: Plants I plan to get:
NO clue right now. Holding off until Spring. Will give me time to think about what I want, and will give Hubby time to finish the computer room for me, so I can actually use it in the cold months (it is way more spacious than the closet I am currently using, which is FULL).

RE: the LED light tubes:
It says T-8 LED tube on it. No rewiring on this one, fit right into my ballast. Correct me if I am wrong, but T-8 is the size of the bulb. The "T" stands for tubular, and the "8" has to do with the diameter of the bulb, in 8ths of an inch. A T-8 is a tubular bulb that is 8/8ths of an inch, or a one inch tubular bulb. Now, one could argue that this lingo was developed specifically for fluorescents, therefore it should only apply to fluorescents. And that argument could hold valid. But one could also argue that the lingo is not light specific, and instead, refers to the size of the bulb, and that argument would be valid as well.

OMG you are right. I googled it, and there are LED lights packaged into a T8 enclosure. Sorry, I was wrong. This is interesting, because I imagine people can upgrade lights without upgrading the ballast and the fixture. Maybe, I dunno.

I use T5 fluorescents, and I see they have LEDs in those tubes as well. Something to research later when I am ready to re-jiggle things around.

I admire your self-restraint and being able to wait till spring. You're in Florida, so there is less of a reason for you to wait with rooting till spring than for somebody higher up north. Make it early spring though, as summer in Thailand can be brutal on a box of cuttings, I hear - some would say it's worse than winters if the destination is the North-East US.

(I am assuming you'll be ordering from Thailand, of course, which does not have to be the case.)

LOL, I wish I was in FL! Alas, I am in WA! Ugh! And don't worry about the light thing...the only reason I know all that lingo stuff is because I thought it was a scam (surely LED lights don't come in T-8 size...the technology is "too new"...) and I did some researching. I will probably be ordering in Feb-March, and yes, from Thailand. Jack sent such healthy plants that I can't resist! Seriously, only one of the mindorensis looks like it will die! And the caudata "Gold" is HUGE. Had to move a couple of plants into hanging baskets under the sky lights in the bathrooms/kitchen, just to fit these new monsters (monsters because of their size, of course)!

I do want to add that when getting the LED T-8 fixtures, my hubby did warn me that some do require a new ballast. There seem to be 3 (main) types on the market:
LED retro-fit T-8 (comes with a retro-fit device, one side plugs into the new light, the other into your existing ballast, if I read it right)
LED T-8 (NO re-wiring, plug right into an instant start electric T-8 ballast)
LED T-8 (rewiring needed)

This post was edited by AuroraWA on Sat, Dec 27, 14 at 14:08

> LOL, I wish I was in FL! Alas, I am in WA!

Why was I thinking Florida? I blame lack of coffee (because it's easier to blame extraneous factors :-) ) - off to make another cup then.

> yes, from Thailand. Jack sent such healthy plants that I can't resist!

Post pics! I know you said you'd post after they acclimate a bit, but consider doing it sooner. I like taking pics of cuttings, even before I plant them. Even if I am not bragging about them (Me? Not brag? Never!) - I find it gives me a very useful point of reference, say whenever I have a feeling that the leaf color has changed in my light, I can check for sure. Or sometimes I go, "Did this leaf just grow on me while I was looking the other way???" - and a look at the cutting photo helps to answer that.

I vaguely remember somebody (greedy_ghost?) saying mindorensis does not take shipping well. So, your experience may not be unique, even if it is unfortunate. Hope it recovers for you though.

Aurora - First congrats to you on picking a perfect guy to marry!

I used to grow under lights, (and still have a set up for the coldest months down here) a piece of advice - make sure you set up a reflector, otherwise the majority of the light is wasted.

I use LEDs made specifically for growing plants - but white light, not the red and blue (was too 1970s for me :) ) LEDs really are a bit different, but my plants do just fine under them. The one thing that is the most noticeable, is the light when you are looking down at it, doesn't seem as bright as fluorescents - don't worry it is giving the plants enough energy. It has to do with how human eyes "see" light.

As for myself - although not a Christmas present, I finally was able to get some time with my hubby, and was able to talk him into something I've wanted (dreamed of, planned for etc lol) for a while now. We are going to have pavers put in in a large section of the backyard - and then I'm getting a nice sized pergola. So I spent most of yesterday googling pergola images, and I've decided what design I want. Will call the contractor on Monday, and I'm hoping to have it all done by March.

And then during the hottest months, I'll run shadecloth over it, and it will be my new grow area. It should also be big enough for a hammock, and a small table and chairs.

BTW - I was on Epiphyitca's site this morning, planning my new order, with all the new space I'm going to have.

Happy New Year!

Renee

Would mylar sheeting work as a reflector? At least for the walls? We have an old reflector we are using on the ballast right now (it's ugly...going to replace with a new one within the month, just waiting for the Holiday rush to dissipate) and installed mylar sheeting on the walls.

Congrats on your pergola! If I lived in a temperate zone, I'd do that in a heartbeat! When hubby retires... :D

You'll have to update us with photos of the process, if you can! Excited for you!

I am new to hoya, and yes, I have acted like the energizer bunny with the buying (just keep going...), but I seem to have a knack for these! And the diversity! It's not like my lily garden, where all the leaves are pretty much the same (but the flowers are BEAUTIFUL). With hoya, you get leaf, growth, and floral diversity! I am kind of stuck at a stalemate at the minute, as I don't really have any clue of which hoya I want to put on my next order list! I have a couple in mind, but no sense in just ordering two or three, especially from overseas!

A disclaimer: I changed my order a bit. Some of the ones I originally wanted, I got nervous about shipping during the winter/Holiday. They were the more expensive ones/ones I WANT to survive. I will be ordering those few this spring (they are the ones already on my list).
I took as many photos as I could (for now) before I have to run out to the airport! Will post pics of the ones I missed later on!
Pardon the tin foil...not wasting mylar in the closet, already installed it in computer room. Tacky, yes!

Hoya sigillatis:

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Hoya sp. NS05-240:

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Hoya sigillatis and NS05-240 in their basket (hubby made for me), along with Hoya lucardenasiana:

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Hoya mindorensis yellow with red corona (one I am worried about):

{{gwi:2127447}}

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Hoya sp. NS05-213:

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Hoya lyi (the true one):

{{gwi:2127453}}

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Hoya sp. UT-033:

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Hoya caudata "gold" (didn't get the entire plant into the photo):

{{gwi:2127459}}

Hoya mindorensis 'Red Star':

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Hoya mindorensis 'Pink-orange":

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Not pictured: Hoya cv. Viola, Hoya vitellinoides, Hoya sp. UT-009, Hoya khoniana black leaves (EPC 943), and Hoya EPC 301 (already have that, but bought another because I love it!)

Great plants, Aurora! I am particularly partial to those highly splashed caudata and sigillatis.

Excited for your upcoming pergola, Renee! That's going to be a nice home for your hoyas.