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lovingmy4babies

Violet Barn?

lovingmy4babies
12 years ago

Hey guys! I was just wondering if anyone here had used The Violet Barn for ordering Hoyas before, and if so, if the plants were in good shape when they got to you.

Deborah

Comments (5)

  • quinnfyre
    12 years ago

    My honest opinion? I don't like them for hoyas. They are great for violets and other gesneriads, but I'm totally not enthused about the hoyas. I'd heard negative feedback about their hoyas before, but I went ahead and got one from them because I wanted this particular one. It was the smallest cutting I've ever gotten. It was a pubicalyx, probably an inch and a half tall, with 4 leaves, and then it dropped one the next day, so I was down to 3 leaves. It was rooted, at least. This little guy has limped along the whole way, and is only now, about 2-3 years later, starting to look like it will grow properly, though it is at most 6 inches tall. It does have leaves that are more like the proper size of pubicalyx leaves now, thank goodness.

    So, for just a little bit more, you could probably get a huge rooted plant, that may actually have a chance of blooming for you in the next couple years. Happily, the leaves on mine are also nice to look at, but the flowers were what I got it for. At the rate it's going, I won't be seeing blooms for at least another 2-4 years.

  • lovingmy4babies
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the info, quinn. I have another place I like for hoyas- they have 4 inch pots with sometimes 2-3 plants in them that are well-rooted and fairly big(got a nummularioides with about 8(!) 12-15 inch vines a few weeks ago), plus there's always SRQ(who is awesome, by the way lol).

  • greedygh0st
    12 years ago

    I have a number of Hoyas from VB, so I think I can fairly weigh in. What Quinn says is true, they are small plants compared to what is commonly accepted as the norm in our community.

    I have to admit that it also annoys me that they will clip the leaves, just like they do with Gesneriads, so that they travel better. Well, this is all well and good with a Strep that is going to have replaced the leaf in a few months, but when you're still looking at that half-leaf 2 years later, you're kind of wishing they'd just packaged it differently or risked it breaking. >_>

    A couple of their identifications are off, too, not in a malicious way. I think Hoyas just aren't their specialty so they aren't in the loop when contemporary misidentifications get corrected. Of course, most of these you should be able to tell simply by looking at their posted pictures (I'm looking at you, coronaria!)

    I have some that, like Quinn describes, just seem to have taken forever to acclimate. I must admit though, that the vast majority of them have performed well, despite starting small. Like H. bella.

    So, yeah, if you're putting together an order of Gesneriads with them anyway and don't want to have to root multiflora yourself, then it's not ridiculous to stick it on your order, but otherwise, you might as well just try and get those plants from a trade, since they're all common enough.

  • lovingmy4babies
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks for the observations, GG! I, too, noticed the coronaria- I saw the name, got excited, then looked at the pic- nope. Darn. lol

    Does anyone have a suggestion for another online vendor? I've pretty much bought everything listed at Pepper's, and I'm going to put in an order with SRQ (hopefully) next week, but I'm just curious as to where everyone gets theirs. Gardino's? the one in Hawaii?

  • puglvr1
    12 years ago

    K&C...YES, definitely give Gardino's a try. They have very healthy well rooted hoyas. SRQ (Joni) definitely has some very nice hoyas as well and her selection is by far the best, especially in the US.

    I have several hoyas from Gardino's and have been very pleased with all of them...the only problem with them is they don't have the selection that SRQ has. Gardino also sells on Ebay some of the more uncommon varieties not listed on their website.

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