Long Leaf, Long Time.

I received a cutting of this hoya, Hoya scortechinii, a year ago. It was slightly rooted, rather healthy, with two small but splashy leaves. I let it settle in. After a bit, because it was rooted in sphag it moved it to a bark/sphag mix in a net pot.  

I admired those two little leaves frequently over the passing months. I wished there were more, but you can’t force new leaves to grow; encourage, yes, force, no. But after several months with no activity, during which I worried about the life of the thing, I decided to try something else.  

So, I went through the delicate process of removing all the bark and sphag from his roots and moved him to pon-ish and a self-watering pot. There was a bit of a transition, but soon there was a new vine, followed by new leaves. And the leaves were much, much bigger than the originals.  

This is his second trellis, which I’m fine with, and those big splashy leaves were absolutely worth the wait. Sometimes you must take the risk to find what works.  

I’ll keep you posted.