Succulent Ramblings

I like to ramble on about my plants... and other things! My hope is to log the progress of plants and talk about my frustrations with others. So, tune in, turn on, or drop out (if you find it boring!)

Sunday, April 24, 2011

I've been so dang busy!  It's really hard to take time to blog, but I really want to document the changes in my plants, so I try to sit down at least every few weeks to report their progress.  It gives me something to reference back to...

So some exciting news about my Hoyas.  First, H. deykeae has a new leaf!  This might sound like dull news to someone not familiar with this species, but it's been such a slow grower for me.  Oh, it looks fabulous and never falters, but it's only put on a couple leaves each of the two years I've had it.  It has such beautiful leaves, I long for it to grow and get large.  I'll have to take and post a photo when the new leaf is a bit bigger.  It's been in this tall but narrow ceramic pot since I rooted it and I knew it needed to move up to a bigger pot, so I did that today.  It's now in a 4" square plastic pot. I hope it doesn't go into shock over the move.  I was pretty careful not to disturb the rootball too much...

I also up-potted revoluta.  That's a Liddle cutting I got last summer.  It's doing very well and putting out new growth, which is kind of heavy for the 2.5" plastic pot it was in.  So I moved it up to a 4" resin pot, which will give it a little more weight and stability. 

Hoya limoniaca has steadily grown since I got it from Gardino's in '09.  It's a sweet compact little plant that's been in a 2.5" pot since I got it.  So I moved it up to a 4" round pot today and put it back in the metal cup it's been in.  (On the rare occasions I can find them, I like to get those metal cups I call "camping cups."  They're beautiful for displaying plants!)  I've been fighting scale on this one, but I think I've got them licked.  Seems like everything I got from Gardino's had scale, but they were always healthy, so it was worth the fight...

'Dee's Big One' is growing like gangbusters.  I have a feeling that's going to turn into a monter-plant very quickly!  I love the large, bright green leaves.  H. cv. 'Jennifer' is just a few feet from Dee's and it's growing like crazy, too.  I sometimes wonder if my plants love my sunroom more than my greenhouse!  Silver speckled obovata is putting out new growth, too.  I notice some of the new growth from last year isn't as speckled - I may take cuttings of the not-so-speckled branch to keep the plant consistently speckled, since I already have a plain obovata.

The carnosa that is cuttings taken from 'Krimson Princess' that had reverted to all green that is now growing in hydroton is throwing out all kinds of new vines.  I'm starting to think maybe this hydroton is THE way to grow.  I started a big cutting of fungii in hydroton late this winter - it's hanging in my bedroom and looks great, though there have been no signs of new growth yet.  It's hanging next to the carnosa that's off of Vera's plant.

I think it was last year (maybe the year before) that I moved 'RHP' up to a 6" pot.  It may need to be moved up again this year.  It's gotten very large and hangs down about 4-1/2 feet.  I've had it in the sunroom for the last year, moving it back and forth from an east window (in summer) to a south window (in winter) so it gets good light.  It's got one peduncle of flowers open right now with new buds pushing from behind, and two more peduncles budding up.  It has lots of other peduncles that haven't gotten going yet, but I'm betting they will!  I'm moving it today back to the east window for the summer.  It changes places with purpureo-fusca.  There's a new leaf popping from near the plant's base, which is nice.  And I'm talking about my main plant - I took a cutting from it, I think it was in '09, because I thought it wasn't doing so hot and was afraid I'd lose it.  Well, the cutting rooted well and has been putting on new growth for a few weeks.  It actually looks better than the mother plant, becuase it came from Hawaii and it seems like those grown outside in Hawaii tend to be a little beat-up looking.  So when mother plant gets going good, I may repot them both into one pot, then take cuttings of the rougher looking areas of the older plant and start them to sell next year.  (Or trade as cuttings this year...)

I moved diversifolia out of the sunroom.  I don't know - it's just not one of my favorites.  And now I have two of them!  Damn!  The first one I got from Karen (PG on GW) as a cutting in '06.  The other I got from Gardino's 2 years ago - if I'd known it was diversifolia, I wouldn't have ordered it.  They were selling it as simploy Hoya sp.  Carol confirmed it's diversifolia.  I'll probably sell one of them this year to make room for something else I like better.  In fact, I may sell both of them...  However, I've seen photos of the flowers and I think if it would flower for me, I may just hang onto one of them!  H. diversifolia flower

Well, it's now Easter morning (I started this last night) and Mom and I will be going down to Merry's for lunch.  So I'd better stop here and pick it up again when I have time.  (I also have to finish the cactus club newsletter and get it out by tomorrow!)

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Well, I didn't get back as quick as I'd hoped.   (I rarely do!)  We spent time painting at work, then we got our new window treatments and changed the backdrop behind the head table.  Check out the photos on our Facebook page... Karen's Fireside Facebook 

I have more to report on my plants.  Another cutting of 'Square Leaf' rooted.  It still appears a bit dehydrated, but I think it will be fine.  I put it in with the little pot of two other cuttings that are growing nicely.  I have one more piece that's being stubborn, but I think it will root.

Hoya bordenii, the cutting I got from Dee that actually grew from a leaf that popped off, has new growth with at least two new leaves developing.  It's going to be a beauty!  Hoya patella was a puney cutting I got from DL that I put in with mindorensis, thinking it wouldn't make it.  It only had one leaf on it when I got it.  It has a new vine shooting!!  I'll leave it in with mindorensis for awhile longer.  Mindorensis is doing GREAT!  It has a new vine that's about a foot long, has a new leaf at the end of one stem and 2 new leaves at the end of another.  It also has another new growth bud and - TA DA! - a peduncle!

Hoya revoluta, the one that looks a lot like micrantha only bigger leaves, has two new vines and a new leaf. 

I took a cutting of puppreo-fusca last year because my main plant looked a little sad.  It rooted quickly, but didn't do much of anything but look healthy last year.  It's got a nice new vine it's shooting out!  I may just sell my main plant (it still has rough looking leaves from Hawaii) and keep the cutting!