Hoya care and prosperity (me hopes)

How do you keep a hoya happy? I have one that I am experimenting on conditions with, but then someone sent me one as a substitute for a philo. It is prettier than my markdown plant from lowe's, so now it's time to get into hoya gear. I had one long, long ago, and grew it for 3 years. It never bloomed, so when I moved, I left it behind. I still have the scheff that I chose in it's place. Well, now I think I should see a hoya bloom, so please help me get it in the right growing conditions. I always think it should be grown in some sunshine, so if that wrong, start there.

You should check out the Hoya forum!
Great information to be found there.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/f/hoya/all/

Hi 3J's, welcome to the subscribers at Dave's...grin

I can tell you that my hoya seems to bloom best when a bit pot bound. Here is a link to general care for them.

http://www.cssainc.org/index.php?Itemid=212&id=369&option=com_content&task=view

Thank you. At least it/they should enjoy where they are. I think I wasn't watering quite enough considering my markdown plant is showing active growth. I think I'll water just a tad more, but not too much :).

Also be careful to not cut off any of the runners on it. The blooms come from small spurs along those runners

3j'smom: Do you know which Hoya you have? If you can post a photo someone might be able to identify it for you and be able to decide if it is a variety that likes a lot of sun or not. At last count I had @50 Hoyas. I've come to really love them! The blooms are beautiful and many are fragrant! I have three blooming right now. Some Hoya's can take a lot of sun but many will not do well in sun at all, and prefer very bright shady conditions. I've just really become interested in Hoya's the past two years and have received a lot of help from folks on the Hoya Forum. Someone gave me an ID on my very large Hoya that was given to me as a little plant back in the mid 1970's.

I feed my Hoya's with Orchid fertilizer but I am bad about feeding so don't do it very often. One thing I've learned is that most Hoya's don't like wet feet so it's good to use a light, airy mix that drains well.

As threegardener's stated, there is a lot of great information on the Hoya forum. This "sticky" at the top of the Hoya forum has a lot of information for new growers: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/800471/

and, this "sticky" gives links to other sites with Hoya information: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/471942/

Oops ... edited to add the last link!






This message was edited Nov 21, 2009 6:15 PM

The names are hoya carnosa rubra and hoya carnosa crimson queen. I was studying them, and other than the discount plant being beaten up a bit, they are similar in variegation.

My carnosa's live quite contentedly in a North window. They are older, large plants in 6" pots and I water them maybe once a month.

I have two huge pots that are a combination of Rubra and Tricolor. I had them in a lot of sun about a year ago and the foliage got very pale and washed out. I finally moved them to a shadier spot, very bright light but no direct sun and the leaf color looks a lot better. I bet a north window would be perfect!

Hoya carnosa Tricolor (Krimson Queen): http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57703/
Hoya carnosa Rubra (Krimson Princess): http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57702/

I'd have to look to be sure but I think KQ has the cream/white variegation on the outer edges whereas KP has the cream/white variegation in the center part of the leaf.

Oops, wrong picture, sorry

This message was edited Nov 21, 2009 6:53 PM

A beautiful picture though! Your plants look very happy!

Trying again: Talking on phone, half brained :)

Oh, that is a great picture of your lovely plants ... very pretty Cordyline!

Your Hoya's both look like carnosa Rubra to me. My big ones have a lot of leaves that have lost the variegation and are now totally green.

This is what the flowers will look like on your Hoya's: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/252929/

I thought the variegation looked identical. Pretty, at least. The smaller one has a redder colored stem, but then I was turning my bigger lowe's one over and saw some reddish stems. I see what you mean about the green being kind of washed out on the leaves grown in sun. I had it in a western exposure, so I'll see what I can come up with for a little protection.

Now I'm even sadder about the philo :(

If I build a trellis for these plants and pot them together, does it need to hold moisture or just support?

Philo? You lost me. Why are you sad about a philo?

I have a couple of Hoya carnosa's in hanging baskets but my two large ones are on trellises. I found a couple of old 8' aluminum porch thingies in the shed last year and had my husband saw them in half so I could use them for trellises. Two of the big carnosa's are on those.

I've learned from some pro's on the Hoya forum that carnosa's prefer to be kept on the dry side, so I let mine get very dry before watering. We have very high humidity though so I don't know if that makes a difference.

The philo was what I thought I was getting, and the hoya was sent instead. Sorry if that was out in left field.

Dearest Lin, your plants are so big and pretty and well grown. :) I think the trellis is a neat way to grow them.

I read that they can take a little cooler temps (if kept on the dry side), so maybe I'll set them on the floor in the concrete plant area. Most of the direct sun is taken by the bigger plants, so it would be bright indirect with maybe a sunray here and there, lol. I try to keep the humidity higher in that room. I want to get one of the meters that tells % humidity (don't know name, on my list of things to learn)

Thank you for all the help. I hope they do alright. I am still praying to see blooms some day :).

I'm off to look up pictures of the spurs so I know what to leave alone!

I think I was told that the carnosa's prefer warmth but I may be thinking of one of the others? There are just soooo many different Hoya's that come from different areas, and some are from area's that have cooler temp's but I can't remember which are which. There is a list someplace that tells Temperature Tolerance for Hoya's ... I will go find it and come back with the link!

Your location of bright, indirect light sounds perfect. If you scroll down this page just a bit there's a list of hoya's and preferred temperature ranges:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/800471/

i have a baby hoya carnosa and it is in a room with northern sunlight opposite the window. is this decent exposure or should i move it to a sunnier place?

Northern exposure is great for an H. carnosa!

sweet thanks! how long does it take to grow larger? and should i have it in a larger pot? there are about 10 leaves on my plant and its a little thing in a 3 inch pot. also what other kinds of hoya are there and where can i get them?

You could leave it in that 3 inch pot for years. Hoya bloom better when they're pot bound.
There are roughly 300 + kinds of Hoya. There are a lot of good Hoya vendors in the USA.