Saturday, October 27, 2012

The aquarium plants!

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More than a month later, lets take a look at the plants that have had a plum life in the rooting aquarium.

My first successfully rooted H. macgillivrayi. I don't know what IML this Hoyas is, and I guess I will have to wait until it blooms.
H. surigaoensis. I didn't think I'd love this one as much as I do now. It rooted lightning fast and has those big leaves I love so much.

And it's growing new leaves!


Its root system.

H. var macrophylla Hasn't grown much since I've gotten it. Those two new stems are about it, and even those died back when I brought them in. No fear, because they're growing back with new stems!

The H. macgillivrayi that I got from CB. It's finally rooting. The tank helped a lot!

It's so pretty.

H. cv Pinkie! This was one I wasn't necessarily looking forward to growing...then I found out it was H. subcalva x H. australis, and I have always wanted an H. subcalva. Rooted without incident and I like the leaves. No new growth yet.

Its root system. I think the mix has been really successful in the humid environment and encouraged the roots to really seek out new areas of the cup.

This is the H. limoniaca piece that broke off. It hasn't filled the pot yet but has those white, fuzzy roots coming in. It won't be long!

H. latifolia. Lots of roots and several points where I think new growth can start, but none yet.
Tschuss!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Are you afraid of the dark?

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Just popping my head in to wish safety for my fellow east coasters this weekend. It might be nothing, but you really never know. Stay safe!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The Wretched.

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I have some sort of virus again. I am miserable. I had to call out of work today because I couldn't resist puking if I moved. Ugh. Thank god it waited until today and it didn't come yesterday.

My boyfriend is extremely sweet and brought me dinner and kit-kats, which I have been craving all day. I am pretty sure I will pay for eating tonight or tomorrow morning.

I have been very lazy with watering the plants. I am pretty sure since Tovah is the only type of T. zebrina I cannot root, she is going to be a casuality over the winter. I have taken a bag of Hoyas and let them have some air. There is a plant light right above them so I hope they dry out. PLEASE dry out. I have been waffling over the risk of infecting my indoor plants and keeping them too wet. I don't want root rot, even though I can probably easily re-root most of them.

When I am feeling better, I hope to get some photos.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

I guess it was inevitable.

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Most of my succulents died in the transition. Hated being moist. Lesson learned for next year.

Otherwise, I've cleaned the windows and now some of the plants have returned to a prime growing spot.

Tomorrow is the audit, so afterward I should be back to normal until the next one.

Bye!

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Fancy footwork.

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I guess the stress from work is making me more apt to update this thing.

I've just finished assessing the indoor plants. I find that with all of my plants inside, I can do a 2 day back-to-back check and watering schedule. That leaves 5 free days! Most of them don't need water every week now that it's cooled down a bit.

The bad (lets do this first from now on):

H. buotii dropped a leaf, and that leaf had a scale insect on it. I think it got killed with the sprays I did before bringing it in, because none of the other plants in the bag with it showed any signs of stress or infestation. It was small, not yet bulbous and came off easily. It's trashed and was quickly disposed of.

H. elliptica bit the dust. Even in the rooting tank, it just hated life and decided to exit. I was surprised by its quick downward spiral. It rooted quickly and looked strong...then it didn't. I hear it's a hard Hoya to grow and have thrive, so at least I know it wasn't the simplest Hoya in the world and I just suck at raising Hoyas.

H. fungi (broad form) is dead. Dead. Dead. :( Its swan song was also quick and unexpected. At least I think I can get another next season.

The good:

Coral bloomed! Yes, it was one...but she hasn't bloomed for me since I got her in March. Yay! I missed her bright blooms.
:D! I knew she could do it.

Just a fraction of the outside plants.


Another fraction. All Hoyas! From top left going clockwise ending in the middle: Hoya buotii, cumingiana, macgillivrayi, pottsii sp. Chiang Mai, clandestina, sp. Tanna Island, mindorensis, and sp. 910307.


The best:


Green = rooting/rooted
Red = doing horribly/dead
Black = in rooting limbo (what what what are you doing?)



Hoya CV pinkie
Hoya fungii
Hoya latifolia
Hoya macgillivrayi                           !!!!
Hoya EG00807
I am so excited! All of them have healthy root systems! Nice, big white roots. They'll stay in there a few more weeks. I cleaned out the aquarium, put fresh water on the bottom and reworked the trays so that I can fit 7 full plants in there instead of 5. 
From Joni (mystery bundle): 

H. elliptica EPC-641
H. leytensis IML-1287
H. cv 'Mathilde' IML/SRQ-3075
H. lacunosa 'Thai Clone' IML/SRQ-3047
H. pubicalyx 'Red Buttons'IML-0268
H. limoniaca IML-0092
H. myrmecopa IML-1375

From Ebay:

H. lobbii (red flowers)
H. fischeriana (bonus)
H. macgillivrayi IML-015 (bonus)
H. fungi typical form
H. fungi broad form
H. multiflora IML-153 (2)
H. mindorensis IML-1776
H. villosa IML-1663 (?) 
I'm getting better at rooting them. :) Until next time. 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Some indoor winners.

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Remember this one? It's a Rhipsalis rhombea. Shot 5/2/12.
This is it today, 10/9/12. WOW. I always marvel at it as it hangs near my bed. It just keeps on growing and growing even though I am a chronic underwaterer when it comes to the hanging plants. Something about not being easily reachable...

Remember him? It's a Senecio radicans, or 'String of Bananas'.


This one grew at a decent rate...then around late July it went bananas and now it encroaches upon Sammy's space on the bathroom windowsill. I'm just waiting for the right side to start coming down so it looks more even.

On a not-so-nice note, I found a mealie on one of my Hoya cuttings. It came from outside so maybe I missed it during the sprays. Also, H. limoniaca broke in half. So I will start another cutting of it. Work is never done.

I am concerned with how wet the plants from outside still are. I'm using my fan to blow air on them...lets hope that averts some disaster. PLEASE NO MEALIES THIS WINTER. PLEASE.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Exodus.

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Hey, ya'll. Things have been busy. We are in the midst of YET ANOTHER audit at work, and I've been moving the plants inside. I spent all day today taking in 80% of the plants, as tonight's low is in the low 40s.

Sign #45034948349 that you have too many plants: a plant blooms and you don't notice until they're bloomed out or you take them down to water.

Buster the Pilea depressa blessed me with blooms. This is funny because this plant hates me.


The whole plant.

Some of the plants that

More. They will come out for drying and integration in the coming weeks.

My rooting tank is working very well. I have to keep an eye out for fungus, but they're rooting super fast.

See? Just one of many huge aerial roots.
I dunked them in water before bringing them in and then showered them with a dilute solution of neem in water. I got a couple of hitchhikers (slugs!) but I haven't seen any others. They'll stay in the bags for a few weeks.

I didn't need the aquarium heater after all! Saves me some money. I need a few more CFLs to supplement light for the outside plants. That can wait for a little bit.

I am planning on doing an awards posts for the outdoor plants. I figured it would be fun since I will have all of them inside until April or May. Until then! (List is below because it messes up the font for anything typed afterward.)







Green = rooting/rooted
Red = doing horribly/dead
Black = in rooting limbo (what what what are you doing?)


Hoya CV pinkie
Hoya fungii
Hoya latifolia
Hoya macgillivrayi
Hoya EG00807
 

Monday, October 1, 2012

Relax my beloved.

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Here's the aquarium Hoyas, currently rooting. Same color system goes for this batch.

Green = rooting/rooted
Red = doing horribly/dead
Black = in rooting limbo (what what what are you doing?)

Hoya CV pinkie
Hoya fungii
Hoya latifolia
Hoya macgillivrayi
Hoya EG00807

I'm pretty sure one of these in Hoya limbo are rooting, but I don't remember. I was busy trellising them with a new material. I bought garden wire at Lowe's that's coated but pliable. Much better than the bamboo skewers, which rot/attract fungus and are cheaper than buying individually made trellises. I will take a picture of them next time they come out.

Here's the rest of the rooting bunch (outside):

From Joni (mystery bundle): 

H. elliptica EPC-641 (it has suffered a setback, probably due to the sudden drop in night time temps. I lost two leaves and its roots started dying back. It's currently in the rooting aquarium with new rooting hormone on the stem. Let's hope it survives.)
H. leytensis IML-1287
H. cv 'Mathilde' IML/SRQ-3075 (This one seems to hate me. The stem died back and now I'm hoping its aerial roots form another root ball. We'll see.)
H. lacunosa 'Thai Clone' IML/SRQ-3047
H. pubicalyx 'Red Buttons'IML-0268
H. limoniaca IML-0092
H. myrmecopa IML-1375

From Ebay:

H. lobbii (red flowers)
H. fischeriana (bonus) (I just recently repotted AGAIN. it has a root system but I think it suffered much the same that elliptica did. Some of the roots rotted because the soil became cold and did not dry, even though I haven't watered it in a week or so. I made the mix really chunky so hopefully it won't die back.)
H. macgillivrayi IML-015 (bonus) (This one surprised me. It has no roots and it has been here over a month! It looks great for having no roots. Re-powdered, re-potted and put back outside.)
H. fungi typical form
H. fungi broad form (*sigh* This one is the same as macgillivrayi. I put it in the rooting aquarium and it is growing aerial roots above soil...just not below the soil. -_-)
H. multiflora IML-153 (2)
H. mindorensis IML-1776
H. villosa IML-1663 (?)

I am trellising H. villosa today because the poor thing is just bending over. The stake is too short! 

I'm finding that rooting them isn't necessarily the most difficult part. It's the part after that's dangerous! The aquarium Hoyas are going to stay in the until they have roots I can see through the cups. The ones outside will be bathed and sprayed before coming inside. They'll stay wrapped so they don't freak out by the relatively low levels of light inside.

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Coral is so ready to bloom. She hasn't bloomed for me since I got her in March. Excitement! I am so happy she pulled through after the re-pot. Go baby, go! 

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I'm feeling sick today so I took the say off. I've been sleeping and should be cleaning. Rest comes first...I have to learn to do that more. I tell my clients to do that all the time and I can't follow my own advice. Heh. 

That's it for now. The plants should be coming in Saturday, as the low for that day is 46*F. Bye! 
 
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