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Epiphyte
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:41 pm Posts: 134 Location: Glendale, CA, USA
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Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias?
Which species of Hoyas and Dischidias have people in Southern California (and similar climates) been growing outdoors year around? I've been interested in epiphytic plants for quite some time now but it wasn't until last year that I really started to branch out into Hoyas and Dischidias. Here's a partial list of plants that I had outside in Glendale this last winter. One night it got down to at least 32F. All of them are mounted and a few are covered in plastic. I plan on propagating the ones covered in plastic so that I can try divisions under shade cloth. Dischidia bengalensis - The base of mine rotted but I'm remounting it in my terrarium. A few of my friends are growing it outdoors. Dischidia cleistantha - Strong summer grower but each winter around half of the new growth dies back. This last winter, because of the frost, the die back seemed especially severe. Here's a picture of one of mine wrapped around my Ficus "bonsai"...
by , on Flickr
Dischidia formosana - pretty great outdoors Dischidia hirsuta - covered in plastic Dischidia ioantha variegata - seems marginal outdoors Dischidia milnei - slow but no winter dieback Dischidia nummularia (large leaf type) - covered in plastic. The large leaf type which is probably from Australia seems more tolerant than the small leaf type from Malaysia, Singapore, etc. I also have a variety which is from China. Dischidia rafflesiana - covered in plastic Dischidia ruscifolia - covered in plastic and under shade cloth. Seems marginal. Hoya australis ssp. keysii? - fairly succulent, yellowish and fuzzy. A bit of dieback but should be pretty good grower once better established. Hoya australis ssp. oramicola - didn't seem too bothered by the frost but it very gradually began to drop its leaves. Now it only has one or two leaves left...not sure if it's going to recover. Hoya australis ssp. not rupicola - purchased as rupicola but it's not nearly as succulent as the plants I've seen as rupicola. Leaves are fairly dark green and elongated. No problem with the cold. Hoya bella - covered in plastic but shouldn't have a problem with more exposure. Hoya cumingiana - covered in plastic but a friend lost his this last winter. He'd had it for several years but recently and accidentally decreased its drainage. Hoya excavata - killed by the frost Hoya fungii - has already sent out new growth Hoya globulosa - just starting to send out new growth Hoya kerri - no problem with the cold. Several of my friends are also growing it outdoors with no problem. Probably needs quite a bit of summer heat though so might not work for people along the coast. Hoya khoniana 'Eskimo' - strong summer grower but unfortunately the freeze killed it. I gave some rooted plants to three friends with greenhouses so I should be able to get it back. This time I'll know to bring it indoors if there's a chance of frost. Hoya lacunosa - mostly fried but I just stuck a few sad pieces in my terrarium. Hoya litoralis - didn't seem to do that well to begin with...so kinda hard to say. I just have a small piece left covered in plastic. Hoya loheri - strong summer grower and didn't even seem bothered by the frost Hoya meliflua - killed by the frost Hoya nummularioides - had around 5 established cuttings. Lost a couple...doesn't seem like a strong grower. Hoya polyneura - seems pretty solid Hoya serpens - no problem with the cold...a bit on the slow side. Hoya shepherdii? - no problem with the cold None of my "conclusions" are really definitive. Perhaps I just ended up with an especially tender clone...or maybe the plant just ended up in the coldest location in my garden. Or maybe the plant wasn't established enough. A few others being grown outdoors by friends... Hoya carnosa Hoya linealis Hoya obovata Hoya pubicalyx Here are some that might work based on their distribution... Hoya acuminata Hoya acuta Hoya aldrichii Hoya amoena/verticillata Hoya angustifolia Hoya arnottiana Hoya bhutanica Hoya burmanica Hoya chinghungensis Hoya crassifolia Hoya edenii Hoya erythrostemma Hoya fusca Hoya gonoloboides Hoya griffithii Hoya kanyakumariana Hoya krohniana Hoya latifolia Hoya lobbii Hoya manipurensis Hoya micrantha Hoya motoskei Hoya nicholsoniae Hoya oblanceolata Hoya oreogena Hoya ovalifolia Hoya pachyclada Hoya pallida Hoya pandurata Hoya parviflora Hoya pauciflora Hoya pottsii Hoya pseudo-littoralis Hoya retusa Hoya revolubilis Hoya rigida Hoya teretifolia Hoya thomsonii Hoya vaccinoides Hoya weebella/dickasoniana Hoya wightii I'm looking forward to hearing the experiences of other people who've been growing Hoyas and Dischidias outdoors in Southern California. I'm definitely interested in trying new species so if anybody in my area is interested in trading...please send me a message. Also posted to...
_________________ Carlos -
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Thu Apr 25, 2013 10:16 pm |
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Re: Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias?
I have had Hoya of forgotten name...it has very narrow leaves and does bloom in a clay pot outdoors on my porch. Another,Ethan (Red sea me) sent me years ago,has done well growing much larger,looking like H.carnosa..but isn't. Hoya carnosa-the real one- is easy. As epiphytes,orchids are out of my range mostly. Rhipsalis cacti that are tubular look and do fine on tree's...pretty forgiving of lack of water. I'm trying more. I have an assembly of things that could be massed together. And fitting since I'm running out of room in two dimensions...the third is calling!
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Fri Apr 26, 2013 2:20 am |
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Epiphyte
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:41 pm Posts: 134 Location: Glendale, CA, USA
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Re: Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias?
_________________ Carlos -
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Fri Apr 26, 2013 5:14 am |
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larrynme
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:59 am Posts: 66 Location: north east nsw australia
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Re: Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias?
Carlos - of the Hoyas on your "potentials" list I can vouch for the following species as being very hardy here in a humid subtropical climate with extreme very rare lows about 3C and average lows probably about 9 degrees - acuta arnottianus kanyakumariana(very slow- hard to flower) latifolia nicholsoniae pauciflora pottsii (if its the same one as used to be called Chiang Mai White and subquintuplinervis)
Have tried bhutanica, erythrostemma,retusa all very sensitive to wet and cold as are most Hoya - a big problem for me since all my plants are under shade cloth and we get quite a lot of rain in winter some years. Plicata, australis ssp sanae, linearis, fuscopurpurata, meliflua fraterna also very tough here.
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Fri Apr 26, 2013 10:34 am |
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Epiphyte
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:41 pm Posts: 134 Location: Glendale, CA, USA
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Re: Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias?
larrynme, thanks for your list! The temperatures of NSW and Southern California are pretty similar. Except, we don't get any summer rain to speak of...and our winter rain is often sparse at best. I think we're somewhere around 7" for this past winter.
Are your Hoyas potted or mounted? Do you grow many other epiphytes? I really love The Tangle Root Orchid...Plectorrhiza tridentata...which occurs in Victoria, NSW and Victoria.
_________________ Carlos -
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Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:47 pm |
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larrynme
Joined: Tue Jan 19, 2010 4:59 am Posts: 66 Location: north east nsw australia
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Re: Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias?
Carlos - grow most of my hoyas in pots or hanging baskets - linearis & fraterna the only ones I grow epiphytically . Dont grow as many hoyas as I used to as they grew too rampantly in our hot humid summers and became a nuisance to maintain.Had 17" rain last winter and August very dry. Grow mostly orchids and bromeliads but many other epiphytes - ferns,gesneriads,medinillas,aroids,begonias etc.Plectorrhiza tridentata a difficult species to grow except on a living host when very easy. Almost a weed in some areas of northern NSW - have walked through gullys where it was difficult to step without treading on fallen plants and a fair part of the leaf litter consisted of dead plectorrhiza
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Fri Apr 26, 2013 11:06 pm |
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Re: Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias?
Carlos,another family I keep reading for years now that can be grown outdoors are the Cryptanthus. I can never get them to thrive..live over the winter,and to grow a bit...but mostly it's more loss in winter then can be grown back in summer. I've always tried pot grown and now I see HD with even red Crypts for sale. Better on a tree or corkbark?
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Sat Apr 27, 2013 4:34 pm |
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Epiphyte
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:41 pm Posts: 134 Location: Glendale, CA, USA
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Re: Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias?
larrynme, growing rambunctious plants epiphytically is a good way to get them to slow their roll. For example, Callisia fragrans can be a real nuisance in the ground...but it's far better behaved when it's mounted on a tree or a slab of wood.
I'd love to know which species of ferns, gesneriads, medinillas, aroids, begonias, etc you're growing epiphytically. Here are a few of the ones that I'm growing epiphytically...
Aroids...
Anthurium coriaceum Anthurium scandens Anthurium schlechtendalii Anthurium wagenerianum
Begonias
Begonia boliviensis Begonia peltata
Ferns...
Aglaomorpha coronans Drynaria fortunei Drynaria rigidula Lemmaphyllum microphyllum Microgramma vacciniifolia Microsorum punctatum Niphidium crassifolium Polypodium subauriculatum var. knightii Pyrrosia lanceolata?
Gesneriads...
Aeschynanthus speciosus Codonanthe carnosa Nematanthus Sinningia cardinalis Sinningia iarae
Medinillas
Medinilla sedifolia - it's attached to a hanging kokedama that I try and water every night during summer. I was very pleasantly surprised that it didn't die when it got down to at least 32F this last winter.
I've also got a million seedlings growing epiphytically. I think most of them are probably Medinilla cumingii. I'd really like to try growing Medinilla magnifica from seed. My plan with all my seedlings is to .
Other
Kalanchoes - manginii, pumila, schizophylla, uniflora
Impatiens sodenii
Myrmecodia beccarii - purchased it last year and was very happy that it didn't die during the freeze. Hasn't started to grow yet...so I think I need to try and give it more light.
Regarding Plectorrhiza tridentata...yikes! Too bad it's not the easiest thing in the world to pick up the fallen ones and ship them to people in other countries.
_________________ Carlos -
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Wed May 01, 2013 6:00 pm |
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Epiphyte
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:41 pm Posts: 134 Location: Glendale, CA, USA
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Re: Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias?
Stan, heck if I know about the darn Cryptanthus. Got a great deal on a pot packed with a very nice Cryptanthus. I managed to get a dozen or so good sized divisions from it. I distributed the divisions around the yard in a great spread of conditions...more/less shade and more/less water...but all I have left is one small, very sad division. It had just been sitting on the shady side of my tree for the longest time. It was nearly enveloped by the common rabbit's foot...so it came off when I removed the fern from my tree. Now it's just sitting on a moist mossy basket.
_________________ Carlos -
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Wed May 01, 2013 6:10 pm |
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Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
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Re: Cold Tolerant Hoyas/Dischidias?
Myrmecodia are great plants. AKA "ant plants". I grew a few for years in a greenhouse. No problems. I tried one outdoors and it was slug and snail magnet,just a living soft salad for them. Something to watch for Carlos.
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Wed May 01, 2013 7:26 pm |
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