I've just bought a Black Hoya plant. I can't find a whole lot of info on them.
I was wondering what kind of ferilizer to use.
Hoya cinnamomifolia var purpureofusca, H. purpureofuscavar. purpureofusca, H. purpureofusca
Are all the above the same plant?
Also when I received the plant I repotted it into a 6 inch pot. Then I read they like to be root bound. Should I repot it into a 4 in. pot now?
A lot of questions.
I cannot post in the Hoya forum so hope it's ok here.
They don't LIKE to be root-bound. You may find this post of interest: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1050729/
Hoyas prefer a low level of fertility, so I would use any 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer (24-8-16, 12-4-8, and 9-3-6 are all examples of 3:1:2 ratios) at 1/4 - 1/2 the recommended strength monthly while the plant is growing strongly, and 1/4 strength every other month when the plant is resting. It's important to use a soil that drains freely enough that you can completely saturate and flush the soil of accumulating salts; this, because 'low fertility' translates to a low level of total dissolved solids in the soil. Not only will fertilizer salts accumulate if you can't/don't flush the soil, but the dissolved solids from your tap water will accumulate as well. This accumulation of dissolved solids kills a tremendously high % of houseplants, limiting the life span of plants that could be measured in decades to months.
Al
Thanks Al. Appreciate the help.
So, if I fill up a milk jug with tap water and let all the contaminants evaporate, will that be sufficient?
The only way to practically remove fluoride from tap water is by reverse osmosis or distillation - it doesn't 'evaporate'. The compound that used to be commonly used to chlorinate water was volatile, and would diffuse into the air, but most municipalities are now using a chlorine-containing compound that renders the chlorine non-volatile. Other dissolved solids, whether of value to the plant or not, do not disperse. In fact, the concentration of these compounds actually increases as the water evaporates, leaving a greater measure of contaminants per given volume of water.
Even if there were volatile compounds in your water that could escape into the air, a milk jug would be rather inefficient at allowing them to escape. You would want to use something that allows a large surface area of water exposed to the air - like a cake pan or plastic tub.
Al
Such wealth of knowledge you have, Al. Thanks a lot for the enlightenment.
