I have near 100% success rate germinating seeds by plopping them on top of my pre-moistened seed mix within 3 days of the pod opening/receiving through mail.

Bottom heat, light (grown in the same light conditions as the "big plants"), and humidity are my keys to success.

I use a mix of roughly 30% soaked and rinsed coir (that compressed kind you buy at pet stores), 35% #3 perlite (soaked and rinsed), and 35% 1/4 inch orchiata bark (soaked and rinsed).

Pot up the media in sandwich rubbermaid (larger if you have more seeds), place the seeds ON TOP of the mix (no burying), mist daily, and weed out the weak/stragglers/sick/deformed, when you notice them.

There are no drainage holes in my rubbermaid, so when I feed/water the seedlings (once every 10-14 days), I flood the media and tip it to each side, draining off as much excess water as possible. Haven't had root rot or damping off issues yet, but I suspect that is due to my greenhouse-esque conditions, and infrequent waterings.

Good luck! Hope you get many Hoya babies!!!

Wow!! That's so cool!! Happy growing!

Should I keep a humidity dome on them?

Can't wait to see what the leaves look like :D

I just put the lid on the rubbermaid until they were two weeks old, then slowly acclimated them over the next week to my normal growing conditions

Notice any growth yet? Mine started to sprout on the second day i believe...

Seed Pod opened two weeks ago, I've been so busy with school, work, and training my pup that I just couldn't find the time to plant them. Until day before yesterday that is :)

Set up:

In the 48 hours they've been sprinkled on top the soil, I have growth!

You can see where the little seedlings have begun emerging from their pods. I'm so excited! Hybrid Carnosa 'Deep Pink'! Updates to come.

I also use those jiffy pellets, use a tweezer and place 3 seeds per pellet. When the seedlings have about 3 sets of leaves, I plant the pellets with the seedlings in 3.5" pots with my regular hoya potting mix.

Thank you!

Ric, I dumped the jiffy pellets out of the trays, I was worried that if I used them I might rot the seedlings because the peat (I think it's peat...) Is so fine and retains a lot of moisture!

But now that I know you've had success using them I'll keep that in mind for future seeds. It sure would've made it a lot easier to plant the seedlings in pots when they have leaves. Not sure how I'm going to do that with all of them together like this... But I'll handle that when the time comes!

Oh, how exciting!!

Just a little update on the babies :)

Coming right along! I am seeing a bit of yellow, however. Is this normal or a sign of something bad?

They look great!!

Wow!! Tons of sprouts!! Good job!

You can start feeding them 1/8 strength food, if you haven't already, and gradually increase to 1/4 strength. They look awesome!

Is it okay to use HB-101 at 1/8 stength? I've recently started using it as a foliar feed and with every other water at 1/2 strength with my Hoyas that haven't been doing much, these plants have since taken off!

Sure is! You can use that at full strength, since it is just a suppliment.

AW, What do you mean by it being just a suppliment?

I thought it was an actual fertilizer, although organic. It sure does work good!

TLBean, try Googling it & read up on what it says: it calls itself a 'vitalizer'. (This seems to be translated from Japanese.)

Perhaps you could tell us about your experience w/ it. Is the free trial how you know of it?

I was not familiar w/ it when I saw the post; I read the website & signed up for their offer of a free trial bottle.

Susan told me about it initially and told me to get some free samples. The samples got damaged in the mail but i purchased anyway based on Susan's recommendation.

I fed it to a few on my hoyas and they took off like crazy. It also makes the leaves very large.

I am still not convinced of it's (HB-101) properties. Mostly because I have yet to see any difference in growth or health of my plants, even after using it for 3+ months.

My experience is my own, though.

Hmmm that's very strange. Maybe you got a bad batch or something. Who knows.

I doubt it, unless the free samples AND the two bottles I ordered is a "bad batch". Maybe I don't notice a difference because my plants are already happy in their present growing conditions.

I tend to be leery of those "miracle revitalizers" and "miracle suppliments", but am always willing to at least try them, as long as they are obviously not a scam. I have yet to use one that lives up to it's promise (other than ProTeKt...but it is actually a fertilizer, has an NPK value).

I tend to grow mine as frugally as possible, without wasting money on purported miracle serums. I grow mine as close to natural as I can replicate. Minimal waterings (unless otherwise indicated), foliar feeding daily, high heat and humidity (for those that love it), good airflow, and treating for pests/fungii/bacteria as needed. I don't bother about ugly leaves, worry un-necessarily about everything, and just let them do their thing.

If you want to swear by a product, by all means, go ahead! But, when doing so, you have to take into account ALL other variables:

*Has your weather changed (warmer? Your plants are going to start growing quicker)?

*Have you started feeding regularly after neglecting to do so? If so, the vitalizer may not be responsible for your bigger, healthier plants and leaves.

*More light exposure due to seasonal changes or new lights? Same as above.

Those are all good questions. With me, i only used it on a few hoyas when i first got it and they started growing immediately. I think i first got the product in February. The hoyas i used it on would have a hard time growing and i could not figure out why. The lights they were under and all other conditions were the same. The only thing i changed was to feed them with it.

Its kinda a pain to be mixing things and i usually just put all the hoyas in the shower and water them. Most of them (rooted cuttings) have been having a hard time growing even though they would attempt to. The leaves would die very young or not grow very much. I recently put a slow release fertilizer on ALL of them so when i put them in the shower the warm water will start to gently release the fertilizer. They previously did not get any feeding because i did not mix in MG with my rooting mix.

I am also using the HB in addition to the slow release now.

If you weren't feeding them up until recently, can you say that HB-101 is the reason they are doing well? Or is it because you started feeding them woth your slow release fert? It takes a bit for starved plants to "catch up", so if they are finally starting to grow, I'd attribute that to proper nutrition vs. a vitalizer. But, even a vitalizer is probably better than just water.

My Pubicalyx combo pot has not been fertilized since Winter, it's back in a corner that's hard for me to get to so I just mist it with water every now and again and seldom water the pot. It does fine no new growth this Spring/Summer, however. Well, I pulled out the metal rack that's in the way when I received my samples of HB-101 I dosed it and gave it a good soaking. What do you know, about a week later I had new growth and leaves coming on. The Pub. Red Buttons cutting w/ peduncle I got from SRQ Hoyas is producing which is very surprising, since I have yet to flower a cutting with a peduncle. Other factors could definitely play a role, but I used the product and had a positive result so I think I'll continue to use it :)

When i first got the HB in February i wasnt my hoyas anything and the ones that attempted to grow did so poorly. Once i gave them the HB they did so well. Fast forward to May and now all of my hoyas have a slow release plus the HB. But the HB was the reason the hoyas grew well when i first got the product a few months ago. But i only used it on 3 or 4 of them at that time.

I will say that anything is better than nothing, so if you weren't fertilizing, then some of the amino acids and vitamins present in the HB-101 would contribute to the plants bouncing back.

Perhaps I don't notice the difference because my plants are not lacking in any vitamins or nutrients?

I will say that I am saving the bottles for plants that are very ill. I know Superthrive, as useless as it really is (sorry, peeps, it's true), did help keep a few hoyas that were knocking on Heaven's door alive long enough for treatments to take effect (fungal issues AND mealies from a BAD vendor), a few years back. They are alive and kicking, to date.

Perhaps HB-101 will prove useful, in situations like that!

Hoping HB-101 will prove useful for your sulking Hoyas, aurorawa. I have to agree, SuperThrive is nothing special. I have used that product on many a plant, and have had no remarkable results.

Another update as these babies take form. I know there are many changes to come before I see an "actual" leaf but I'm loving the heart shapes I'm seeing!

Love seeing happy babies.