I have a Hoya Carnosa. It seems to be doing very well. How moist do you keep the soil? I have been letting it dry out quite a bit between waterings. Any suggestions on how to get them to bloom? It receives bright indirect light from a west window. Temp in the room is around 70 with about 55% humidity. They share space with my orchids and violets.
How to get a Hoya to Bloom
Hi, I think you are doing all the right things and it should bloom for you. Unfortunately I don't think anyone can tell you when. I've found Hoyas rewarding and at times very unpredictable. I guess thats another part that I like about growing them. When I first found out about hoyas I read as much info on the internet that I could find. I always read that they had to be mature plants to bloom. I bought my first H. carnosa and I thought it was mature enough but it had no peduncles and didn't look like it would bloom any time soon. Then a friend send me cuttings from his H. sheperdii. They had just rooted so I planted the cuttings in a pot w/ soil. In less than a month since I recieved them, the vines grew two peduncles and bloomed. In another forum, I read others had theirs bloom as cuttings in the process of rooting. THis really puzzled me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though some have luck getting them to bloom each plant does it on its own terms. I hope this doesn't discourage you. Don't give up and I'm sure one day it will give you a pleasant surprise.
Oh, I keep my H. carnosa in a bright indirect window. I often forget to mist it but they do like that. I try not to let the soil dry out drastically and water when I stick my finger and the soil is dry about an inch deep. I've found that if I let them dry out more than that I run the risk of root rot and I've lost a couple that way. HTH's,
Gemila
I noticed yesterday a little tiny cutting setting a flower tip. I better go and check it now to see what is happening.
I've noticed age doesn' seem to matter but the size of the container just may. I have always heard that they like their roots crowded. This may or may not be true. The same is true for me when people start them in water, mine just won't rot, I have a friend who uses perlite only, but he has heat coils under the bench. I have heard and tried using pumice only and misting with a automatic misting system every 10 minutes. So it seems to me there there are always more than one way of doing everything.
This much I know is true --- the plant (pubicalyx) I inherited from a friend and has been in the same container for 20+ years blooms like crazy. The hoya bella I once observed planted in the ground within a 30x30 greenhouse and growing up a pole in the center, covered the ceiling with honey-dripping blooms that made me fall in love with hoyas in the first place. If I could recreate that I would be in heaven. In the meantime, I keep the cuttings I've received from benevolent members of DG in the smallest pots possible and hope for the best until I have a 30x30 greenhouse in which to experiment.
Hi all, I live in CA so it is easy for me to get the product VF-11
which seems to hurry up the process of setting umbles for me. I also tried it at the Huntington, and it worked there as well. They told me that it wouldn't work, I just chuckle. It also make plants that have been stubborn to grow, to all of a sudden send out vine, and vines that are bald when they start with this product set leaves. I didn't believe this at first, but now I sure do. I also think my hair is thicker where the mist falls on my head, of course I could just be a crazy old lady LOL HeHe Norma
Has anyone tried Spray-N-Grow? A knowledgeable friend recently recommended this for getting plants to flower. Just started using it, so it's too early for me to tell.
I believe there are as many systems to get plants to flower as there are growers out there LOL.
My current system which seems to somewhat work out is using 1/4 strength of balanced fertilizer for normal watering then using 2 weeks on-4 weeks off 1/4 strength bloom fertilizer (10-52-10) for watering in conjunction with sea weed extract foliar spray.
Also used some ATAMI bloom stimulator but can't say if it made a difference.
I have been doing some checking and found this site
Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory
http://www.countyparks.com/horticulture/domes/culture/hoya.html which states that they have to receive full sun in summer to bloom.
This message was edited Jun 17, 2004 2:19 PM
I have a rooted cutting sitting in front of me, three leaves only. It now has a rachis in flower with very sweet smelling flowers. I was surprised to see this happen. It also seems that all H. carnosa varieties, hybrids are in flower this time of year, all over the world. I really don't know what prompted this Carnosa to flower so early for me. If I knew the secret I would tell all of you. But I did get me Hoya lessons from all of you on this forum. Do you put a pinch of Agrig. lime in your pots, or water. I know this really promotes good growth on some of the H. species, but not all.
Regarding that they need full sun to flower, I would suspect that some do and some don't, I don't think all rules would apply.
It is my experience that there are a lot of factors going into "mature enough to bloom"...and all are unpredictable! I have plants I have given cutting of to a friend who lives 10 miles and 2 deg. warmer, away. SOME of his grow and bloom so much faster than mine...some don't. I am becoming convinced it is individual to the plant/cutting. I DO know that some cuttings will bloom out of a "survival" factor...
And...I am equally convinced that there isn;t a whole lot we can do about it. Some ferts. help, some don't, some light changes help, some don't. There are so few "golden rules"....
Alas...wish there were more.