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Name: Carol Noel Hawaii (near Hilo) It's all about choices.
I have been doing some thinking (usually a dangerous activity) about fertilizing: comparing how my plants grow in the greenhouse or in pots VS how they grow out in the 'jungle' (here and where they are collected. I see the differences are:
In the wild they cling to their host with advanticious roots which become major root systems. In pots they generally have one set of roots doing all the work!!!
In the wild they really don't get fertilized except randomly by their friends, the ants or by birds dropping gifts on the leaves. In pots they are generally fertilized in the pot and that rootsystem has to distribute the nourishments to the whole plant.
In the wild the vines may find a lovely crotch in the host full of debris where they can suck up some good rotted organic stuff. In pots they, again, depend upon the main roots in the pot....
Sooooooooooo, when I ran out of the SMU fertilizer last year, I have been giving my potted plants dried chicken manure (like a heaping tablespoon onto a 4-5" pot) about 2 or 3 times a year and I have noticed a really good response. I have also been foliar feeding with - of all things - MiracleGro, about 2 or 3 times per year. I am going to try foliar feeding with Fish Fertilizer which is going to smell like hell for a bit but not long. The advantage of natural organic fertilizers is that the NPK will stay constant...commercial fertilizers (i.e. chemical ones) tend to flash off the nitrogen immediately.
Foliar feeding is easier than putting it in the pots...takes less time. In my growing conditions plants really don't go dormant... But with the lengthening of the daylight hours, they will start putting on a lot of growth.
I'm also going to experiment with 'layering' vines' in a pot vs. taking cuttings. I think it will work faster. I'm about to start on a revision in the Greenhouse to repot those needing it....and go an extra size up to make room for new roots from along the vines in the same pot.
I foliar feed alot. Particularly in summer, the plants are outside and sometimes when we are getting a lot of rain I really don't want to adding more water...so I foliar feed. I also fertilize with Fish emulsion, and use a concoction of Osmocote and Dynamite time release. They react differently to tempertures and moisture. Just a sprinkle in the pots to make up for the times I miss fertilizing. Oh, and I add Super Thrive to the mix every once in a while when foliar feeding. I always fertilize early in the day, especially if foliar feeding to make sure that the sun doesn't hit the plant while it's still wet or in the heat of the day.
I'm afraid mine get very irregular feeds..........and I feed them with whatever soluble feed is available in the nurseries here, and when I have the time. Mine still grow well. I also find that most of mine start to grow and flower when the daylight hours become shorter.........ie, between sep and march..which seems a bit strange, but there you go.
I think you're on to something here Carol. I remember one of your old threads, where a plant had grown out of it's basket, and had rooted everywhere else, and up a tree.
This is obviously the 'natural' way hoyas grow, with multiple root systems to seek out whatever water / food is available. If one root system dies - the plant doesn't, because it has other footholds.
I don't know about the fertilising - thats definitely something to experiment with, but looking at growing our plants more akin to 'natural' environments may hep us to maintain plants we may otherwise lose.
Oh, far too much brain activity for 7am - going for more caffeine!!
Do you think it would be useful, when a plant is grown on a hoops or frame, when the stem reaches the pot again, to pin it down so it roots into the growing medium again? I've layered and saved a few hoyas like this.....if the plant isnt doing that great, pinning growth back into the medium, where it layers itself , it grows much stronger growth from that point......re rooting again , but with the original roots intact..same as it would do growing up a tree?
In my experience, many hoyas, when allowed to have a free run, will attach themselves to rocks, wood..you name it...and these roots are WELL attached
Yes, thats exactly it Dom! I don't have the luxury of letting my hoyas run free - so I was thinking I might try using coir mat in supports like moss poles, and seeing if that was a more realistic growing environment.
Any fertiliser sprayed as a foliar feed would also water/feed the roots.
hmmm, going to have to give this some more thought.
I never found those growing poles much use, to be honest. In a house environment, they are difficult to moisten, and dry out immediately...Next time a vine grows round and is near the compost to grow up again, pin it into the growing medium and see what happens. Also, if a plant looses its roots for whatever reason, it has a spare set further up the vine then..albeit at ground level
I have a large H. carnosa...old...that routinely jumps out of it's pot and climbs the trees nearby...during the winter when we have a cold snap if it's too cold to cover it we have to take a dolly to cart it into the barn, I usually end up cutting of part of the vine then. I hate to do it but I don't want to risk losing the whole plant..
This idea tho of letting them "travel" as they would in nature was one of my thoughts on the post I made about mounting hoyas..
Here you can see it reaching out to the tree on the left..this pic was taken in the spring...by fall it will be up the tree...
I'll second what Dom said. Outstanding plant MJ I also think you are right on with pinning the vine down to the medium. I recently repotted my H. lambii and only by accident one of the vines was touching the surface of the medium and has attached roots to the surface. For the first time, in the four years I have kept the plant, it is finally growing really well.
Thanks guys....there's a story behind that plant. OH is a supervisor for a Tree company that contracts to the power company. He was walking power lines near the beach to determine work that needed to be done, and there was a vacant lot next to a house with an old swing set near the property line...he saw the hoya growing along the ground and up a tree. He followed it and it was growing out of a pot that had fallen off the swing set and it had traveled about 20 feet away from the pot. So he dug up some and brought it home....and that's how this obsession started. Over the years since, we've gotten and lost a few more here and there, but I was so busy with our farm that I didn't have time to really investigate them...now I'm getting a "little" better idea of how to grow them properly. I have to say tho, that plant is one of the easiest plants I've ever had...bar none.
It IS lovely MJ, the new red leaves look great with the pink flowers
Dom, I agree, moss poles are awful. I have ideas (need a 'lightbulb' icon), and have an email out to the Epiweb supplier over here, to see if they can do some stuff for me.
I do agree with layer/pinning down shoots - I have some MAJOR repotting to do - shallower pots, but wider, to facilitate this.
I really can't take a whole lot of credit for this plant growing like this....it's been very very easy...I think it just really likes living in Florida !
Name: Carol Noel Hawaii (near Hilo) It's all about choices.
I've followed this method and advocate it strongly: letting some of the vines root when they are on a trellis....good insurance and I think it makes for a healthier plant!!!
I've been re-checking some of my pots, and it's worse than I thought! Loads of them are so potbound, there hardly seems to be any substrate at all. I may have to restart a lot - but put them in the wider/shallower pots, and do it properly this time!
I love this cubit - you learn SO much from very knowledgeable people - thank you
hmmm, if I could get away with that I would. I actually think some of them are SO bad, I'll have to restart them. I've got most in tall pots (you can get more in that way ) - I would like to try wider, shallower ones. It could cost me a bomb!
I also think you are right on with pinning the vine down to the medium. I recently repotted my H. lambii and only by accident one of the vines was touching the surface of the medium and has attached roots to the surface. For the first time, in the four years I have kept the plant, it is finally growing really well.
