I find it difficult for most cuttings to make the transition from water roots to soil roots. But it's a good place for them initially, so don't worry about them being in water for a few days. Sometimes, when I have a dehydrated plant or I just don't have time to pot up cuttings I'll stick them in water for a couple days. Then I put them in pots with moist soil and into a large gallon-size clear bag that I blow up and seal. I open the bag every 4-5 days and let the old air out, blow in new. I keep it in a very shady location - no sun whatsoever. This seems to produce very healthy little pots of cuttings - I like it even better than the aquarium for the smaller Hoyas.

Denise in Omaha

Thanks Denise,

That seems to be a good standby method.Didn't know if there was something special for bellas since they seem to be temperamental.

Anne

Anne, I wouldn't stress too much about bella. For every person who struggles with a given Hoya, there is another person who finds that Hoya trouble free.

I have rooted bella clippings in small 1-2" pots of moist medium, and in water. I've never lost one, and they don't seem fussy to me. If it were my plant, I would just stick those broken vines right back in the pot with the mother and just keep it well watered. If you want to try them in water, that's fine too.

IMO, it's not good to worry too much about any plant. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. :P

I've not had trouble rooting bella either. I just trimmed my main plant back pretty far, stuck some of the cuttings back in the pot, to even out the other side, and stuck some in semi-hydro to root out.

Renee

My cutting of bella rooted quickly in orchid bark and is now one of my fastest growers. I think this is the second most common Hoya grown in Finland (after carnosa), and that must mean something.

I think that the thin stem might mean it can rot when rooted in water, though. My thin-stemmed cuttings (buotii, wallichii, serpens and lacunosa) seemed to like moss and orchid bark for rooting.

By the way, GG, please tell us how your experiment is going.

hhhmmm, know what you mean about self-fulfilling.... GG.

Ok well I think that the mother plant is so big and I have noticed that others think that that putting more than cutting in a pot seems to help so I have some orchid mix of bark, coir, hydrotone and perlite.

June is our most humid month here so I guess I will just put it outside on my porch under the ledge to protect it from bright light.

Thanks for the confidence boost all!

/Kukka So far, dark + willow has a STRONG lead, followed by light + willow. The two waters are lagging far behind. I won't be able to tell how the soil cells compare until the end. I am taking progress photos, though, and I'll post everything at the end so you can see how things progressed. ^_^

/Anne Sounds great! Let us know how it goes!

/GG, interesting! I was starting to have doubts about the whole dark + willow thing already. Sounds like you didn't drag the twigs around for nothing, then.

I was pretty shocked! I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

Well I'd put some cuttings in water & other cuttings in mix. You could even try a 3rd set in moistened perlite or pumice, depending on what you've got or can find.

I used to have a lot of trouble w/Bella, have lost it & its variegate several times. I was recently down to one last tiny sprig of it & seem to have suddenly got the knack for it.

To prove the point it started a spur, which sadly dropped off some time later. But it's happy & got new growth so I'm thrilled!

ooooo increase my odds. I like it!!! Someone put on their smarty pants today!