| Author | Content |
critterologist
Frederick, MD (Zone 6b)
March 1, 2009 4:45 PM Post #6206387
| Thanks for a very informative article with wonderful photos! I've got a couple of smaller hoyas coming along, and I can't wait to see them bloom... but in the meantime, I'm enjoying their foliage as you said.
I felt very sheepish reading, "They will bloom from the same umbel forever so it is wise to never dead-head your hoya." Uh oh. I have one hoya that blooms on occasion, and I've been deadheading the poor thing! Thank you. I will never pluck off a spent umbel again. |
threegardeners
North Augusta, ON
March 1, 2009 4:52 PM Post #6206422
| Thank you for pointing out a mistake on my part. I meant to type "they bloom from the same peduncle" I better fix that!!
I always let the flowers fall off naturally, just so I don't accidentally break the peduncle. |
critterologist
Frederick, MD (Zone 6b)
March 1, 2009 4:59 PM Post #6206457
| Ah, so if I've just gently crumbled away the spent bloom, I might be OK? You should have heard the "gaak!" I made when I read that. Scared the cat off my lap.
I think I might need to make my way over to the hoya forum and actually learn about them... :-) |
critterologist
Frederick, MD (Zone 6b)
March 2, 2009 1:55 AM Post #6208720
| OK, I'm squinting at my hoya, where a new bloom is just budding out... what part is the "peduncle?" Is it the little knobby bit at the end of the stem where the flower stalklets of the "umbel" are branching out from? |
threegardeners
North Augusta, ON
March 2, 2009 2:00 AM Post #6208735
| Yes. The umbel forms out of the peduncle. Lemme go take some pics. |
threegardeners
North Augusta, ON
March 2, 2009 2:09 AM Post #6208775
| This is a lousy photo, but, you see the long peduncle? The "stem-like" thing in its entirety is a peduncle. This Hoya has bloomed many times and you can see the "layers" where umbels have formed, bloomed and the flowers fallen off of it. The end will get longer as the Hoya gets older and blooms more. When it's ready to bloom again, an umbel will form at the tip of this peduncle. Did that help at all? 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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critterologist
Frederick, MD (Zone 6b)
March 2, 2009 2:11 AM Post #6208784
| OK! If I know it's that tiny knobby bit, I'm good to go. I'm just going to let the spent blooms drop on their own from now on. LOL
I've been debating whether to move mine into a larger pot (it's in a 6 inch hanging basket at present), but it's doing so well I've concluded it likes being rootbound, and I'm scared to rock its happy hoya world. :-) |
critterologist
Frederick, MD (Zone 6b)
March 2, 2009 2:13 AM Post #6208794
| cross posted!
That photo helps a lot! Most of my blooms have been at the end of a newly forming stem, so there's no separate peduncle... just a long, leafless stem going between the bloom and the pot. Later, the stem gets foliage along it. Sure looks weird when it's bare and snaking 3 feet out from the pot in some random direction! |
critterologist
Frederick, MD (Zone 6b)
March 2, 2009 2:14 AM Post #6208796
| Thank you for your help! I appreciate your patience. You're an excellent enabler! |
threegardeners
North Augusta, ON
March 2, 2009 2:14 AM Post #6208797
| I've got an H. carnosa that's been in a 6 inch pot for 25 years. Grows like a weed. |
threegardeners
North Augusta, ON
March 2, 2009 2:14 AM Post #6208798
| hehe...glad I could help!! |
critterologist
Frederick, MD (Zone 6b)
March 2, 2009 2:37 AM Post #6208917
| One last question... Eliot kitty tends to chomp plants, some more than others. I've been keeping the hoya up very high, out of his reach... but it's getting longer. Is this a plant I should be concerned about with him? If so, I'll put a hoop in the pot or something to wind the vines around a bit.
Thanks! |
threegardeners
North Augusta, ON
March 2, 2009 2:42 AM Post #6208942
| I checked out Hoyas ages ago when my kitties were kittens. I found 5 or 6 sites that listed Hoya as non-toxic. |
critterologist
Frederick, MD (Zone 6b)
March 2, 2009 3:17 AM Post #6209078
| I figured you'd be all over that. Thank you for the reassurance!
(But if Eliot nibbles that flower, he's in big trouble LOL) |
threegardeners
North Augusta, ON
March 2, 2009 3:23 AM Post #6209111
| LOL
My cats (7 of them) were in a window last winter chasing snowflakes as they floated by and broke all of the lower peduncles off of my H. carnosa. Whaddya do? Had to laugh, they were so cute!! |
critterologist
Frederick, MD (Zone 6b)
March 2, 2009 3:51 AM Post #6209221
| And it's a durned good thing they're cute, too! |
