Hoya serpens update: overwhelming fragrance, more pedunc...
Hoya serpens update: overwhelming fragrance, more peduncles open. Enjoy. #hoya #hoyahangout
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@MusicalRedmint ok. I must needs get this one. The size difference in leaves to flowers is too funny 😅 I remember you saying this one was known to be difficult to bloom, is that right? 🌺 Did you find your regular care did it? Or was it a change or attention to light/temp/watering?
And, may I ask, as I realized I did not write it down yet 📝 , is the soidaoensis the chaotically cute one?
And, may I ask, as I realized I did not write it down yet 📝 , is the soidaoensis the chaotically cute one?
@DreamMachine 😅
First off, yes, the soidaoensis is the small chaotic one with the satin looking leaves and the fluffy blooms reminiscent of the caudata.
On the blooming of the serpens, I'm not quite sure. I think it's a mix of several issues. First off: it has the reputation of being finicky in general. Even plants that at first grew well enough, suddenly dying over night, often after a repot. I do think (backed up by people who know way more than I, but don't remember who the source on that was, maybe milo, maybe frostvit, maybe vermonthoyas) that that problem can be minimized by remembering it's a creeper and offering up several rooting points. Letting it root lying down, and even later on laying some vines into the pots for a good root system.
Second is that it likes to play with people's feelings. It really does like to prepare peduncles "just in case". Very early on and a huge amount. Those don't drop, they just stall and wait for the right conditions. And I think that leads people to wait more anxiously/ impatiently because they expect something to happen.
So basically you hear of people that have them dying early on our are waiting for them to recover and then to bloom... and then they die. 😅
As for bloom triggers: it's traded as low light often, which makes sense because, again it's a creeper and receives mostly dappled light at first. But I've noticed that when they start growing it is consistently into the direction of the beast light anyway. And it doesn't mind.
Then I think I remember Doug Chamberlain somewhere transferring his theory regarding the sp.aff. thomsonii to his serpens. (Not sure it was him though 😬). Basically that many people think that those cooler growing hoyas like the thomsonii or the serpens need the cold as trigger, but somehow that's only working half of the time, so maybe it's the other side of seasonal changes, so, yes, photoperiod.
So, after a while of 2 of my serpens growing peduncle after peduncle without doing anything else, I switched things up. I shortened the photoperiod with my grow lights. Nothing much happened. Lengthened it again. Nada. Then spring turned to summer anyway, I was a bit worried about the heat in the room and noticed one wasn't doing well and moved it to the kitchen.
That's the one that bloomed.
The kitchen gets the most natural light I have to offer (at least in the warmer seasons). Also, the temperature shifts would be more pronounced there. When I moved it from the room, it would have a significant drop on temperature. And then would become warmer with more nightly drops closer to the window pane. Then factor in that I live rather up north, so summer day length is a big change in photoperiod, even considering the length of my growlights "days" before.
Basically, I would say I muddled through played around with several variables, added a good dose of luck and here we are. Btw the others kept quiet. It's only the kitchen one that bloomed. So my guess is photoperiod really has something to do with it, maybe amount of light as well. As for temperature in not sure, sounds feasible though. There is a reason, why my phals in the kitchen tend to overbloom. It's the place with the most temperature variation.
I'm not sure any of that helps, and am tempted to recall my "i'm proud of blooming this one because I contributed to the achievement " statement. 😅 the more I wrote about the path to blooms, the more it seems like pure luck 😂
First off, yes, the soidaoensis is the small chaotic one with the satin looking leaves and the fluffy blooms reminiscent of the caudata.
On the blooming of the serpens, I'm not quite sure. I think it's a mix of several issues. First off: it has the reputation of being finicky in general. Even plants that at first grew well enough, suddenly dying over night, often after a repot. I do think (backed up by people who know way more than I, but don't remember who the source on that was, maybe milo, maybe frostvit, maybe vermonthoyas) that that problem can be minimized by remembering it's a creeper and offering up several rooting points. Letting it root lying down, and even later on laying some vines into the pots for a good root system.
Second is that it likes to play with people's feelings. It really does like to prepare peduncles "just in case". Very early on and a huge amount. Those don't drop, they just stall and wait for the right conditions. And I think that leads people to wait more anxiously/ impatiently because they expect something to happen.
So basically you hear of people that have them dying early on our are waiting for them to recover and then to bloom... and then they die. 😅
As for bloom triggers: it's traded as low light often, which makes sense because, again it's a creeper and receives mostly dappled light at first. But I've noticed that when they start growing it is consistently into the direction of the beast light anyway. And it doesn't mind.
Then I think I remember Doug Chamberlain somewhere transferring his theory regarding the sp.aff. thomsonii to his serpens. (Not sure it was him though 😬). Basically that many people think that those cooler growing hoyas like the thomsonii or the serpens need the cold as trigger, but somehow that's only working half of the time, so maybe it's the other side of seasonal changes, so, yes, photoperiod.
So, after a while of 2 of my serpens growing peduncle after peduncle without doing anything else, I switched things up. I shortened the photoperiod with my grow lights. Nothing much happened. Lengthened it again. Nada. Then spring turned to summer anyway, I was a bit worried about the heat in the room and noticed one wasn't doing well and moved it to the kitchen.
That's the one that bloomed.
The kitchen gets the most natural light I have to offer (at least in the warmer seasons). Also, the temperature shifts would be more pronounced there. When I moved it from the room, it would have a significant drop on temperature. And then would become warmer with more nightly drops closer to the window pane. Then factor in that I live rather up north, so summer day length is a big change in photoperiod, even considering the length of my growlights "days" before.
Basically, I would say I muddled through played around with several variables, added a good dose of luck and here we are. Btw the others kept quiet. It's only the kitchen one that bloomed. So my guess is photoperiod really has something to do with it, maybe amount of light as well. As for temperature in not sure, sounds feasible though. There is a reason, why my phals in the kitchen tend to overbloom. It's the place with the most temperature variation.
I'm not sure any of that helps, and am tempted to recall my "i'm proud of blooming this one because I contributed to the achievement " statement. 😅 the more I wrote about the path to blooms, the more it seems like pure luck 😂
@Idplantthat the hoya serpens. Maybe you have already stumbled over the Mathilde cultivar since that is more common rn? The serpens is one of the parents
@MusicalRedmint ooh, thank you for all of this, it does help! And makes me think I’m up for the challenge, as I am a bit north too, not as much as you I think, but my latitude is 45.5° and we definitely have a pretty big swing in day length over the seasons too! I’ll just have to figure out which room has the biggest temperature swing 🤓
@MusicalRedmint I actually think I have a serpen? I’m going to have to look; I’m very new to the Hoya world. I just barely started getting them, but most of mine are mystery cuttings, so I never really know what I have. But I love those flowers and those leaves. I love the fuzzy plants.
Hi everybody. It's been a day. Just very quickly:
@MariansOasis the way they are draped? 100% but the thing I love about them is that they are colored this very airfield vintage green. A tiny bit too green to fit a bridal color palette. More like 1920s fancy wallpaper. Maybe those pictures can show it a bit better 👇 @Idplantthat maybe? But I'm pretty sure if you do, you would be 100% certain. The serpens doesn't look like your typical hoya. The leaves are very small, very firm, just the faintest bit of pubescence (*cue snicker @DreamMachine *) and look like the cutest little scaley snake heads (hence the name). Maybe I'll get some more pictures of the leaves tomorrow. Today I'm beat. But don't despair. I'm very sure among those mystery cuttings you will find gorgeous flowers of flouff galore.
Btw: if you are game, you could share pictures of your mystery hoyas? I do love a good ID guessing game, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Unless you like the air of mystery?
@DreamMachine like I said, I'm not even sure which variable was the most important in the end. My hate for geography during school just kicked me in the tired behind btw because I momentarily got very confused after looking up that I live more around 54 degree longitude. I honestly had to look up how the longitudinal measurements work because for the life of me I couldn't figure out why you somehow seemed to live more to the north than I do. (Spoiler, you don't, of course🤦♀️. Stay in school, kids.) At least my remaining braincells continued pushing back on that assumption. If only because I just *know* that most people from the US I've talked to have been surprised to find that in winter, dusk can start as early as 3 pm. And in the middle of summer it's still light out at 10pm. Sooo, I know Oregon is quite up north by US standards... but I win this one 😅. Not that it matters. I'm sure, if photoperiod is indeed a factor for the serpens, 45° will be more than enough.
Have fun experimenting.
@MariansOasis the way they are draped? 100% but the thing I love about them is that they are colored this very airfield vintage green. A tiny bit too green to fit a bridal color palette. More like 1920s fancy wallpaper. Maybe those pictures can show it a bit better 👇 @Idplantthat maybe? But I'm pretty sure if you do, you would be 100% certain. The serpens doesn't look like your typical hoya. The leaves are very small, very firm, just the faintest bit of pubescence (*cue snicker @DreamMachine *) and look like the cutest little scaley snake heads (hence the name). Maybe I'll get some more pictures of the leaves tomorrow. Today I'm beat. But don't despair. I'm very sure among those mystery cuttings you will find gorgeous flowers of flouff galore.
Btw: if you are game, you could share pictures of your mystery hoyas? I do love a good ID guessing game, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Unless you like the air of mystery?
@DreamMachine like I said, I'm not even sure which variable was the most important in the end. My hate for geography during school just kicked me in the tired behind btw because I momentarily got very confused after looking up that I live more around 54 degree longitude. I honestly had to look up how the longitudinal measurements work because for the life of me I couldn't figure out why you somehow seemed to live more to the north than I do. (Spoiler, you don't, of course🤦♀️. Stay in school, kids.) At least my remaining braincells continued pushing back on that assumption. If only because I just *know* that most people from the US I've talked to have been surprised to find that in winter, dusk can start as early as 3 pm. And in the middle of summer it's still light out at 10pm. Sooo, I know Oregon is quite up north by US standards... but I win this one 😅. Not that it matters. I'm sure, if photoperiod is indeed a factor for the serpens, 45° will be more than enough.
Have fun experimenting.
@MusicalRedmint yup, that fits the one I just repotted, but it’s so tiny it’s a baby. It’s like a weird little thick green tree with a stem almost as thick as its leaves. I’ll have to go look 👀 when I get out and get a picture if I do. 😉 Otherwise, I can show you the pic of the one I’m thinking of, and maybe you can help me identify it? (If you wouldn’t mind?) ☺️
I don't mind at all, that is why I offered. Not sure if I'll be successful with any ID, but feel free to post pics, @Idplantthat
@MusicalRedmint I posted on another thread, but I’ll post it here and maybe you know what it is. ☺️ Or if anyone else does, I’d appreciate the help 😉
