Hi GV and welcome - glad you came forward to chat with us! Sounds like you have a nice collection going. Were do you live and how do you grow your Hoyas? Inside, outside, a greenhouse? Best of luck with your Thai order!

Denise in Omaha

Hi Denise. I feel like I've known you forever. I live just outside Philadelphia PA and my collection is growing like crazy this spring. I just put some of my Hoyas outside because we're having quite a heatwave. They're under a tree so that they get dappled sun at the most and the only direct sun is after 5:00 PM. I'm not sure they're all meant to be outside. I put polyneura, obscura, macgillivrayi merilli, pink silver, pink dragon, iris marie, cummingiana, micrantha and DS-70. The temps have been in the mid to high 60's at night but starting tomorrow there is going to be rain.

I hope I did the right thing. I may bring them in depending on how much rain we're supposed to get. I watered them before I put them out because I read that water-stressed plants will not fare well. Listen to me go on and on....

Nice talking to you. *waving hi*

Welcome!

Bring them in if the rain is heavy. They are susceptible to root rot if they stay wet for too long. They can all be outside, so long as night temps are above 50, and they aren't exposed to rain every day.

I know in the wild, they grow during monsoon season without issue, but they are up in trees (for the most part) and depend mostly on aerial roots. I think being potted is just not as natural for them.

Welcome to the forum GV. You are correct, there are very nice experienced people here as well as avid newbies, like us, just starting out.

Marco

Welcome, friend!

Do share pictures of your plants if you can! Love that you have pink dragon! Definitely a plant I have my eyes on :)

Thanks for all your comments and encouragement. The rain is going to be pretty intense so I brought all my plantlings and rooted cuttings back in the house and the rest I covered with a plastic tarp. I don't think it was wise to put so many out there without checking if they can tolerate the heat we've been having here.

I know that the guy (Doug) from Vermont Hoyas has a list of temperature preferences for most of the common Hoya plants. Last year I left polyneura inside in the air conditioning because that was one of my first Hoyas (the other one was Kerrii which I killed by overwatering) and I read up on its likes and such. It did fine inside. I just bought another small plant to fill out the pot and I like the way it looks now.

My cell phone takes pix but I have to learn how to post them here.

Welcome, happy to meet you!

I grow all my succulents outside and even when it rains for days in a row, I rarely have an issue with rot. There is something different (better) about rain water - if I watered them like that with tap or even my RO water, they'd croak quickly. But rainwater, fresh air, out in the sun or semi sun, they do just fine. I wouldn't even cover them up. Well, only if it was raining day after day after day and was cold would I consider moving them in or covering them...

Denise in Omaha

I've also found that rain and sunshine makes my hoyas happier. New leaves and fresh new growth after being left outside. Definitely more noticeable growth than my ones kept indoors :X

I'm not keen on leaving my Pubicalyx out without my supervision lol, I bought some netting today for the bench I keep some carnosas on. We get a lot of hail this time of year, so I'm still a little weary. I think I'll give it another week or so!

Hi Denise and Kim,

Thanks for helping me feel welcome. I've been lurking here a while so while I'm new to you, I feel like I know you already. :-)

I guess sooner or later I'm not going to be home to cover them up if it rains and I've been watering them all spring with rain water exclusively. I catch it in buckets and keep it inside for the Hoyas. My growing mix is pretty chunky too. I use Better-Gro special orchid mix with cactus soil, perlite and crunched up hydrotone balls. It drains quickly for me. If I get a new plant from a good grower I leave it in whatever they've sent me if it looks right to me.

When I got home tonight and there was a note from the post office inside my door saying there's a parcel waiting for me. The only thing I'm expecting is my order from Epiphytica. I hope that's what is waiting for me!

I guess up here in the PNW, it is different. I would love to be able to keep mine outside all the time, but it rains here, it POURS. For days. That, and the chill factor, especially in the late spring. Conditions are *just* warm enough for them to be outside at night, but the constant rain is just too much. Not to mention, when it isn't raining, it is extremely humid...which is not a bad thing, IF it is warm!

Right now, with daytime temps in the 70's-90's, rain and humidity don't matter so much.

Any update on your order? I would love to order from them too!

Yes, please update us on your Epiphytica order. With pictures, please. You can post them just by tapping / clicking on "Photo" when you start a post.