I need advice, to add some color to my green thumb!! I have two hoya plants growing indoors - one that never blooms, but grows like a trooper and a hindu rope hoya (in a different location) that blooms happily. The one that isn't blooming is in a bright location, no direct sun. I'm hoping I won't have to relocate it.....anyone have any thoughts about things I could try?
A pale green hoya thumb
Sounds like you have a nice green thumb MomDL - H. compacta is not that easy to bring to bloom.
Questions:
Is your 'sad' hoya over potted? They like their roots nice a snug.
What is your 'sad' hoya...do you know? Sometimes the light can be TOO bright...but usually that will stress the plant and force it to bloom, or it will just look sick. Thin leafed hoyas generally want more shade as they are understory dwellers.
What fertilizer are you giving it?
Are you watering it sufficiently? Hoyas in bright light often need more water...and humidity. Do you mist it?
Carol
Yes, I was quite surprised when the rope hoya first bloomed! I never knew that hoyas like humidity. Guess where I keep it? In the bathroom window, where it would get nice warm mist twice a day!!!
I don't know what kind of hoya the 'sad' one is. I'll attach a photo. I will try giving it more to drink, and misting it. Someone told me to not water it much over the winter and that might force it to bloom. Well THAT didn't work!! I don't think the pot is too big - if you look at the picture, perhaps you can tell? I'll post a full size picture also. For fertilizer I use liquid Miracle Grow for houseplants, maybe once a month or so and then once a year (or so) I give all my plants a Miracle Grow houseplant food spike.
Here is a full size picture of the plant
A wild guess is H. pubicalyx... one of them.
It can take full sun and bloom (but the leaves look horrible)...mine do. LOTS of watering...fast draining soil. It will bloom on long bald vines, and then the vines will fill up with leaves. It IS one that likes lots of water...but can also survive with little or infrequent waterings. Humidity would be great....on a pebble tray? How long have you had it?
Carol
I've had it for four years, and it was tiny when I got it. I just watered it until it drained all the way through (onto the plant below it :-) and misted it. You may have noticed it's next to the fireplace and up here in NH we can use all the heat we can get during the winter!! So it's in a spot that would tend to keep it dried out. So......moisture, moisture, moisture and we'll if that makes it a Happy Hoya!
How does a pebble tray work? Thanks!
Pebbles are put in a plant tray (saucer) and then water is put into it, up to the top of the pebbles. The plant pot goes on top of the pebbles...the the little stones keep the bottom of the pot from sitting in water. I'm sure you could use something else.
As the water evaporates, the plant gets more humidity....
Yes...water until the water comes out the bottom (a shower is a wonderful place to water a plant....and give it a bath...and humidify it...they love it.
The plant looks healthy. You should have blooms soon....
;~)
Thanks for your help! Much appreciated :>))
Hmmm....I'm probably wrong as I am no hoya expert by a LONG shot, but that looks more like a couple of hoya carnosa's that I have than it does like the several h. pubicalyx I have. I would also add that it may need a bit more bright light or dappled sun to bloom. Mine would not bloom in the house at all. Then I put them outside under the branches of a tree where they got a little sun a fresh air, and now they bloom like crazy. Just a thought or two.
Marcy
Marcy...darn girl, you are RIGHT!!! It does look more like the H. carnosa...sudden brain burp!!! And, yes...outdoors where they get wrap around breeze and fresh air does them wonders... However, where you have it located sounds good - H. carnosa does very well in darker situations too. They are famously slow to initiate bloom...
Carol
My hindu rope spends the entire spring and summer hanging under my back deck where it receives very bright indirect light. It stays nice and green there.
I bought the plant a little over 3 years ago and it was in one of those 6" hanging pots from Exotic Angel Plants. It hung just about and inch or so below the bottom rim of the pot when I bought it.
Now at almost 4 years old it is about 9ft in length and is covered from top to bottom in blooms . It is almost never without flowers except for about 2 1/2 - 3 months during the winter. Currently it probably has about 60 flower peduncles on it. When I kept it inside my house I would have to move it from beside my bed when it bloomed because I don't like the way the flowers smell.
It really needs to be pruned but I hate to destroy the appearance of the plant because it is so long and full. The plant is so heavy that I had to make a special hanger out of 3/4 inch chain link just to supoprt it.
Catsmeow,
that description definately calls for a pic of that hindu rope in bloom!.....
Sandy
Wow...yes, would love to see a pic of that. Just curious....did you pot it up any from the 6" EA pot, or change the soil it was in? So many people are saying that EA soil holds too much water.
Marcy
Sandy,
I took pics of it but I have a problem finding them once I download them from the camera. I had to have my computer ovehauled last spring and have had a problem finding my pics ever since. When I open the photo suite the pics are there but I cant locate them when I do a browse to post them here.
Marcy,
that plant has been potted up more than once since I got it. It just will not stop growing.It is now in one of those bowl type shallow planters like you would plant a mixed garden in, I think it may be about 14-16" across but less than 10" deep. As for the soil,I used a cactus and succulent type soil to plant it in but the original rootball is still intact with the EA soil . Seems like the brand of soil I use may be Scotts cactus and succulent. I buy it from Lowes and Home Depot. Less than $2 per bag and I use a LOT of it considering the fact that my hoya collection has now reached about 60 in number and my cactus collection is nearing 100 + or - a few .
My rope also bloomed very early and by early I mean within a year of me purchasing it. My grandmother had one for years and I only remember seeing it bloom once and it seems like she had it forever before it put on it's first flower show.
I wish I could get a pic of it though. A lot of people would probably think I am exaggerating the size but it hangs on my deck right up almost touching the house. That part of the roof is well over 8ft high and the plant hangs from that rafter and it touches the floor of the deck.
I overwinter it in my gh and when I bring it out for the spring I have to sit the pot on top of my head and let the ropes drag the ground,and I am 5ft 10. It's the only way I can transport it from the gh to the deck and I have to watch every step so I don't step on it or trip over it.
So H. carnosa - it feels GOOD to know what it's name is!! I would be afraid to put either of my hoyas outside - the weather is somewhat less predictable in New England!! But the carnosa is in a very bright, but not direct light. I'll try the moisture treatment first. We'll see.
These hoyas have something on us - kind of a hype, you know, like a sales strategy. They hold out on us to get us more excited about them, so that when they actually DO bloom, we're all crazy about it. I can't wait to see what the carnosa blooms look like!
My rope hoya went nuts when I first got it, it's not so much that the vines got ridiculously long, but the plant got so thick I had to separate it into two pots. It's when I separated it that it bloomed. It's a fascinating plant. Thanks for all your advice. I'll post a pic of the carnosa when it does bloom.