How to Care for Hoyas?
I also have a hoya and aloa vera I would like to know how to grow, they don't seem to be doing the best either.
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opabinia51
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 4659
- Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:58 pm
- Location: Victoria, BC
I'm not sure. The flowers are small, in bunches, white and the middle red. They also have sweet tasting nectar when it blooms. the leaves are about 2in. long and a little thick, some are turning yellowish while the others are green with a couple of white spots. Can you do leaf cuttings, like african violets, on hoyas to propagate them?
Hi GilkersA7,
It's tough when there are so many and when so many nurseries sell these plants without scientific names.
Your description fits over 100. If you can spare a moment, please google for hoya images and let me know which one you think you have or maybe take a look at this site and see if your plant is pictured-
https://www.international-hoya.org/
I order 75% of my hoyas as cuttings from a man in Australia named David Liddle. The rest I buy from a woman named Christine and another woman named Melanie. They're all top notch hoya growers. Chances are good that if you were able to post a photo (don't feel bad if you can't as you're definitely not alone) I might be able to identify which species you have but one of the three of them definitely could and I would be more than happy to send them a link to this thread to ask for help.
If you can't post a photo, no worries but best to move your hoya to an eastern exposure. Morning sun is probably a good bet for right now.
For now, don't over water your plant. Give it a chance to dry out somewhat between waterings.
This is the potting mix I use for almost all of my hoyas-
8 qts Scott’s Potting Soil w/ Osmocote added
8 dry qts total Schulz Potting Bark (2 bags) 100% Fir Bark
2 qts Vermiculite
2 qts Perlite
I've also had decent luck potting up hoyas in a 1:1 mix of Fox Farm Light Warrior and Fox Farm Ocean-
https://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/
Leaf cuttings can be successful if you use a decent rooting hormone but even if leaves root they can be sort of iffie. Stem cuttings would be preferable based on what little propagation I've done with this genus. I create a mix of perlite and vermiculite that I place in a tray in bright indirect light. You'll want your mix to be damp but not wet and you don't want to allow it to ever dry out. Take a few cuttings from your Hoya and make sure you've got three nodes per cutting. Lay your cutting out on top of the mix. I sometimes use gravel from the side of the road to hold the cutting down so that the nodes remain in contact with the mix. From there, you simply sit and wait it out making sure the medium doesn't dry out. Propagating hoyas from stem cuttings is easy. Don't let it spook you. So far, the only cutting I haven't been able to root was Hoya linearis and that one didn't look to great when I got it. They're sort of hard to grow too so I guess it makes sense.
Best wishes to you and please know you'll do just fine.
It's tough when there are so many and when so many nurseries sell these plants without scientific names.
Your description fits over 100. If you can spare a moment, please google for hoya images and let me know which one you think you have or maybe take a look at this site and see if your plant is pictured-
https://www.international-hoya.org/
I order 75% of my hoyas as cuttings from a man in Australia named David Liddle. The rest I buy from a woman named Christine and another woman named Melanie. They're all top notch hoya growers. Chances are good that if you were able to post a photo (don't feel bad if you can't as you're definitely not alone) I might be able to identify which species you have but one of the three of them definitely could and I would be more than happy to send them a link to this thread to ask for help.
If you can't post a photo, no worries but best to move your hoya to an eastern exposure. Morning sun is probably a good bet for right now.
For now, don't over water your plant. Give it a chance to dry out somewhat between waterings.
This is the potting mix I use for almost all of my hoyas-
8 qts Scott’s Potting Soil w/ Osmocote added
8 dry qts total Schulz Potting Bark (2 bags) 100% Fir Bark
2 qts Vermiculite
2 qts Perlite
I've also had decent luck potting up hoyas in a 1:1 mix of Fox Farm Light Warrior and Fox Farm Ocean-
https://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/
Leaf cuttings can be successful if you use a decent rooting hormone but even if leaves root they can be sort of iffie. Stem cuttings would be preferable based on what little propagation I've done with this genus. I create a mix of perlite and vermiculite that I place in a tray in bright indirect light. You'll want your mix to be damp but not wet and you don't want to allow it to ever dry out. Take a few cuttings from your Hoya and make sure you've got three nodes per cutting. Lay your cutting out on top of the mix. I sometimes use gravel from the side of the road to hold the cutting down so that the nodes remain in contact with the mix. From there, you simply sit and wait it out making sure the medium doesn't dry out. Propagating hoyas from stem cuttings is easy. Don't let it spook you. So far, the only cutting I haven't been able to root was Hoya linearis and that one didn't look to great when I got it. They're sort of hard to grow too so I guess it makes sense.
Best wishes to you and please know you'll do just fine.
There's a FAQ on how to post photos. I couldn't figure it out myself so don't feel bad if you can't.
If you want to send me a few photos via e-mail, that would be fine. I won't be able to post them for you for others to see but I'd be able to forward them to the people I know to help you get an ID on your plant if I can't figure out what you've got.
If you want to send me a few photos via e-mail, that would be fine. I won't be able to post them for you for others to see but I'd be able to forward them to the people I know to help you get an ID on your plant if I can't figure out what you've got.
Here are pictures of the Hoya many years ago when it was healthy and growing good. It is not so good looking now. I hope this works!
[img]https://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn84/GilkersA7/100_3020.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn84/GilkersA7/100_3017.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn84/GilkersA7/100_3018.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn84/GilkersA7/100_3020.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn84/GilkersA7/100_3017.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn84/GilkersA7/100_3018.jpg[/img]
I don't know what to say about the Aloe other than that maybe you are over-watering it? My Mom had one when we were growing up and she used to take pieces of it for us to use for sunburn and such. It was on her kitchen windowsill which was a southern exposure. The thing was a beast and would all but crawl out of the pot. Have no idea what she potted it in and have no idea how she watered it or fertilized it but she was doing something right because she gave a lot of starts away to friends. I had one, I killed it. Sounds as if yours is going the same route mine went.
Your Hoya looks like H. carnosa or possibly a cultivar. Google images and see if you think that might be it. If not, I'll save your photos and send them off. I don't grow that one but I do grow a carnosa cultivar and I know they like some full sun. Try hanging it in a western exposure at a height where it will get about 5 hours of sun a day. Your window glass will block some of the light. I'd re-pot the plant into fresh medium. If when you are re-potting the plant you notice it is rootbound, soak it in water and gently try to loosen the roots with your fingers then plant it into a pot that is about an inch bigger than what you had it previously planted in. If it's not rootbound, run the pot through your dishwasher and use the same pot. For watering, don't let it dry out at this time of year. Come next fall you can let it dry out a little between waterings over winter. I'd probably whack back the plant a little bit since it hasn't been blooming anyway. Pick a decent organic fertilizer like Neptune’s Harvest or any other fish emulsion fertilizer and start fertilizing your plant now. Stop in fall and resume again next spring.
I personally like hoyas. They are one of the few houseplants I don't seem to kill.
editing to add- go with the second mix I suggested for this plant.
Your Hoya looks like H. carnosa or possibly a cultivar. Google images and see if you think that might be it. If not, I'll save your photos and send them off. I don't grow that one but I do grow a carnosa cultivar and I know they like some full sun. Try hanging it in a western exposure at a height where it will get about 5 hours of sun a day. Your window glass will block some of the light. I'd re-pot the plant into fresh medium. If when you are re-potting the plant you notice it is rootbound, soak it in water and gently try to loosen the roots with your fingers then plant it into a pot that is about an inch bigger than what you had it previously planted in. If it's not rootbound, run the pot through your dishwasher and use the same pot. For watering, don't let it dry out at this time of year. Come next fall you can let it dry out a little between waterings over winter. I'd probably whack back the plant a little bit since it hasn't been blooming anyway. Pick a decent organic fertilizer like Neptune’s Harvest or any other fish emulsion fertilizer and start fertilizing your plant now. Stop in fall and resume again next spring.
I personally like hoyas. They are one of the few houseplants I don't seem to kill.
editing to add- go with the second mix I suggested for this plant.
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