Fancy footwork.

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. 

Some indoor winners.

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.

Exodus.

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

 

Relax my beloved.

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.

----

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! 

This is a birthday post!

I usually wouldn't do this (and plan on doing so for the other much unless I remember the exact days I got them), but these two are very special.

They're my first houseplants, and they came into my possession exactly one year ago.

SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RUSSELL AND DIVA!!!!

About one year ago.

Today! (Diva has been looking like this for about a month or two. She wasn't looking good after she bloomed out. She is putting out new growth.)

Russell has been such an easy plant. He could use more sun, but hasn't dropped leaves en masse or pouted (even during the winter).

Diva. What can I say about Diva? She had such a long run blooming that when she started pouting, I had to save her. She's usually a 'throw away' plant, but I refuse to chuck her. No no, Diva keeps on growing. :)

 Happy 1st birthday, you two. I can't believe it's been a year! Here's to many more.

Ah, fall.

I love fall. Not only is it the season I was born during, but we finally get relief from the heat. Cool, crisp mornings...apple cider...pumpkins. HALLOWEEN. I can't not love fall.

I've been learning to neglect my plants more. Overwatering at this time where they are slowing down is not good...so I didn't water anything this time out. I did, however...

find a scale insect on my new H. buotii. Yikes! It's the first scale I have ever dealt with. I promptly took a plant label and pried it off. Then I sprayed with my water/dilute rubbing alcohol/dilute neem concoction. It's slightly separate from the others...I didn't find anything on anything else. Ugh.

Everything is already starting to slow down. Soon, they will come in. That should be interesting! My first winter with these plants.

Reminders.

Just some odds and ends.

Nematanthus albus 'Santa Theresa' bloomed! It smelled a little funny (sort of citrusy but deeper) and lasted about 2 days. But yay!

I just love new leaves. This is H. merrillii.

 

New leaves:

• H. var macrophylla
• H. clandestina
• H. mindorensis
• H. sp 910307