Rooting Pubicalyx cutting, what would you do?

9 years ago

Hello, the Hoya forum! I haven't been back here in a while to post, though I do lurk and read a bit. ;)

None of my publicalyx (maybe pink silver) have bloomed yet. They all come from a plant my mom grew from my grandmothers' wonderful Hoya that used to boom pale pink.

The three-vine plant, which has an abundance of foliage covering an east window, sprouted a new vine a few weeks ago. I didn't want it to start climbing into the absolute clusterfun that is that plant, so I cut it off to start a new plant.

It's been in water for a couple of weeks, and not much is happening. I just wanted some advice on how to proceed - keep it in water and be patient or move to soil... And also whether to immerse the little root nodes above the bottom 4 leaves.

I'm concerned about the end and/or leaves rotting if I do immerse it too deeply. Cut off the leaves? You can kind of see the hard water line in the photo above to gauge how deep I had it immersed (up to the second pair of leaves)

I've had about 50/50 success in water in the past (some just rotted), and have grown several new healthy plants from cuttings but they were mostly vine sections that had many root nodes. This cutting has such a small stem, but is a 4 foot vine with other leaves. Also the first set of leaves are somewhat deformed at their tips, bit I'm not concerned about that.

thanks in advance :)

Featured Answer

aurorawa

9 years ago

The cutting is 4 ft? If so, a trellis will be needed. I have never needed to bag my pubicalyx when rooting, if that is any consolation!

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Comments (6)

aurorawa
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Remove the brown part of that stem, then remove the bottom two leaves and pot it up in your mix. Water once, don't water again until it roots (you can tell if when you gently tug the cutting, you are met with resistance). Mist it lightly every day or three.

If the cutting starts looking pathetic (droopy), check the rooting stem first for signs of rot (squishy, brown or black in color). If rot is present, cut to the nearest healthy stem tissue. You may need to remove more leaves to get a bigger rooting stem. Dunk the root stem in some ground cinnamon (which will help prevent further rot), shake excess off, and pot back up.

If all looks okay, and no rot, plop the cutting back in the pot, then you can put the pot in a clear plastic bag, plant and all, lightly mist the plant, blow a couple of breaths of air into the bag, and tie it off/close it. Air out every 2 days.

I don't water root, I just plop the cuttings straight into the pot with potting mix.
bunkfree_4a_canada
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks very much for the detailed instructions aurorawa :)

When you say "plant and all" are we talking all 4 feet of vine, too? I had it propped along some s-hooks hanging along a rack, plant in a candle holder hanging from one end of same rack. Should I trim the vine or contrive a trellis?

kd
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bunkfree_4a_canada
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes, around 4 feet :-P that's how far the vine got before I realized and cut it off the main plant. It had begun to climb up into this hot mess (sorry - only pic I have handy, from June. Plant in pot is on buffet at bottom left)

maybe I should cut it back? I took off the brown stem and bottom leaves and potted it up in 2.5 inch terracotta pot. Sorry for the dark photo - have a bulb burned out in the mudroom. It gets bright morning sun and then fairly bright indirect light the rest of the day.

I may end up bagging it, it's super dry in my house!
aurorawa
9 years ago
No need to cut it up...I've successfully rooted huge cuttings! It actually helps to have nice large cuttings (those extra leaves provide energy reserves). If you have a mister or spray bottle, you shouldn't need to bag the cutting. Just a light misting daily. Pubicalyx is one of those hoyas that doesn't really have a high humidity requirement. It grows quite well in normal house conditions! Lovely plant setup, by the way!
bunkfree_4a_canada thanked aurorawa
bunkfree_4a_canada
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks! I have tried to maximize plant space in those windows. My mom found me those hanging baskets.

At some point I'm going to have to get it off the rod and repot ... Those three vines have gone absolutely crazy over there, even growing around the bracket at right, and will have to be cut off. Ah well, more baby Hoyas :P

thanks for your help :)