Oh, get a camera.LOL May be you could borrow one or cell phone.
I would love to see a picture of your new hoya.
Sometimes when things are a bit down and out. A little bit of a pick me up helps a lot.Think of it as therapy.

Cindy

pirate girl, please do show us your new plant. Sounds like a great one.

Thanks you.

Xuan

Pirate Girl, you have not lost your mind, you are just (like quite a few of the rest of us) absolutely addicted to Hoyas! I keep looking at Ebay... I am desperate to add to my collection, despite the fact my collection is full!!!

Congrats PG! Sounds like a great hoya! My varieg. kerri only has three leaves. I'd love to see it too if you could somehow get a picture.

shanna

What a great bargain, Karen! I spent about $30 on two small rooted cuttings from CBFM this spring. They were well rooted, at least. They've only just started growing in the last couple months and not exactly by leaps and bounds. I think the cream edged one is a lot prettier than the reverse variegated one.

Congrats!

Denise in Omaha

Hi All,

Denise, you got it exactly, I felt the price for the plant alone, large & in impeccable condition was already a deal, not counting the hydro set up (the inner pot filled w/ Leca stones, the built-in water gauge, the outer pot & a small bottle of plant food). So I felt it was an offer I couldn't & shouldn't refuse.

I must say, seeing the plant in the light of day (I just moved it to higher light position), it's even more beautiful that it looked last night! I'll try to get hold of a camera somewhere.

While I am not endorsing them (having only just bought this), for the curious among you, the speakers were from:

www.creativehydroponics.com

(PG) Karen

Karen....I think you 'did good'!!

I had so much trouble growing that one, that I traded it away.

Now I'm wondering if the hydroponics method might be the answer to growing it well!

You prove that now...OK? lol!! (Ã)

Karen, I agree the price was right (on the money!!!)

I would Very Much be interested to see the set up; I've tinkered on and off with semi-hydro for the last 5 years with limited success.

I did find a good source for clay pellets (when I bought 25 pounds) and have found a few sources for ??? air-rock which is a natural product mined from Austrailia that holds water in a similar manner as calcined clay or hydroton pellets.

I would give an arm, or leg to see the set up. All of my semi hydro set ups were done by me, without any pictures or outside guidance. I really, really would Be Your Very Best Friend if you could come up with pictures. Do you think the website of the folks you purchased from has pix of similar??? I would need for you to look and tell me so.

(My husband bought me my own solder gun and tips cause I kept melting plastic all over his making by my own semi hydro pots!!!)

Remember that Asclep seeds are short-lived viable so get stuff planted ASAP. If you dont' use all the seeds, send 'em back. I forgot some folks I had promised seeds to! (Doh!)

Cena,

The website that PG linked to has pictures of the setup. So just go to that link and you'll see many pics.

Gabi

Thanks Gabi, I hadn't had a chance to look at their site (I just looked now), but was confident it showed at least some set up.

Hey Cena,

We'll see how it goes, the hardest part will be not to water for 10 days as I was instructed. I watered when I got it home (as instructed), wrote myself a BIG note to put on the pot w/ a date watered & note to NOT water for 10 days.

Abt the Stephanotis seeds, I DO know they don't keep. I potted up 10 seeds the very next day & will put up another 10 today, thanks for the reminder.

I mailed yr. package out on Tues., I'm guessing you'll get it today, latest tomorrow. Enjoy!

Well, I'm in your ranks PG....I've lost my mind too!

I actually paid 80 bucks for H. serpens on Ebay! And as many might remember, I had a HUGE serpens with hundreds of peduncles that I bought last summer for 25 bucks. Well, I still have that plant, but all the peduncles fell off and I lost most of the plant. It's now healthy again and growing, but the one on Ebay was just gorgeous. Am I nuts??? Before you answer, it's in a 6" hanging basket and has MANY peduncles. I just HAD to have it!

Speaking of this Ebay craziness, I just saw the orange colored aff. mindorensis (small and with no peduncles) go for over 100 bucks! I'm telling ya...one year ago you'd never see prices like this for hoyas.

Oh, back to the semi-hydro topic - I bought a set of 2 pots from that website (each comes with the whole set-up...outer decorative pot, inner pot, clay aggregate, and water gauge) - I'm going to try it on my next ailing hoya, or one that isn't doing much.

Gabi

Gabi, I also would like to buy there pot set up but the shipping to Canada is going to be over 35.00 dollars.
Can I ask what you are paying for with the U.S. I have also just wasted 2 hours looking for a Canadian source.

Cindy

oh, I don't remember. It depends on the pot size. It's not too bad though. Maybe 8 bucks for a 4" pot with the whole set-up (if I remember correctly).

Gabi

PG, sounds like you hit the jack pot!
Hills, yes so much temptations on ebay for sure.
Denise, my verigated hoya grows slower than mollasses. I've put the plant in semi hydro yesterday.
Gabi, $80 bucks????? you've lost your mind...just kidding.
I couldn't believe that plant went for $100+ bucks either, I wouldn't pay that much for it..
I made few semi hydro pots out of the yogurt cups.

Looks nice Jan.

shanna

Oh, Gabi...you HAVE lost your mind! (Ã)

Seriously, though...if plants are our thing....it's not so bad to purchase something that makes us 'feel good' - justification!

Interesting, Jan, that you're growing H. linearis hydoponically! And I have to say...it looks *very happy*!! How long have you been growing it this way?

I am actually having good luck growing that one in soil (both at work in a window that faces east and south, and at home in a south window) and both bloomed last year!

I am really interested to hear about your plant's progress, Karen....so please keep us updated! (You too, Jan!)

Ha...ok then it really IS official! PG, would you like to go to dual counseling? We can save money that way (and then we can use that money to buy more plants...hehe!).

I agree Nan...if it makes us happy, then we can't put a price tag on it (thanks for the justification!). Besides, it's my birthday present to myself. Uh...wait, my birthday is in April. Oops...guess I miscalculated!

Gabi

Yeah really Gabi, perhaps a 2 for 1 special (the therapy, that is, not the Hoyas, Oh, OK, make that the Hoyas too).

Am realizing an issue w/ this set-up & the plant's size, I'd have it hooped, am realizing I'll need to contain it, where I have it now, I bump into it turning a corner ... hum

Oh, I wanted that e-bay mindorensis so bad, but $100 bucks is too rich for my blood! It was pretty though!

Jan I love your linearis and your malachite (I'm a huge rock dork) Looks great. AND I have to say that of all the addictions a person can have hoyas are possible the least dangerous. Just think of it as air purification, and the blooms are aeromatherapy (except for the stinky ones)

I just got the serpens today! It's small compared to my other one when it was big (most of it died off, so I'm trying my luck with a new one), but it's extremely healthy. It has SO many peduncles...I had to stop counting at 80 peduncles! So since I spent 80 bucks, I figure I spent $1 per peduncle :)

Gabi

Gabi, any chance of pictures?

Cindy

Shanna, thanks. I am going to put in a hanging container some time.
Hannabella, thanks. I agree with you hoya addiction is not so bad compared to some other stuff.
Gabi, yes we want to see some pictures.

Ha...I knew you picture junkies would ask :)

Of course...I'll post pics when I get home from work. Thanks for your interest.

Gabi

$1 per peduncle for serpens? That's a BARGAIN! (This coming from the chick who just lost $50 in cuttings....may have been more but I'm trying not to dwell on it...I lost my rooting mojo temporarily...hey, you guys have an extra spot in that therapy session?!)

Antone has that mindorensis clone on ebay again! Goes off this evening! It is a beauty!

Kelly

Kelly, great minds think alike! I agree...that's a steal!

Sorry you lost so many cuttings. That is the WORST. I lost more than half the cuttings from the Spring DL order because they were so damaged from all that USDA stuff that happened.

"I lost my rooting mojo" - hilarious! Ask Austin Powers if he has any for ya :)

Gabi

Ok, here is the serpens that I got on Ebay (it's in a 6" basket):
{{gwi:980099}}

Here is the pride and joy of my collection that I bought last summer for only 25 bucks, and it had hundreds and hundreds of peduncles. I think it was in a 6" pot also, but I lost most of it (including all the peduncles) rather quickly - when I took it out of the pot, I found that there was no soil left and the roots were not healthy. Also, the vines closest to the soil was very woody:
{{gwi:966452}}

And here is what's left of it in a 4" pot. Very healthy growth after starting over with it. I will either end up selling this one or keeping it as a spare in case the new one doesn't make it. I REALLY want a serpens that will LIVE!
{{gwi:980100}}

Thanks for looking, and PLEASE keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Gabi

Gabi, your new plant looks beautiful!! your previous one looked better, it's shame the serpens are so fussy. I have my fingers & toes crossed for you. Good luck!
Jan

ooh...that would have been one tough loss, Gabi...I sure feel for you! Not sure how *I* would have handled that!

The small pot does look good, though!

Thanks Jan and Nan.

Nan, yes it was a really tough loss. But at least it was quick and painless...well not painless, but quick! Also, it made me feel *slightly* better that it's a hoya on the "difficult-to-keep" list - I would've been so mortified and upset if it was something easy like carnosa!!

Gabi

Hi PG!
I don't feel so bad now. I just paid $35 & $20 for two carnosas, both were in 15 in hanging buckets, the larger was over 4 ft long I incorporated them both into the same pot with a rebar trellis it turned out really nice looking. He was asking $50 for the smaller and $65 for the larger. I told him the larger was worth easilly $100. Anyone want some carnosa cuttings off of a really old plant? I had to take quite a bit off to get them on the trellis and in the pot I wanted them in. Pictures coming soon :)

With those deals I felt like I got took when I payed $20 for a hindu rope with one branch 3 ft long and two about 8 inches, and $10 for a 6 in pot of KP. I choked down $10 each for a rooted foot long stem of Rhipsalis edwaldiana and about a 4 in rooted stem of variegated hindu rope. I thought $95 was a good price for all.

This is a picture of my new carnosa with a few friends $55 worth of it! This isn't including the huge pot full I had to cut off in order to get it in the front door without stepping on streamers. It's in a 15 gallon tree nursery pot. It's friends, from the left are KQ, kerrii, and obovata.

Beautiful plants, Mentha. I also noticed your quilt squares hanging on the wall behind the hoya.
Wishing you 'Happy New Year'
Eileen

Hey Ima, Thx for pointing out the quilts, I couldn't see that w/out clicking on it to larger, so I'd missed it entirely, until you said so, thanks.

Yes, nice quilting, (& as a fellow Member of the Tribe, Happy New Year).

Pretty happy Hoyas too!!!!!!!!!

Thanks ladies,
La'shannah tova to you too. We had a lovely new year with friends up north and our neighbors just researching their Jewish roots. It was a grand time.
The quilt blocks I made hoping to send them to Israel as pillows, but they already have a ministry which sends pillows. So they grace my walls, maybe I'll make a baby quilt with them. I made the pattern myself. Two years ago, I sent a lap quilt to Israel, it was diamond shaped log cabin blocks made into a Star of David. I wish I had kept pictures of it.

Jan, your linearis looks very healthy, I have mine growing the same way...I think. I can't tell what is going on inside your pot, do you have the clay aggregate in the bottom of the glass container as well? I have my actual plant growing in one of those semi-clear deli containers, I poked a few holes about an inch up from the bottom of the container, so that the water will drain once it gets past that level, creating a reservoir in the bottom. Is that what you did? I have seen some people just have drain holes at the bottom and set the pot in water, leaving it to the aggregate to "wick" the water up to the roots.

Either way, mine seems to be doing well, none of the stem rot issues I had when I was growing this hoya in regular medium.