Growing conditions forum: Has anyone tried growng in Epiweb?
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| Epiweb is a man-made substitute for tree fern. Its a bit like ultra thick cooking pot scouring material. I am giving it a go as a last ditched effort to grow H serpens. One that has never done well for me. Has anyone had experience of using it? I'd love to know how you got on.. Also, silly question, but does anyone use clear plastic orchid pots for growing hoyas?  These are my trial epiweb pots, two sizes of hanging basket, and a couple of little pots.   ..and my rooted cutting of h serpens, growing in plain sphagnum. Fingers crossed. Julie |
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| That material really looks cool...should do fine!!! so the roots will grow thru it????? Careful they don't dry out too fast....rooted on trees hoyas dry out...but most of the areas where they grow like that are humid so you get the ambient moisture.... But I can tell you about H. serpens...at least I can tell you some tropical ways to kill it!!! I've killed that plant as many times as I have killed H. linearis... and I thought it would be easy....HA!  Leap. The net will appear. |
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| I see you're in the UK Julie. I had great success growing H serpens in Uk, but no luck here.I always grew it right next to the window where it got good light, but hardly any direct light. Good luck |
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Julie: That is very interesting material ... keep us posted on how your plants do in that! I received a cutting of H. serpens in a trade about four years ago. I stuck it in my terrarium where it grew (slowly) and seemed to be thriving. I read that it prefers cooler temp's so I took it out of the humid terrarium and potted it up ... where it pouted and quickly died!  I have on occasion used the clear plastic orchid pots for many plants. I currently have a Hoya carnosa 'Chelsea' in a clear orchid pot ... the only problem is the plastic is thin and the plant makes it top heavy so I have to keep the clear plastic pot inside a hanging basket or sturdier conainer for stability. I like the clear pots because they have larger drainage holes and also because I can see the root development, but I dislike them because they are thin plastic and always have to be inside a heavier pot to keep them from toppling!   |
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| Thanks for that Lin - very interesting. I wondered if hoyas (as epiphytes) photosynthesise (?) through their roots like some orchids do... I haven't got round to doing much research yet, and not being much of a botanist, find some of the terminology frustrating - as its difficult to look up every other word! Patience was never my best attribute  I have some reasonably sturdy clear pots, so was thinking of giving it a go. I may just do that now. As for the epiweb, I was going to wait a couple of weeks before posting some pictures of the *new* shoots appearing on my serpens. Bearing in mind this little *!*!*! hadn't moved in 2 years, grown a leaf, or even looked vaguely as if was enjoying it's life, I am amazed and delighted that simply changing to more favourable growing conditions has made such a rapid change. Will post some pictures soon. |
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| Julie: If the plastic orchid pots don't have large drainage holes in the bottom you can always add more to the bottom sides. And, if you want to use them as hanging baskets/pots you can poke or drill little holes @ 1 inch down from the rim/edge of the pot and thread fishing line or sturdy nylon cord through for hanging. Look forward to your pictures! |
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Great news, JulieK!  "When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other." - Chinese Proverb |
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| I've finally gotten round to taking those pictures I promised! Evidence of growth - yahoo   I also planted a tiny bit of curtisii..if you squint a bit, you can just see growth. This was the last bit of a cutting that I'd just about given up on :)  Laura - I'll let you know how it goes...after your frustration with curtisii! |
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 stupid beautiful Hoya!"When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other." - Chinese Proverb |
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| Julie...I'm suprised you're having difficulty with H serpens there. It was one that grew very well for me in the UK. Next time you have enough to experiment with....about 10 years by the look of it , try in in what I used to grow it.........and what my original Hoya supplier man grew it in 30 years ago, in a gritty catus type medium..........I just used to take it for granted....sat on the side of a window...Bright light, but no direct light......On and off wattering, and it grew like an idiot, and bloomed like a fool....Just lost my last bit over here tho.......just dosent like these conditions one bit no matter how I tried |
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| I've gone to growing H. curtisii in straight Sphagnum moss and am having much better success with it. I took all the bits and pieces I had that were barely hanging on in the top of the pot...mounted some and the rest laid in the top of some pots with sphagnum and they took off...  |
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| Looks like it's working MJ - lots of nice new leaves there! My curtisii has more than doubled in size this year. Sounds an awesome achievement, but I *just* managed to save the last inch or so of a cutting, so it's gone from about 5 leaves to 10+  |
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| It IS an awesome achievement Julie! It just as easily could have died, instead. Take the victory, even if it seems small.  "When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other." - Chinese Proverb |
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I'll take the victory if I keep it alive and well over winter!  |
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Sounds like me & curtisii!   "When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other." - Chinese Proverb |
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| Have you tried H linearis in Epiweb Julie? |
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| I've been looking around but so far not much luck finding a source for Epiweb here. Anyone know where to find in US ? |
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propmaker wrote:Have you tried H linearis in Epiweb Julie? No Don, I haven't. It seems quite happy in bark for me. I've really only used it for desperate cases! |
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