Oops. I guess I can't figure out how to include a survey on GW anymore.

This is what I tried to say above:

So, I've been struggling lately with the question of whether certain Hoyas that I've had bad luck with shipping, rooting, or growing... are worth the stress and drama of trying again. I mean, sometimes don't you wish that everything on your shelves was as tough as... pallilimba (bless you, pallilimba!)

So, have you outlawed any Hoyas? If so, what have your experiences been? And what, in contrast, is a plant that is always nice to you?

If you want to vote even without a cool survey, here are your options:

Do you ever give up on specific Hoya species?

OFTEN - If it doesn't like me, I'm not going to fight it.
SOMETIMES - I have a short blacklist, but I'll give plants a few tries before giving up.
RARELY - I'm taking a breather on a few, but I might be persuaded to try again.
NEVER - This thread just makes me want to try some of those challenges again!

Great survey GG, even if it is only a pseudo one! I will vote SOMETIMES - I have a short blacklist, but I'll give a plant a few tries before giving up. While they are supposed to be some of the easiest Hoyas to grow, I personally have never had any luck with H. australis or any of its clones. I suppose if someone gave me a nice plant, I would attempt it, but I would never order it again. I would also throw in Hoya sp. Kunming Kina, which I fooled around with unsuccessfully for years, and it felt really good to throw that one on the compost heap!

Doug

I'm so relieved! When I saw the post I first thought you were thinking of giving up ALL Hoyas, GG! Gave me a scare there, you did! LOL

That being said, I'll have to answer with: RARELY - I'm taking a breather on a few, but I might be persuaded to try again. H. polystachya is giving me a hard time, but I've only bought rooted cuttings. Next time I'll try to get hold of an unrooted cutting and root it myself!

Haha. I love how I totally screwed up the formatting of this thread. Forgive me, GW!

I think I'm in the RARELY category too. I will probably eventually climb into the SOMETIMES category, but for now I haven't been growing long enough to reliably tell whether I've lost a plant because it's difficult or because I am still learning things that will help me in future.

Doug, I have to say, I'm going to treasure that quote "It felt really good to throw that one on the compost heap!" I know just how you feel, and it's reassuring to hear the words come out of the mouth of a great grower like yourself. There are these books written by Evan Harris about quitting that I discovered via This American Life Episode 7. Here is a quote from her:
The more things you quit the more things you're gonna do and the more things you do the more potential you have for success.

I think sometimes we hate to be quitters, and it's true that there is another side to the quit. When you stop fighting with one plant, you open yourself up to having more time to spend on other plants... new plant experiences. I think there are enough Hoyas in the world that we will always have 100 to replace the one that became a drudgery. And, you know, often that plant is way happier with someone else, so who exactly are we helping by obsessing about it?

This sounds strange, but I'm getting close to giving up on macgillivrayi. There's no clear reason why I keep losing this plant, but I do and it's annoying. Archiboldiana and onychoides grow fine for me, but even macgillivrayi crosses die on me. WHY!?!

I also have a hard time keeping retusa alive. It will grow super well for a while, and then I'll under-water it. I have survived lately by just taking a lot of cuttings of it when it's flourishing, so I have backups, but I'd like to just shift it to semi-hydro so I can quit worrying.

Some difficult fights that I might have won? Hoya paulshirleyii, deykae, and mindorensis (yellow form). These seem to have been a matter of getting the right cutting, knock on wood.

I used to think kunming kina was easy, but it threw me through a loop this winter, so I'll keep my mouth shut for now...

@ Klea

Haha. I had no awareness of how that would come off when I first wrote it, but every time I come back into the forum and look at it, that's what I think, too! Nope! Never giving up Hoyas! When I'm an old old lady I'll at least have a javanica in my room.

I love you American Life Quote GG! kunming kina had grown well for me on a number of occasions as well, but then would always inexplicably go into an irreversible decline. Sometimes it is just not worth the aggravation. H. retusa always does great for me in the summer greenhouse, but then it is a struggle the rest of the year to keep it alive. I don't know if it is worth it, or not.

It is funny what you said about javanica, it was one of the first Hoyas that I kept; it bloomed continually, and I wondered why everyone in the world didn't keep this plant. I simply took it for granted, and then almost lost it myself. It is just a happy plant, that does not want to be unappreciated.

Glad you liked the quote! I have a lot of trouble letting things go, so I find Evan Harris a very helpful philosopher.

I love your description of javanica as "just a happy plant that does not want to be unappreciated." Sometimes I want to be the Johnny Appleseed of Hoyas, propagate a million javanicas, and just hand them out on the street. I'm glad mine gave me a well-deserved kick in the butt this winter.

Yeah... those are the sneakiest Hoyas - the ones that grow so aggressively and beautifully that you're off your guard when the tides turn. At least with perpetually nervous plants, you already have your eye on them.

I think I'll go with a hybrid of sometimes and rarely.

I'm quite skeptic of "Gunung Gaiding". My plant keeled over to pursue a new career in hoya heaven, in as short as two weeks. I guess that is a record of sorts in my book.

But I know it will end up somewhere in my mental rolodex, hibernating. Later on the index will go into a spin and land in the category of the lost and forgotten and I'll give it, and others another go.

I guess I always order something new the next time, never a replacement in the following shipment.

Something that amuses me as i flip through the pages of "Hoya: 200 verschiedene Wachsblumen", "The Genus Hoya", "Stemma" or just ending up somewhere on the web, is "why didn't I order this or that hoya last time. It's funny how the eye want's something new.

I don't know if it is the sheer number of hoyas that makes me happy. A plant that respondes well to the care you give, is very rewarding. But it's also nice that you get to learn and evolve. To build ones knowledge and hopefully just make the same mistake once or twice, and to get to know what works and what doesn't.

Then there's all these different life forms in the soil and on the plants to consider. I never knew that there was so much to know about mites. For instance, who's beneficial and who's a pest.

And finally GG, thanks for bringing me out of the shadows and "into the light" with your "hypoaspis".

Former lurker Kami

GG,
correct answer is Rarely, but it may change very soon!
I'm ready to ditch all eriostemas I own. I live in Miami, they should be happy, not a case! Had them growing in soil as Joni sent it, took cuttings when out of the blue roots died, started over until next crisis. Transferred into semi hydro; got 2-3 feet of growth, then sudden death again and again and again. Always roots going bad... Now just potted bunch of rooted cuttings all together in one pot, back to chunky mix, don't know who is who anymore and don't care! If they choose to go to hoya heaven, there is my blessing! :p
There is plenty of Hoyas I can grow and enjoy it, no more stressing over suicidal eriostemas! :o)

Well, I discovered last night that my survey magically works when you're logged out. LOL That's sure helpful... >_>'

@ Kami

Well, I for one, am ecstatic you're a contributor now. :)

It's funny you mention being predisposed to try something new every time you order. I was just looking through a catalog the other day and realizing that I gravitate toward the same plants over and over again, even if I don't remember ordering them before (because they didn't survive).

I was looking through my graveyard and it's pretty funny because every plant on that list has been replaced, if I had the opportunity to do so, except coriacea (which I'm mad at) and kanyakumariana, which I'm going to put on my trade request post this spring since I think I'm prepared enough to grow it mounted now.

Re: Gunming Gading - I get so furious with young plants and cuttings that keel over before giving me a fair shot. Especially when it's a plant that's kind of hard to get your hands on in the first place, like Gunming Gading, with so many people interested in having one. I think you should go get a sp. Kalimantan to teach it a lesson!

@ Aggie

See, this is what I love about threads like this. I know it's counterintuitive, but it just warms my heart to know that everyone has plants that shouldn't be causing problems, but do anyway!! Helps to remind us we're not idiots/failures.

I sure can't imagine an Eriostemma acting as weird as your bunch! What has gotten into them!? There are so many variables in a situation sometimes the answer can be really elusive! I think you've got the right attitude though.