Hoya starts rooted and planted, a question regarding moisture level.
Laurie (8A)
7 years ago
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Laurie (8A)
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Starting A Garden Need help regarding soil
Comments (12)If you have any neighbors with gardens, if they are growing what you want to grow, you should be OK. Your main problem is going to be not overwatering. Get a moisture meter and use it regularly. I did a soil Ph Test and My soil is Ph level 8.0 or higher (8.0 os as high as the test goes) Alkaline. I doubt that those results are accurate ... Wisconsin's rainfall and underlying rock types are unlikely to produce soil as alkaline as that. Check the USDA soil maps to see what your area has. Based on the drainage results, you have a heavy soil. Minimize the amount of tilling and digging you do if it's wet, because it will turn to hard lumps. And make the beds so you don't have to walk on them to plant or harvest - it packs to concrete. I'd go ahead and plant, and start a compost bin. Next spring spread any compost you made over the beds and plant. (let the worms do your tilling) Instead of pulling up the old plants, slice them off with a shovel at ground level and let the roots decompose in the dirt. It leaves tiny channels and organic matter way deeper than you can dig. Here is a link that might be useful: soil maps...See MoreQuick question regarding planting in the Fall
Comments (7)hey .. glad to hear you backed off on the watering ... ok.. first.. if you figure out how to kill a forsythia.. let us know.. i had a neighbor..dig a 2 foot ball.. on a 12 to 15 foot round bush [he cut it to 3 feet] ... IN AUGUST.. and DRAGGED it 2 acres to my lot.. and we stuck it in the ground.. watered it once .. and it lived ... this is a cut it to the ground.. run it over with the truck type of bush ... as are a lot of shrubs ... [i didnt really want it.. but they so wanted to 'save' it .. i had had ground to cover .. i would have just rooted a few pieces .... but apparently.. he needed the exercise .. lol] i dont even think.. presuming its potted.. that i would worry about waiting for dormancy ... i would probably plant it.. as soon as night temps are reliably in the mid to low 60's .. and water it PROPERLY.. thru the root zone.. late into fall ... say.. 11/1 ... for ground freeze areas.. i would want it in the ground.. 6 to 10 weeks before freeze ... which in MI is usually around 1/1 ... they wont need much of any water in nov ... if there is any rain.. the soil simply will not dry out.. like summer ... so insuring water.. just means checking most of the time ... forsythia root freely ... in a glass of water ... so experiment.. and root a couple 6 inch pieces.. and as soon as you see roots.. pot them all together in moist media .. and tent them in a plastic bag .. and in october or so.. bare root and put in a holding area [veggie patch??].. and i would not be surprised if you dont get a couple to winter over ... there is really NOTHING foo foo about shrubs.. they are the workhorses of the back of the garden .. and need little or no SPECIAL care .. once fully established ... absolutely none of my shrubs have gotten any water in this extreme drought and heat ... and though some look a bit ragged ... i fear for none of them ... but again.. they are 10 years on site ... with all your recent experience with planting trees.. and succeeding wildly[how many did you plant this year??] ... shrubs will be a piece of cake.. unless you go foo foo ... and even those.. will just need a little more water care ... ken...See MoreNew to rooting hoyas: a question
Comments (16)Thanks for the thorough, excellent responses, both of you. I'm definitely going to try rooting in a bark-based medium & pots next time. All of your points make a lot of sense. I was able to tease away the majority of the moss and potted them with the small remainder attached, so thanks for the info about the lifespan of moss. Your recommendation to use it only with hard-to-root cuttings made me laugh because it sent me back to the days when I was new to aquariums and n00bs kept getting admonished to do their research on a fish BEFORE purchase. Naturally, the same logic should apply to hoya purchases, but it's so very hard to resist adding some impulsive (uneducated) acquisitions to an order - and then I overcompensate once they're home because I don't know how tricky they're going to get on me. In a nutshell: I don't usually know if I've got a hard one in my batch. You might reasonably be wondering why I asked your advice and then continued to use moss on 20 new cuttings in the other link. This is because I had already set up half of them this morning before posting and then when I came home to do the remainder, I panicked that I wasn't going to be able to fit them all in pots in my two rooting aquariums. See? No room at the inn....See Morepotentially stupid question re: starting plants from cuttings
Comments (5)Not a stupid question, actually. Coleus will prefer to root under warmer conditions than outdoors in Oregon, although if this were done later in the season, once the weather had reliably warmed up to stay above 55F or 60F at night, then Coleus will readily root outdoors in bright shade protected from wind. This time of year, definitely you would get better/faster results if done indoors or in a warm greenhouse. Most plants will tend to root more quickly under warming/warm temps than under cooler winter conditions or height of summer when heat and dryer air make keeping the humidity levels favorable is more difficult. So late spring and early fall tend to be ideal outdoor temperature ranges for optimum rooting with least moisture/heat stress....See Moreaurorawa
7 years agoLaurie (8A)
7 years agoSweetheart2015( Washington, DC)
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7 years agoaurorawa
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7 years agogreenhearted Z5a IL
7 years agoaurorawa
7 years agogreenhearted Z5a IL
7 years agoLaurie (8A)
7 years ago
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