My first hoya (compacta).......dead

This was the hoya that started it all........from this hoya grew an obsession. I saw my first hoya flowers on this hoya compacta, and I will never forget the chocolate scent.

I have been having a lot of trouble with many of my plants lately, the past six months has proved to be quite challenging. I have no way of being able to pinpoint the problem, since there are so many factors involved: humidity is different, windows & sunlight are different, the heating of my house has changed (baseboard heaters now.....below each window, plants don't like that too much either), the windows are draftier.....etc. Add on the fact that I have let some of them go pretty dry, possibly too dry.


It could be root rot for all i know, but I am pretty confident that it isn't over watering, since i am a chronic underwaterer. Most of the plants that are dying or have died already, die the same way. Starting from the bottom and working its way down the stems, the leaves die and fall off. The stems go soft until the plant is pretty much dead. BUT.....in the end, the woody part of the plant becomes hollow inside, it doesn't seem to be rotting away. Root rot happens kind of like this, but it's also possible that it went too dry, and the roots are unable to nourish itself.

Luckily I have another hoya compacta, although this one was much nicer.

If anyone knows what is happening to my plants, please let me know......if you have advice, please share it........it's very discouraging watching my plants die.

I didn't know they existed........miniature vases

I had always thought it was a good idea......but I had no idea someone actually thought of it. For some time I have used small votive candle holders for smaller type flowers with short stems, or even for a small flower or two. But even then, a votive candle holder didn't always work.

Today, while browsing through quite a nice store with of the neater knick knacks of the world, I found these; one and a half inch miniature vases. The pic doesn't give these half the justice they deserve, but let me tell you, I went to buy one, and then thought, geez, I really should get two.

They really are the coolest little knick knacks I have seen for indoor plant fanatics in a long time. I have always wanted small mini vases, for say the odd African Violet flower you want to show off, or the odd short stemmed flower you want to pick outside. Not only are they a perfect size, but since they are vase like at the top, they keep the small flowers centered, and in a bouquet-esque bunch.

I am so happy to have found them, and I couldn't wait to show them off to people that would actually appreciate them.......the family I was with at the time, thought I was nuts, like they always do when I talk plants.

Back Pagoda & More Hoya Flowers & a Peduncle!

I love Spring & Summer so much, except for the bugs. Everything seems to bloom and flower, and there is always something so colorful to find and examine and admire.


To make a long story short (see here & here & here) the above pic is supposed to be an Aeschynanthus "Black Pagoda" hybrid. I am still a little hesitant, but it's still the coolest flower for miles around. It has no scent at all, but it doesn't need it at all, it completely steals the show.


I got a cutting of a hoya polyneura (fishtail hoya) in a recent hoya round robin. It has since rooted really well, and even looks like it might be growing 2 new peduncles!! To some it sounds weird....lol, but to a hoya nut, it's a PeDuNcLe!!! YAY!!


The above hoya lacunosa had some major temper tantrums over the past couple years involving bud blast (see here & here). Now that it has started to flower, it hasn't stopped. It keeps growing new peduncles and more and more are starting to actually make it to bloom. A couple days ago I counted eight open umbels of flowers. The smell still doesn't fill the room like I expected it too, but it is quite strong smelling reminiscent of lilacs. Which reminds me, I have a couple umbels of flowers open on my hoya carnosa; those flowers are very strong either, but those couple can fill my living room at times in the late evening.


This pic is a close up of the hoya lacunosa that is flowering right now. I hadn't realized until a little while ago looking at the pic, that one of the flowers hasn't quite finished opening in the pic, and kind of reminds me of my yellow heuschkeliana flowers.I still can't get a decent close up of these flowers yet.....I have read somewhere that white/light flowers are harder to photograph than others. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Purple Flowers Bloomin' in my House!

What a wonderful surprise I got today. I checked in on my Datura's, and one of the flowers was in the process of opening. And yay, because they are the double purple flowers I had hoped for. This might possibly be the most spectacular flower I have ever seen.



So from seed to flower, it only took approx 4 or 5 months, which is totally amazing to me. I can't wait to put these babies outside, and show them off to the whole neighborhood....lol. I have some double yellow datura seeds laid, so hopefully in a few months, I will have more. They are just amazing! And yes, there is a faint aroma from this one......it's a floral scent....lol, I can't really describe it much more than that, as I don't normally like floral smells. But this is faint, so I can appreciate it when I want to by sticking my nose in the flower.



So from the biggest flowers I have ever grown to one of the tiniest, here is a wee little bloom on my Ceropegia Woodii. These flowers are so intricate. The detail of such a small little flower is stunning to me.




I have been trying to catch this one bloom since Christmas (new cam). The hairs on this flower are supposed to trap small flies. Being able to see the flower this close gives it such a different perspective.

My New "Twig in a Pot" (Orchid)

It was bound to happen, I have no self control at all when it comes to plants. I am pretty cheap though, so that helps a bit. I have been eying Orchids for a couple months now, but the fact that they cost at least $25 turns me off a bit. They are quite stunning flowers, but because of the price, I had never even considered buying one.


Over the past week or so, I have noticed that the Orchids that have already bloomed (and now look like a "twig in a pot") are on clearance. At $12, I figured I should go ahead and get one, because it is very unlikely that I would ever pay full price for them. I don't care that it looks like a "twig in a pot" right now. It will eventually bloom (unless I kill it) and the color of the flowers will be a total surprise.


I tried to pick the best looking "twig in a pot" from the rack, and I found the one pictured below. Now I don't know too much about Orchids but it looks like this one might bloom in the near future. It was the only one that looked like this, and had that type of growth. The rest looked like "twigs in pot" with no visible growth.


Many people say that growing an Orchid can be a bit tricky. It needs a lot of humidity(50%-75%) and it needs bright, indirect light. They don't like to dry out, but they also don't like to be given too much water (roots will rot). Many keep their Orchids on a pebble tray, to encourage humidity around them (I run a humidifier, so I might not need the pebble tray). Orchids need cool night temps to induce flowering. This could be one of the tricky things when it comes to Orchids.

Tricky/challenging it might be, but that is part of the fun, and I want in on it. For 12$ I couldn't go wrong.

Caught a spider mite with my CAM!

SPIDER MITES!!

Well, I always wanted to see what these look like, other than their tell tale webs.......I finally got my chance.....lol. To the naked eye, any of what you see in this pic is a mere spec, other than the leaf veins.. I couldn't even say how much zoom was used, as it a combination of zoom & Photoshop (no editing was done to the pic, only resizing to blow up the pic).


Clicking on the image will bring up a bigger pic that you can see even more detail on.

Hoya Curtisii, Wandering Jew & Dream African Violets

Most of my plants that are in my windows have slowed in growth considerably, but the ones under lights have continued to grow. I had my small Hoya Curtisii cutting on the window sill but since it was doing nothing, I moved it under my lights. It has been under my lights for a couple weeks now, and since it was moved, it has begun to put on some new growth. Ever since my Hoya obsession has begun, I have been amazed with how the leaves grow. They emerge so tiny and grow until they reach their final size, unlike other plants where the leaf develops first, then emerges.


Even though many of my plants are looking kind of scraggly and leggy, I am still amazed at how my Wandering Jews pull through. They always provide color amongst the green. Looking at them earlier today, I noticed how they seem to just sparkle. I have a green Wandering Jew as well, although it doesn't sparkle like the purple one. These plants grow like weeds, and other than over watering them, they are virtually indestructible.


Again, here are some "in my dreams" flowers. If only someone could figure out how to genetically manipulate African Violets to create the ones that we can't seem to find.....like the bright yellows, greens and oranges. Over the past few years, yellow AV's have begun to show up, although they are quite light. Green ones have also begun to show up, and I must admit they are pretty cool looking. I had purchased a couple leaves from ebay that should have bloomed green, but they died quite quickly. Normallly I don't have a problem laying leaves from AV's, but I am guessing that since these are the only ones I have ever purchased, they were doomed from the start...lol.

Pothos........gotta love this one!!!

For as long as I can remember I had a plant that I thought was a heart leaf philo, even though they looked slightly different (. It wasn't until I actually gave a crap about my plants, and found my hidden hobby inside myself, that I realized this was a potho's.

"Marble Queen"

Now I am a Google junkie.....if I have a question I know Google will help me It was when I started researching potho's that I realized there were a few different types of this plant. Over time I found most of the cultivars, and I love having this plant in my house. My potho's have moved numerous times to new houses. I have taken countless cuttings from them to make more pots, for myself and others.

"Jade"

As far as I know there are a few different cultivars.....jade potho's (plain green), marble queen (white and green), golden (yellow and green, and neon (brighter yellow-ish/green). Of course I am sure there are more, but these are by far the most popular. There is another one I have called Scindapsus picta, that is showing up more lately.

"Golden"

I have a jade Potho's, a marble queen, a golden and the scindapsus. Out of all of these, my plain old jade potho's is my favorite. The one I have in my dining room is starting to take over, with some of the vines (2 I think) almost 8 feet long. It is indestructible. I am bad with watering so sometimes it has to lose a leaf or two for me to notice it. It still keeps growing strong.

"Scindapsus"

I read something a long time ago, that if these plants are let to climb rather than hang, their leaves are larger and can develop splits, just like a monstera deliciosa. Well I had to test this theory, so one of my jade potho's vines has been let to climb or rest on something, rather than hang. I had forgotten that I had done this, but I noticed today that the theory is true. In this pic, obviously the non hanging potho's is on the right.

Hanging vs Climbing

A potho's can flower too, check out a pic here. I have read that it has to reach around 40 feet (40 meters, I don't remember which one, and of course I can't find it again), so I do not anticipate this to happen anytime soon.

Comparison of (from left to right) Golden, Scindapsus, Jade & Marble Queen

I love this plant, I can't think of a more versatile plant or an easier plant to take care of. I love that I can drape the long vines around my plant corner. I love that no mater where I put it, it still grows. My marble queen potho's gets yellow-ish in lower light conditions, and even though it still looks nice, I prefer the white color on the leaves. I don't do much in the way of pruning, I just take cuttings as I need them. I have never had a problem with pests on my potho's. They really are the best plants ever. Everyone should have one.

Monstera Deliciosa, Schlums, KQ

My hubby loves Aroids, the more primal and jungle-y, the better. I have come to appreciate them, but they are not one of my favorite plants. We notices a leaf unfurling the other day and we noticed that this one had more splits in it then we have ever seen.It is just amazing how each plant can grow so uniquely. I hope the rest of the leaves on this plant continue to get more splits. I am very interested to see how large these can get. I have seen one that is humongous, the aerial roots on it must be ten feet in some places. It really is a sight to see.
I don't know a lot about Schlum's and their growth tendencies but boy am I mad at them....lol. This is the first time I have ever grown them but since bringing them home from the store they have dropped all their buds. A few large buds opened for me at home, but the rest........gone.....what else is new? I know they need either darkness or cold to bloom, but I am still wondering if they will produce new buds as we only have about 10 hours of sunlight here right now. Obviously they are not focusing on buds right now as they are all putting on new segment growth.I don't really have a lot to say about my Hoya Krimson queen, but I just love the foliage especially the pink/white leaves and I had to take a pic.

Space Violet & Pink Princess Philodendron

So I found a space violet at a local greenhouse a couple months ago. Of course I had to have just one. So I picked one up and brought it home. I did not want to re pot it since I figured it was from a decent greenhouse, so it must be okay. Again, my ignorance got the best of me. I have only watered it once since I got, so it obviously is not drying out too well. Then, last week I noticed the leaves were looking wilted. When I touched them, they fell off, they were rotting from the bast of the plant. I didn't want to do it, but it had to be re potted, cut down and *sniff* dis budded. Today it still seems to be slightly wilted, but I am hoping over the next week or so for it to perk up.I decided that one of my plants deserves an award. The "Slowest Growing Ever" Plant. And the award goes to my Pink Princess Philodendron. I have never seen a plant that does so little in my life. I got this early this past summer, at first I kept it inside, but seeing that it did nothing, I put it outside. Well the sun scorched it a bit, and it still didn't grow any. I think in the time I have had it it has put on two new leaves......one per plant as I have 2 plants in the single pot. I am wondering maybe if I should re pot it, because it too is in a mix from the same greenhouse, so maybe an airier mix might help. I also have it under fluorescent lights in my living room to give it a little push. Even though this is a beautiful plant with really lovely foliage, it is so freakin' slow growing that I just want to throw it...lol.

Monstera Obliqua, mini AV, mix and......winter : (

Winter is once again here; the snow is here to stay. It gets pretty cold in this house, and my windows ice over when it gets really cold. So as I am looking at my hoya's the other day, I noticed some new growth on a cutting I had, and noticed it's backdrop was a sheet of ice. It was a pretty neat thing to see.
A few months ago I got a cutting of a Monstera Obliqua. This reminds me of a heart leaf philodendron, but with splits in the leaves. This is not to be confused the Monstera deliciosa, which is a kind of like a giant version of the obliqua.I started the cutting ( 4-5 nodes, 2 leaves) in water and it started to root. Then it fell out of it's glass, and the root dried up. Take 2. Again I put the cutting in water and put it high up on my cupboards, again it started to root. And again it somehow fell out and the root dried up. Take 3. I gave up on the water rooting since it was jinxed from the start. It did have the little white callouses that sometimes become roots, so I was optimistic. Well it has finally rooted quite well, and even put on a couple new leaves. This plant had a rough start so I thought it deserves to be mentioned.The next thing I want to write about is the mix I use for most of my plants. I have noticed over time that my mix has changed and ratio's have changed.I prefer not to use peat at all because I have an under watering problem and I find it to hard to re wet. In it's place I use coir that is low in sodium content. I also use perlite and lots of it. Lately I have been using Orchid bark as well. I still have some plants that are in very heavy peat mixes mixed with perlite and vermiculite, but over time I am noticing they are not drying out as well, and some have started to rot. They have compacted quite badly and it has only been about a year for them. So here is a pic of the basic mix I use that I mentioned above. Depending on the plants needs, I adjust ingredients slightly, but not too much, and nothing other than what I mentioned.And last but not least I wanted to capture this little cutie while it bloomed. It is a NOID Mini AV. It is in a one inch pot, much like a Dixie cup, that will give an idea as to how small this one is.

Pointsettia & Crown of Thorns Blooming!

I have never really paid any attention whatsoever to Pointsettia's and I want to emphasize this. I knew what they were, but that was about all. Pft.....I thought people bought them for the flowers.........how ignorant I can be....lol. The foliage turns color once day hours are cut back, and I must say the foliage is stunning! I remember the big red and green point's you see at everyone's home around Christmastime, but I had no idea there were cultivars. There are purple ones, white ones, pink ones, and multi colored points. I guess they still get flowers, mine has little buds, but they are not what the plant is grown for. Well, needless to say, I had to get just one, I admit they still don't peak my interest as much as my hoyas, but I had to try. I have no idea if it will last until next season but hopefully I keep learning, and I will be writing about next year. Here's the pic.One of my constant bloomers is my Crown of Thorns....Euphorbia milli. Again this isn't a plant I had a lot of interest in, but I had to have just one, because I do like them. I bought them out of bloom because they were cheap and split them up. Both pots sat in South windows, but the one upstairs was slower at flowering......possibly because that would have been the pot I transplanted to. But since it started blooming, it has not stopped either. It is a cute little plant. It seem to lose it lower leaves quite regularly, but it continues to grow upwards. Since getting it early in the summer, it has put on at least four inches, and will probably have to be cut back in the spring.

And last but not least I am glad to see that my hoyas and gessies are still continuing to grow even though we are getting about 10 hours of light a day right now......I have had the lights set up since late summer. I hope all my plants can keep me going through the cold winter.