Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Hoya memoria from a seed : it is more beautiful, with larger, longer and brighter leaves along curves





Hoya memoria : a cutting on the left; the plant on the right is from a seed, It looks more beautiful, with larger, longer and brighter leaves along curves. Aleyagarden is propagating it to maintain these traits. 


 
 

Hoya meredithii, Hoya AL6 ( has embossed venation ) and unnamed Hoya

Hoya meredithii, Hoya AL6 ( has embossed venation ) and Hoya without a name :

Hoya meredithii
 
Left meredithii, older than on previous pic,   right unknown seedling


Below AL6 ( has embossed venation ),   top the unknown seedling


Herbs and Spices, Hoya, Hoya seeds, Orchid seeds, Ferns, Fern spores are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com



Monday, September 22, 2014

Hoya identity and seed distribution

variegation obtained by planting a Hoya seed
The picture shows a contrasted variegation from a seed in a pod that was taken on a plant like the green one on the right ( named so far and as far as we know : Hoya biakensis ) Aleyagarden will propagate many cuts before selling the variegated sort, in order to ascertain that the variegation is constant in the cuts. They won't patent the plant.

Some people would say " you have irresponsibly damaged the identity of this species : it is not what it used to be now that you have planted a seed and will distribute the resulting plants and seeds. We have lost the integer, pure, real biakensis. "

So we would expect that giving a new commercial name  ( any name remembering that the original seed pod was on a baikensis, so for instance a silly commercial name like Hoya biakensis Joli Spots, or Hoya Qwert affinis biakensis etc  ) would cancel the accusation.
Not that simple : other critics ( or perhaps the same people ) would say that any choice of a new name could not be accurate as  " you don't know the father with certainty ( the origin of the pollen ) " http://www.linh.se/hoya-seeds/growing-hoyas-from-seed-by-carol-noel/.

Indeed the pollen could have originated in 3 ways : from the individual biakensis that produced the pod ( this is the most probable situation, named self pollination ), or from an other Hoya biakensis probably located nearby, or from a plant at some distance of a non biakensis species that has a compatible pollen ( cross pollination ). Although some people report cross pollination by hand, at Aleyagarden they have never succeeded so far.
 They grow the Hoya in a natural environment ( open pollination ) that promotes either self or cross pollination, without being able to determine which process has acted.
Aleyagarden's setting and methods of cultivation are more or less replicating the non conservative open pollination in nature whereby Hoya species evolution points that " identity ", " integrity ", " correct names " are somehow in these accusations hollow concepts, or at least ideas that are limited by plant science : plants evolve in their environments and they do it not for the sake of matching with names or knowing the fathers. Even less for the sake of protecting patents and businesses.

If one passes off as Labrador a dog from an unknown father then yes the integrity of the breed is a concern. But since the propagation of Hoya, by cuts or by seeds is done like in nature without knowing for sure the father ( the pollen ) then there is no sense to lump together dog breeds and Hoya breeds for the sake of condemning the distribution of Hoya seeds. If a Hoya found in nature or a seedling in a greenhouse appear different from the known breed then a new name has to be found, and regarding the seedling this name should refer to the plant that produced the pod.

Peddlers of pseudo-scientific claptrap are everywhere.


 
Now if we consider not just names, but more broadly representations, then why not considering other identity problems raised by observing nature, they are even much more embarrassing ( but more interesting ) : at the microscopic scale should we condemn photons because in the double slit experiment they have a double appearance instead of an identity as we like it to be ? is it silly for a particle to refuse to take a slit path when something is observing ? irresponsible to escape a determined location or change retroactively ?

Herbs and Spices, Hoya, Hoya seeds, Orchid seeds, Ferns, Fern spores are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Friday, September 5, 2014

I am looking to buy the most fragrant hoya there is, can you make a recommendation ?


We have listed some Hoya that are often praised for their scent. We would also recommend these  Hoya for their strong fragrance : Hoya Estrella Waterfall, Hoya finlaysonii V and finlaysonii, Hoya incrassata margin variegata and incrassata variegata, Hoya lacunosa Heart Shaped, Hoya viola :

Hoya Estrella Waterfall above

Hoya finlaysonii 5 above

Hoya finlaysonii above

Hoya incrassata margin variegata above


Hoya incrassata variegata above

Hoya lacunosa Heart Shaped

Hoya viola above
 
Herbs and Spices, Hoya, Hoya seeds, Orchid seeds, Ferns, Fern spores are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com





 
 

Friday, August 8, 2014

Small Parcels air or EMS, how many plants may not survive ?

I read on Aleya Garden's Facebook page a message saying that they had received almost intact hoya after 4 weeks in the mail but after 17 days all of my Hoya order was lost , how is that possible ?


Indeed the number of days is not by itself the cause of this condition, among other factors the package could have been exposed  for an unusual long time to adverse conditions during transport; but even after less than a week we would find plants in this bad state, and even after a short travel between two Thai cities (but in this case, certainly not 100% of the plants).

Just as clean and dry cucumbers would lyse at different speeds in clean and dry plastic bags, Hoya plants tend to dry or rot at different paces.

Nevertheless I think that Aleyagarden's system of plants at low prices with resending at 50% of this price is very good because it does not impact on all customers the costs of resending and may discourage some less well equipped buyers :
You bought in 2014  10 cuttings for a total cost of $ 68 = $ 50 + $ 18 for  Small Parcel Air. The anticipated death of plants is less than 25% , based on average data.

Had you chosen EMS the cost would have been higher, $ 91 = $ 50 + $ 41 EMS
Now we will suppose that I resend you these 10 cuts at  50% of their price in non registered envelopes.  Two to four cuts will fill in 3 envelopes at 3 $ each. The total new cost is then : $ 25 for the plants and envelopes 3 x $ 3 = $ 34

So the option of Small Parcel Air with resending : 68 + 34 = $ 102 is to be compared with $ 91 EMS, bearing in mind that statistically at least 75% of plants shipped by  Small Parcel Air will survive, after travelling from 1 to 4 weeks, (taking into account a possibility of dormancy and of course the use of a mini greenhouse ).
          We should not forget in this cost comparison that plants sent by EMS also can die.
The difference between small parcel air at  68 $ and EMS at 91 $ indicate in my opinion that  Small Parcel Air with resending is not a bad option. Once again even by EMS some plants will die !.
Anyway it is indeed disappointing to see dead plants and sadness is not measurable.

I wish you a better luck with the seeds!

Herbs and Spices, Hoya, Hoya seeds, Orchid seeds, Ferns, Fern spores are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Friday, August 1, 2014

Imperialis red : long and narrow leaves

Hoya imperialis red on the picture : although the leaves may appear on this individual as much undulate as on a Hoya imperialis pink , long and narrow leaves are sure indications that it is a red. More pictures of the differing leaves are on : http://aleyagarden-hoya.blogspot.com/2014/08/hoya-imperialis-pink-and-hoya.html
 
Herbs and Spices, Hoya, Hoya seeds, Orchid seeds, Ferns, Fern spores are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Monday, July 28, 2014

The true Hoya wallichii and Hoya danumensis

  • The true Hoya wallichii is above, Hoya danumensis is below

Herbs and Spices, Hoya, Hoya seeds, Orchid seeds, Ferns, Fern spores are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com