Tropicals & Tender Perennials: By the way...., 1 by AlohaHoya

AlohaHoya wrote:
I wanted to assure EVERYone that tipping your plants out of their pots to check the roots, is not going to kill them and it probably won't even set them back a nanusecond. I do it often with no ill effects..and it is not because I live in Hawaii. Because I live here I probably have more fungi, adverse bacteria wanting to attack roots, mice and mongoose running thru my greenhouse with Thelma or the cats after them, African Tree Snails feasting on the leaves... Thelma (in the picture below with Bob) actually tore thru the outer shell of the gh to get a mongoose, and destroyed half my propagating bench trying to get after the little dickens. I am never surprised in the mornings at what I will find....

The bottom line is that hoyas are tough. Yes, some are real primadonnas only because we can't duplicate their basic growing requirements...which may be impossible with some. 95% of them ARE tough, adaptable to a certain point and have pretty basic needs.

As long as the roots aren't cut or torn out of the pots...checking them for health, root mealies, compaction in the pot are a good idea.... Christine in Sweden takes all of hers out of their pots, cuts back the roots, repots them in the same pots...and they don't skip a beat.

Have fun....