Exciting Kylde! After a teen pregnancy & miscarriage, it seems it's easier to "catch pregnant" again! LOL!

Thanks LC, I knew you'd understand.

I showed the family (hubbie and 2 lads) and they look and say "hmmmph!" and walk away. Like NO BIG DEAL, when you and I both know it is a BIG FRICKING DEAL!

Mike kept telling me to go cool, but did I listen at first? Nooooooooo. So then he says again kindly (cuz I think he knows me a bit now) "Kelly, I think you should really try thompsonii for your conditions". Like the Einstein I am, I think hmmm, maybe Mike is trying to tell me something. So I try thompsonii, and now the wee sweetie is trying her best to produce flowers. Not too many leaves on that little 3 inch pot, but umbels!

Take care LC

The little buggers blasted!

I couldn't believe it. Never (for me) has a hoya umbel blasted so late in the game. Those wee buds were maybe a day or two from opening. What kind of torture is this? Arrrrghhh.

Well I take solace in the fact that the plant (while being one of the slowest growers I've seen yet) is growing fairly well. Man oh man.

Then...my hoya square leaf (what is that called again? rotundiflora?), was sitting there minding her P's and Q's. She is growing well for being a young plant. Anyway, sitting there, photosythesizing and just generally enjoying the sunshine when wham! A cockatiel with trouble on her mind, decides to nip off the tips of the vines. In mere seconds, 3 growing tips were goners. Let me tell you, she was locked up pdq, and there was no afternoon piece of millet and cup of tea for that day. Wish I could post a pic of the offender. LOL.

Had to vent a bit. Thanks for listening.

Kelly in Victoria

ACK! BAD BIRDIE!!

But take heart, Kelly.
And old hoya grower told me he pinches back tips to induce branching... So maybe you'll end up with a fuller plant?

And I don't know what to think about thomsonii.
What a let-down... :

What is a cocktiel with trouble on her mind? A crazy bird???

It's weird, isn't it? The way pets will ignore the plants 99.9% of the time, giving you a sense of false safety, and then one day chomp down like it's perfectly normal.

It is annoying when first buds blast because usually it takes FOREVER for them to get going again. I was feeling all cocky about my lasiantha because I pulled off several groups off flowers but even though it's always heavily laden with swelling buds, they keep blasting on me. I'm not sure what (if anything) I did before. Probably walked into the room backwards or wore my hair a certain way.