Hi Sara, Is MT Montana, am guessing so? Your member page doesn't say. Well I'm interested that you too have seen the fibrous stuff & recognize what I'm asking about. It's reassuring to me, as I've never seen or heard anyone mention it. Isn't it odd? I'll be interested to see if other people respond here about this. I definately don't see it on the small leafed Hoyas like Curtisii or Lacunosa. Wow, you've got a variety whose name I've never seen or heard of before -- pentaphlebia, I'll have to look that one up; pls. describe it for me if you would. Yeah, it's been warm here in NYC, high 40s today, some 50s yesterday & I heard we made it to 60 the day before, pretty odd for February. I'm seeing a fair amount of new growth, but not on all Hoyas. See new it on the Kerriis, Obovata, Retusa, Krimson Queen & Princess, Curtisii, DavidCummigiana (which I just found to have one single 'fiber' hair thing on a growth tip) & lots of new growth tips on Imperialis. Here's to early Spring!

Thanks for the welcome,Diane and Julia. I also stopped at the local nursery on my way home tonight, and found a Hoya carnosa (I think?). It is just labelled as a Hoya. It is very viney, and has white edged varigated leaves. It also has many flower buds, some look like they may actually be getting ready to bloom soon. I hope that they will stay put, with the move to a new location. I have this in a south window filtered by sheer curtains. Do you think that will be ok? Also, that room is a bit warmer, perhaps 70ish degrees and is heated with a wood pellet stove. Does a carnosa want more or less watering? I did some reading here on the serpens, and have moved it to an East window, in a room that is slightly cooler than where I had originally put it. Thanks again and I now think that I am done adding to my hoya stock (for now at least). Sincerely, Carol

No le preocupe por escribirme en espanol. Vivi en Espana seis meses y le entiendo sin problema. La foto de la hoya fue sacada desde hace unos cinco anos, pero ya que no estoy en casa ahora, es la unica que tengo para subir a la red. Ahora tiene la planta dos ramas, una que creci desde hace unos anos cuando la maceta que se ve arriba se quebro y tuve que replantar la planta. Al regresar a casa voy a poner la planta en otra maceta, regarla con mas frecuencia y darla abono. Hay algun abono que recomienda? Alguna mezcla de tierra? Alguna relacion de la profundidad de la maceta con el tamano de la planta? Gracias de nuevo, Hunter (con hache, no be, pero no importa mucho) A quick English recap of this exchange: pepeuve said the plant looks too small to be eight, that the pot is too big for the plant and I should change it for a more shallow one. He/she then goes on to say that it's important for the plant to get morning sun or at least late afternoon or when it's outside, filtered sun. He/she then says with only one branch you can't prune it, although I could cut in half and plant the cutting. Watering - every time the soil is almost dry - at least twice or once a week. Fert also important, especially for growth. My questions to him/her, and to anyone who happens to be reading, are what kind of fertilizer is advisable, is there a specific potting mix I should use and how deep should the pot be? Thanks, Hunter

I have the following saved from a site called Evergreen Garden Works, which is a bonsai site, but it goes into some detail about the physics of soil, what goes on under the surface, the importance of pot size and of the type of soil we use - dense vs aerated. I hope it is ok to paste this here, as long as I have stated where it came from. Sight has provided drainage in her pot, and some people, like Sara, overpot successfully, but this is good info to be aware of. I also thought the info about shallow vs deeper pots was interesting, it is the opposite of what I originally thought. A Pot Isn't Like the Earth The major difference between a pot and the earth is that a pot has impermeable sides and bottom. This reduces air exchange in two ways. First is the obvious, air cannot pass through the plastic, thus we have a contained volume of soil encased 75% with air tight plastic (or high fired ceramic (low fire ceramic will breathe). This is why I design my soil mixes and other environmental factors to 'dry out' the pot once a day during the growing season. Each time the plant is thoroughly watered, it pulls a new charge of air in behind it as the water drains. Secondly, we have to visit our old pot size argument again. When a downward moving table of water reaches an impermeable layer (in this case the plastic pot bottom) it will not drain until the layer just above the impermeable layer (pot bottom) is saturated. Once this lower layer of soil is saturated, excess water will drain out, but a column of saturated soil will remain since the moving table of water has stopped at the impermeable layer. This means that the soil in the bottom of the pot remains saturated at this lowest level after watering, and stays saturated until something happens to change that condition. That 'something' is primarily absorption from the roots in the bottom of the pot, the secondary factor is (or should be) evaporation. You will probably want to read this paragraph again, and perhaps a third time, it is not obvious. Overpotting Most of the water in the pot is removed from the pot by absorption by the roots and not by evaporation. If you overpot, it will take a long time for roots to colonize the bottom of the container and consequently it will take much longer for the saturated layer to become fully aerated (the only factor at work is evaporation). Overpotting will generally lead to too wet conditions and eventually root rot. What About that Saturated Column Thing? Ok, just how high a column of saturated soil do you get in a container? The height of the column of water retained in the soil by an impermeable layer is related to size of the particles. Sound familiar? The denser the soil, the higher the column will be and the more water will be retained. Large particle, highly aerated soils will not support a large saturated volume. This is what we mean by 'well drained'. You can test this for yourself. Take a regular sponge, soak it with water. Rest it in your hand horizontally until the water stops running out. Then tilt the spronge upright. You are now increasing the saturated column. The sponge density won't support a column that high and water will drain out. This experiment also shows that pot shape is related to water retention. A broad shallow pot will retain more water than a tall narrow pot of equal volume. Although it is counterintuitive, a shallow pot will retain more water and 'dry out' more slowly than a tall narrow one (of equal volume).