Thank you Leon!!!!
I have been trying to figure what to do with my old carnosa, as it is on a tomato cage and I do not like it. I have the 32" fencing (I bought it on-line for $12)and I know what I'm going to be doing today ;)))

Leon,

You are very creative, I love the idea for a mature plant:-)

There is only one problem that I can foresee and that is the pots are too large, for just one cutting, that I fear it will take MANY years for the roots to fill the pot and to see blooms. (Not to mention the possiblity of root problems that could rise with so much soil and moisture!)

I've always been under the impression that hoya cuttings like to be pot bound to bloom and that smaller, well draining pots are better suited for them. (Just a thought.... I even worry about other folks Hoya's:-)

That is a fantastic idea though... and I WILL be using them in the future when my babes growup! Thanks for the idea!

Diane

Marcy and earline ,I like to share my discoveries; I have so many things that still need to be solved. Hope all can use the idea and share an idea with me sometime.

Yes Diane, I know the conventional wisdom is to keep hoya root bound and mistreated to cause blooms and I'm sure that has worked for people but it doesn't fit in at our house, we are retired and we travel so each planting must be able to survive for several weeks on its own which is why we chose the self watering larger pots and good, well draining potting soil. We ask all our plants to live in the same conditions ( except African Violets) and we water twice a month and fertilize once a month, winter and summer so they are accustomed to being without us.

When we first bought a hoya fifteen years ago, we didn't know they bloomed and bought the Krimson Queen for the foliage and we have managed to expand to now have over forty different types of hoya all with dramatically different leaves and when they bloom, thatÂs just a bonus. They are mostly in 9 inch self watering pots and so far it has worked well for us and thatÂs probably more because of where we live and the fantastic southern exposure sunroom we have rather than the care but we never lose plants and they grow beautiful foliage. I know hoya grow without much soil in the wild but as you can see from these photos, if you give them good rich soil and 15-30-15 fertilizer, they can grow luxurious foliage (all three were cuttings and are in 9 inch self-watering pots).

-Leon

Those are absolutely beautiful and I wouldn't change a thing to what you are doing for them:-)

Nice growing! I am more of a weekly waterer, if needed, and I was concerned.(naturally)

Diane

Give yourself a pat on the back Leon - GREAT idea! :o)

Leon thank you again for this idea.
My carnosa got a hair cut (about 10 foot of vine chopped off) new soil, a bath, and a new trellis ;)

She would have been really happy if she could have stayed outdoors, but unfortunately we are expecting frost tonight :( and the vine had enough shocks today.
I had to put two sections together to extend it to about 52"
but it worked like a charm.

I also put a jasmine vine that had a rotting wooden trellis on your fence section trellis

Earline, an "Idea" is like a seed, plant it and it will grow. I really like two of your additions to the original idea. the first is "stacking" the trellis to go higher, I will use that one and the second is when you said you purchased online, I then googled "folding wire fences" and found several new designs and all are coated to prevent rusting so my needs for trellis' is solved completly, Thanks

-Leon

Leon....in your self watering pots...do you run wicking material up into the soil? I have some that didn't come with any string, just said to up the dirt down into these 3 places.I am thinking of improvising my own wicks.
Marcy

Marcy .. No they do not have wicks and we have not found that they need wicks.

We have found that with plants that use more water the basin will be dry after two weeks and plants that use less will still have some water, a great way to determine the individual plants need for water.

Hope this is understandable???

-Leon

Leon,

I love your idea. Cheap, effective and attractive. Could we ask for more?!! And your self-watering pots prove what I read a few years ago and have followed since... That Hoyas can take more water than we give them. The key is good draining soil so the roots still get plenty of oxygen...

Happy plants you have there, sir!

Denise in Omaha

Leon:
Love Your fabulous idea for the hoya plants. I have been trying to find something for my hoya's for a some time now with no success, Except all the little plastic hangers they have in the stores. They don't last very long if the plants are fast growing and big climbers. Have also tried the bamboo hoops and they are nice but think the idea of yours will work alittle better for the hoyas to climb on.
I also like the self watering pots that you use yourself. Great suggestion. Thanks again and it looks like you have some very healthy and happy plants.
Take care and be well.

Margie

I too, use the plastic covered wire hangers from the dollar store and bend them to my liking. I love the wire fencing idea, but of course it is too late in the season to find them now, so it will have to wait until spring.

I love the part about planting an idea and it will grow, that is so true. I love reading how everyone else does it.

Leon
Gorgeous plants. Can't wait for mine to get that big. Thanks for posting pics. Always love to see other peoples hoyas.
Shanna

Mine ARE gettting that big. I used Leon's idea earlier this year and at least one hoya has engulfed the wire fencing. I like the idea of using the larger fence sections. I'm wondering about retro fitting the larger one next to/behind the smaller one...hmmm. That way I don't have to re-do the whole thing. I just have to worry about it becoming top heavy. :-)

Here's the one planted on the small trellis (lacunosa) along with the new one (NOID) just planted on the large trellis. Thanks Leon.

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen lacunosa on a trellis. Looks great! Can you post bigger pics, Laura? It's kind of hard to see the plants. But I *can* tell that they are gorgeous :)

Gabi

The other pic was not in focus so I took another one.

Laura

First, I love the mosaic pot!! I made a few, and I think they are just beautiful, each one so unique.

I too have never seen a lacunosa on a trellis, although I have a wee little one that is kind of on one, only because it is in a humidity dome, and I have to keep the branches off of the wet pebbles. But it does look very nice, I might have to try it. What shape of trellis do you have under there?

I have really come to love the bamboo trellises, and have started to use them on some of my hoyas.

I have the fencing as shown in the beginning of this thread, but I cant do anything with it because my pots are too small. Does anyone know of a way to make these little wire fence trellises work with small 4 inch pots? If I cut it, I end up wasting half the wire, and doesn't turn out symmetrical (yeah I know, but it matters to me until it's covered in leaves).

Beautiful plant, thanks for sharing!

Yeah, 4" is a little small for the wire fence trellis. I've found that where I live that 4" is an OK size for starting cuttings but they can't stay for long in that size pot. Yes, this plant is on the 18" wire fence Leon talked about at the beginning of the thread.

Thanks for the compliment on the pot. That was my first and probably my last try at mosaics. I had some old china of my mother's that was broken and I used that...but what a pain!

That lacunosa is absolutely gorgeous! I wish I had that problem of my hoyas not being able to stay in 4" pots for long...maybe I just need to move to Florida!

Gabi

Gabi-
My sister and I both live in Tampa and we're both pretty new to growing hoya. We are finding out how big they can get. I'm thinking "if it got this big in 2 years how big is it going to get?" I read somewhere that in the wild they get so big they pull trees over. I can believe that.

Mind you I'm not complaining it is more like amazement.

Nova
I also have a lot of hoyas in 4" pots. I just repoted them and needed a small trellis for some. I took a hanger and clipped the hook off and bent it in the similar shape as the bamboo. You could also put wire connecting each side together if you wanted. I will try to take a pic today and post on here this afternoon.
Shanna

I think that is a terrific idea. Another suggestion that I used for a trellis for a Thunbergia is copper refrigeration tubing which comes in a coil and can be found at Home Depot, etc. I simply pulled the end that was in the center up and out of the coil and it made a nice spiral. You can pull it up as high as you like it. To anchor it in the pot I took the other (outside) end of the coil and bent it down to the length needed to extend into the bottom of the pot I was using and proceeded to fill the pot with soil and the plant. It has worked very well so far for me. Not sure how heavy a hoya would be that would cover this size of trellis, but it is quite decorative. I just bought my first hoya and am thinking of trying it on the copper trellis.

That sounds interesting. Can you post a picture?

I did the copper spiral in 2003 and I really liked it, but when the plant started putting weight onto the copper it started to sag. I tried to tie the loops with string to keep the spiral effect but it still sagged.
Grant you, this is a huge old Krinkle-8 and it has some vines that are almost as thick as my thumb. A younger thinner vined plant would do much better.
In 2006 I used Leon's trellis idea ( pic at the top of this thread)and I will have to add the third section for more height this spring.
{{gwi:953443}} .. {{gwi:953445}}
HTH
earline

I just repoted my hoya and tried to undo it from the hoop thats its on is there any way of doing it with out hurting the plant when I got it it had seen better days all dried up and a mess( lowes trash bin) now it looks great and happy
Thanks for any help
Bear

I wish I could see your pictures! Found this page on pinterest, I think I get what you mean in the instructions!

Do all your hoyas planted on potting soil? Or are there other medium mixed to it? If so, may I ask ratio? I am trying to uncover the best way to grown hoya coz my carnosa queen is growing but on leaf is wrinkly. So I know something is wrong. But I can't figure it out.