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binlin

My new hoyas from Thailand are finally here

binlin
13 years ago

I came home today to find a box from Aleya garden waiting for me in the garage.

Here they are having a bath:

{{gwi:961916}}

Bottom left to right:

H. imperialis

H. chlorantha

H. lobbii

H. ariadna

H. onychoides

Top:

H. densifolia

The ariadna is looking pretty beat up, but the rest of the cuttings are huge (The container is 1.5' x 2.5') and healthy apart from a bit of wrinkling in their upper leaves. I was afraid Canadian customs might confiscate them or delay the shipment, but they arrived about 12 days after shipping. Now if I can just fight the urge to pot them up right away and let them soak instead.

Comments (17)

  • mdahms1979
    13 years ago

    Your cuttings look to be in very good health which is not always the case when importing plants. I have ordered from Aleya's Garden several times and have always been pleased, the prices can't be beat. Good luck with your cuttings.

    Mike

  • puglvr1
    13 years ago

    Congrats on your new cuttings...Enjoy them and best of luck!

  • binlin
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks guys,

    They're all done soaking now, so I've gone and potted them up.
    {{gwi:961917}}

    They'll stay like this for about 2 weeks, by which time they'll hopefully have rooted.
    {{gwi:961919}}

    You can also see my carnosa and rooted KP cutting in this second photo.

  • mdahms1979
    13 years ago

    I have a similar set up with a large clear recycling bag over a bucket right now because I ran out of room in my rooting aquariums and clear rubbermaid container. I have about 20 new species rooting right now so I had to get creative.

    Do you always use clay pots to root? I would have a hard time keeping the cuttings moist after they were placed with the rest of my collection.

    Mike

  • binlin
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Yup, I've always used clay pots for rooting, although I soaked them overnight along with the cuttings to saturate them first.

    The cuttings are double bagged, one from the bottom and one domed over top and then taped loosely. The pots would dry very quickly if exposed to open air, but I find that when they're bagged like this they retain moisture very well and serve quite nicely to increase the humidity especially if sprayed gently with a bit of water every few days.
    After the cuttings have rooted I remove the top bag for about a week before removing the bottom bag.

  • Denise
    13 years ago

    Can someone provide a link to this vendor? I've never been able to find them on eBay.

    Denise in Omaha

  • binlin
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    They're the first result if you search for "Aleya garden" on Google.
    Their homepage at aleyagarden.com

  • mdahms1979
    13 years ago

    Denise prepare to be floored by the selection and prices. There is a minimum order but it's not hard to reach the $40 or so that it is. Buy unrooted cuttings because they travel better and use the EMS shipping or the chances of the cuttings dropping their leaves is pretty high. I have ordered three times and had pretty good luck as long as I soak cuttings until the are well hydrated and then root them in my aquarium.

    Mike

  • binlin
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Yup, don't be afraid to email them if you have questions too, they've been very helpful and are usually quick to reply.

    I'm still trying to decide whether to go back to order more cuttings right away or to wait for these to finish rooting first.

    Which ones would you recommend from their selection, Mike & Denise (any anyone else)?
    I've only got a small collection so far (consisting of the ones I posted above), so go ahead and name some favourites.

  • dalette
    13 years ago

    How long before they will flower...I read where a small plant can take 3- 7 years....and how long before they become a nice size plnt...I love to watch them as they grow....one leaf at a time.....lol...they are very nice...

  • binlin
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    lol, I certainly hope these take less than 3-7 years to flower. I can't wait to see them bloom, especially the imperialis and onychoides.
    I've had fairly good luck with my carnosa (which I realize is comparatively easy to grow), it was grown from a 2 node cutting last April and bloomed in just under 8 months. Hopefully my luck will carry over to these new cuttings too.

  • paul_
    13 years ago

    Those cuttings look to be in excellant shape! Congrats!

  • mdahms1979
    13 years ago

    Some of the larger flowered species like the Hoya imperalis and onychoides that you got can take several years before they try to bloom for the first time. It is pretty common to wait at least two years before seeing blooms on many Hoya species when you grow them from a cutting. Sometimes you will get a cutting and if it came from a nice big mature plant it may surprise you with blooms quite early or in some cases there will already be a bloom peduncle on the cutting.

    If you look for the Hoyas that you like most for their flowers and leaves and make a list we can tell you if they would be good choices for the conditions you can provide. Some species like it shady while others like very bright light but other than growing them slightly cooler or watering a little more or less most Hoyas have very similar culture. Some species bloom quite often while others do not and that is where it is fun to choose new plants based on their leaves, some species have pretty spectacular leaves.

    GrowingHoyas.com , Hoyor.net and MyHoyas.com are nice sites to research different species. The Swedish Hoya Society page has some of the best Hoya photography with photos of full sized blooming plants.

    Mike

    Here is a link that might be useful: Swedish Hoya Society

  • binlin
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I just though I'd mention to anyone planning to order from Aleya garden that they offer several shipping options for cuttings. It's in a paragraph at the top of their cuttings page.

    I'd recommend contacting them and asking for the cuttings to be shipped wrapped in paper and a plastic bag. Some people report that wrapping in plastic causes yellowing and leaf drop, but it seems to have worked very well for my cuttings and the H. lobbii and H. onychoides even started to root in transit. The only one to yellow was the ariadna and there was only one leaf dropped after 12 days in transit.

    Thanks for the links Mike, I've been reading through quite a few of them already but the Swedish Hoya Society is new and definitely has some awesome photography. I grow my Hoyas in an east facing room with overhead fluorescent lights which are on around 16 hours a day. The temperature is usually between 20 and 35C in the summer and 15-21C in the winter. I usually plant hoyas in very fast draining soil consisting mostly of bark, perlite, gravel, coir and crushed terracotta and water every one or two days in the summer. If you have any Hoyas you'd recommend for these conditions or that you particularly like I'd be happy to hear about them.

  • suetran1
    13 years ago

    My order, WITHHOUT my shipping instruction, had been send in 2 small packages, on 6/27.
    I've learned that we're not allow to have more than 10 each order.

    -1st package arrived on Friday 7/4, everything are in good shape, in paper and sphagnum moss wrap at the end of cuttings.

    -2st package arrive on Monday 7/5, was wrapped in paper and plastic. I lost 4 of 7. I asked him why he wrapped the cuttings with plastic in the 2st package,

    the answered is:
    "Because the cuttings in the parcel with the open plastic bag are more fragile species that are prone to dehydration. When we don't send with plastic bags we receive complaints that we did not use one.
    if you had recievd dhydrayed cuttings you question would have been : why no plastic bag, this is what everyone else doest etc.. I assure you."
    http://www.aleyagarden.com/hocunotro.html

    Anyhow, I think I'm still so LUCKY, because he did not wrap the first package with plastic bag.
    If he did so, I will lost everything!
    These are the cuttings that I lost, Hoya buotii Hoya darwinii Hoya elliptica Hoya glabra.

  • greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
    13 years ago

    What a shame!
    Sorry for the loss of those hoyas....

    Josh

  • mdahms1979
    13 years ago

    Sue my Hoya elliptica was only one yellow leaf and about three inches of stem and it rooted no pronblem and has new growth already. If yours is green at all I would not give up on it. Hoya darwinii is a very hard species to get because it does not seem to travel well at all, I have given up on that one because even if it arrives in good condition it's hard to root. You really need to baby the cuttings with high humidity (closed container or bag) and warmth to get the rooting ASAP.
    EMS shipping is the only way to go and for me it takes about 8 days, anything longer and they cuttings are far too stressed.

    I hope the rest of your cuttings do well.

    Mike

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