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First I will apologize for the terrible quality of the pic....was in a hurry as I had somewhere to be...
My neighbor brought me a cutting...Very cute ! But what is it? And there are buds on it...but who could turn down such a cute little variegated start like this !
It's H. bella. It's the variegated variety that I killed some time ago! I will try again one day. Good luck with it, it requires more moisture and does't like to dry out much, but I think I drowned mine!
prop...she I'm sure doesn't do anything particularly special. When she was given the cutting she just brought it home and stuck it in plain ole potting soil.
She has it growing on her porch...just need to ask if it's the front or back porch...front faces east, no screen, back faces west and is screened in.
Name: Carol Noel Hawaii (near Hilo) It's all about choices.
I once had a beeeeeUtiful H. bella hanging from a tree...it was HUGE. I became scared I would lose it so I started taking cuttings....and lost the plant and the cuttings croaked.
So...for years I have been killing them. Suddently, I saw a large basket of them, bought it, hung it from a tree and have totally ignored it (OK, I looked at it twice...) ... it is thriving, growing and about to bloom. Sometimes, I just don't get it.
Bella's are strange for sure....I have a small regular green bella outside that does fine and is in the bud stage. I also have a larger varigated bella that has to stay inside in the a/c where it is now blooming...put it outside and it declines. And as long as I ignore them except to water them they do fine
Flowers leave some of their fragrance in the hand that bestows them.
- Chinese proverb
I've found that Miss bella doesn't like to be moved. And she gets really annoyed when I drop her....died actually, so had to get more cuttings to start over; little thing's growing like a dickens now, but I'm terrified to breathe around it.
Name: Carol Noel Hawaii (near Hilo) It's all about choices.
I hear you!!! The bella I bought at a market and hung in a tree...I dare not even LOOK at it. But I did peek the other day...I have a bunch of buds. OH...save my heart...a BELLA. She is really a b***# in my book..
In my propagator more than out of it..........6 more newly rooted pots full just out.......Will be back in my Autumn.
I do have one that's been in a corner for 4 years now....dosent grow much, but I get a few flowers each year from that one, but the rest I try and grow.......painful.
I bought a H bella variagata from a vivero in Gran Canaria a few years back. It was just in plain soil....very claggy, but they had several very large plants growing the same way. They probably had propagated from a plant themselves...They were, however, very wet and very healthy. Grew fine for about 6 months, then I, knowing better.ha ha....knocked all the heavy soil off and repotted in something a lot lighter. Big mistake...soon went into decline, and I only now have a few bits I managed to root.
I have managed to keep H linearis alive for over 2 years now growing it just in Spaghnum tho. The odd bit has rotted at the base, but so far so good. Tried tthe same with H bella...........nah.....can be a finicky little b,***@d
I've been able to root the varigated bella in spagnum and share it with others who for the lifes of themselves cannot root it. I don't understand why I can myself.....do agree it's a b!**#.
I've got linearis too.....keep it in the house too, had some breakage when it arrived and potted it up and have a smaller pot now doing just as well.
Flowers leave some of their fragrance in the hand that bestows them.
- Chinese proverb
Ok...finally got down to talk to my neighbor that gave me the cutting. She grows it on her front porch, sorta back underneath. It gets a little direct EARLY morning sun more or less depending on the time of year ( sun high or low) It stays out there unless we are going to have temps below 45º or so. Waters it whenever she waters everything else. Saucerless pot. I didn't think to ask about fertilizer but I doubt she uses anything special. When I mentioned to her that I had read where it could be difficult she said " If I haven't killed it - it can't be that hard" which is kinda what I thought as though she does grow alot of stuff she most definitely doesn't run around with specific fertilizers etc for all the different plants. She got her cutting from her mom's plant...don't know where she got it, stuck it in the pot on the front porch, watered it and it's doing fine.
So as soon as the roots fill out the little pot it's in it's going in a basket to live on the "Hoya Swing Sets" with the others. There's two swing sets, each gets a little different light at different times of the day.
mjsponies wrote:First I will apologize for the terrible quality of the pic....was in a hurry as I had somewhere to be...
My neighbor brought me a cutting...Very cute ! But what is it? And there are buds on it...but who could turn down such a cute little variegated start like this !
MJ your variegated Bella is gorgeous!!! What a nice neighbour to share!!
Name: Carol Noel Hawaii (near Hilo) It's all about choices.
MJ....did it live?
My plant has lived thru the 60+ days of solid rains, cold...then 4 weeks no rain and now MORE than 4 weeks of rain. I pay NO attention to it...it lives! It's huge. Go figger!
Oh my gosh Yes it has lived and it's gotten huge, branched and put out new shoots from the base. This thing grows like a weed ! It's even been putting on new growth all winter and it's lived either outside or in the greenhouse if it's been cold. My neighbor says her's blooms mostly in spring, so I'm expecting blooms then.
which is kinda what I thought as though she does grow alot of stuff she most definitely doesn't run around with specific fertilizers etc for all the different plants. She got her cutting from her mom's plant...don't know where she got it, stuck it in the pot on the front porch, watered it and it's doing fine. 
