Questions from a Hoya newbie

[hongrui]

I was recently given some hoyas cuttings and i need some help.

what i can use as a potting mix for them? i have the following at my disposal for use:

1. peat
2. perlite
3. charcoal chunks
4. pine bark chips
5. coconut husk chips
6. compost/soil
7. burnt earth

what is the recommended mix i should use?

can i root them in the potting mix or do i need to root them in another media and transplant after they have rooted?

how long approximately do they take to root?
(please forgive my noobness, i rarely venture out of CPs) ;D

[shawnintland]

Hi Hongrui,

No expert here, but I have rooted a lot of them over the years now. Lately I have been rooting mine in 5" tall, 1 1/2" diameter black plastic tubes in pure sphagnum.


I find it best to let the cuts scab over (1-2 days in the shade, a bit like plumeria) before putting into the media. I also find that for the most part, keep them fairly dry. Too much water and they rot, just a very light mist onto the top of the sphagnum every other day. Mine have been rooting up in about 1 month. Every now and then I root one in a plastic cup (at the same time as I do a batch in the tubes) so I can see the rooting progress. I have also rooted them up in pots of coco fiber cubes (about 1" squares) and also sometimes just split some coco husk with a knife and just plug the cuttings in. It's quite important that they not get 'jostled around' much while rooting so put them out of the way. Really rare varieties are sometimes best "bagged" like a nep for a few weeks to keep the humidity up and keep them from drying out, but again, be careful not to have the media too moist.

I have also been trying a new method by making tubes out of black plastic webbing material, stuffing them full of leaf compost/coco/etc and cutting little slots to plant through. Best to use a pencil to open up the media, then push the cutting in;


The idea with these is that once well rooted, I will be able to just tie the whole thing up into a tree crotch with fishing line and let it just grow in.

Some people use straight water to root, but I never have so can't tell you how it works. I have however just put cuttings into a giant sized zip-loc baggie with a tiny bit of mist, closed them up and just waited fro roots to form...again, about a month. Some varieties are harder than others but generally it's pretty easy.

I'd say that from your list of materials almost everything will work but be careful with the pure soil (a bit like neps).

OK hongrui, good luck!

PS the only hoya I can think of that doesn't fit the above is the one I sent the seeds out for people; Cyrtoceras floribundum, which loves to grow directly in dirt.

[hongrui]

okay, then i'll probably use the peat/perlite/charcoal chunks/pine bark chips mix that i'm most familiar with. will keep the cuttings drier and hope they'll strike.

Thanks Shawn!