Fertilizer advice, please!

Some of my Hoyas are showing a strange new growth defect. I've allready posted a picture of some new SBI-1 leaves which had strange mottled colors on the new growth, as well as some stunted growth in portions of the leaves. It was suggested by Carol that it was a nutrient dediciency, and I think that is probably right, but would like some advice on fertilizing regimens and type. I grow in 50/50 peat and perlite. The perlite has no nutrients to my knowledge, I don't know about the peat. I had used epiphytes delight, since this is a very light mix and I was not sure a regular fertilizer would break down properly for plant use. I had fertilized every three weeks or so at half strength. Some plants, such as carnosa types and australis (the more vigorous maybe?) seemed to be just fine with this, but SBI-1 still looks weird and now H. campanulata has the same defect, although no strange coloration. I think I'll switch to schultz 10-15-10 at half strength at every watering, for the time being. Input please!

Here is a closeup: note how portions of the leaf margin seemed to stop growing at some point, leading to a distorted leaf edge. These new leaves also seem smaller than normal.

And here is SBI-1:

That almost looks like sunburned leaves. What I have been doing lately, is 1/2 strength bloom, like shultz, once a week, then 1/2 strengh balanced the next week.
Heather

First of all: IT IS NOT A VIRUS. I had posted before about using a fert I thought was complete but wasn't....it was all micronutrients. David Liddle and I went around and around the mulberry bush trying to figure out what the heck was happening.... H. BSI-1 seems particularly prone to what ever the defect in the fert. is. I have switched to DynaGrow: it has totally balanced NPK andMacro and Micro nutrients...and distortions are going away. It also want much lower light. Mark, your mixture of Peat and Perlite may be a bit unbalanced....it would mean a lot of Perlite...and Perlite has a lot of something in it (small mind, can't remember...could be salts?)...I don't believe it is totally inert but I could be very wrong, here. If you added some fine orchid bark to the mix, it would give it more organic matter and not dry out so quickly... When peat dries out it is very hard to rewet. Just my 2cents.

I have heard that hoyas dont want any nutrition. So i dont give my hoyas anything more than water and provado ( to prevent bugs)....


This message was edited Aug 11, 2005 11:57 PM

This message was edited Aug 12, 2005 12:50 AM

Thanks Carol, I have used Dynagrow before, and liked it. The schultz, which I've also used on other plants, is good, but dosen't contain every micronutrient (molybdenum and copper, at least). I'll have to so some research on perlite, and see what exactly it has going on. I use that mix because it is so great for rooting. I've rooted everything in it except dischidia pectinoides, which seems to rot if you even drink a glass of water near it. I think I will add another organic amendment to my mix in the future!
Liljekovalj, every plant needs nutrients. Even cacti and succulents need small amounts on NPK and micros. Some cacti and succulent growers use something like 1/8th the recomended amount of fertilizer every so often. After all, the plants make energy from sunlight, but they have to have SOMETHING physical to make new growth out of.
Oh, and Carol, do you have any suspicions about which micronutrients (lack of) cause the Ugly Leaf Syndrome?

please don't tell me these hoyas are going to require a special diet. :(

8ftbed, no way! Most of them are very tough and don't need any special diet. Like any group of plants, though, some are more fussy than others...

Thanks markroy68! :-) Perhaps nutriton will make my hoyas and cactus even better than now!

Mark...if you google Micronutrient Deficiencies you will get a lot of crop photos of the signs. I have a theory that TOO much gives the same visual as NOT enough...Magnesium is one... -

Blaine...I top dress my plants with 14-14-14 Nutricote and then everyother time I water I give them a 1/2 strength complete fert. Starting in September you can start cutting out the additional fert and then in Feb. start hitting it with a bloom fert. Some say that after they are mature, you can give them much less nitrogen ..something like 10-50-10...and then you will get blooms in the spring and summer. If you grow them inside with lights and humidity etc...you CAN get blooms all year and not let them go to sleep.

So who else is out there, and what fertilizer do you use?

Hi Mark,

I usually give my plants a 1/4 strength equally balanced fertilizer such as a 20.20.20 with micronutrients at each watering and make sure the water runs through the pots thoroughly. This way I find the strength of fertilizer is not too strong to harm the plants and the 'flushing through' of the pots helps to avoid salt build-up which can eventually burn the roots -particularly as hoyas can be almost totally epiphytic in the wild and are only adapted to absorbing weak solutions of fertilizer from the bird droppings and decaying leaves etc., that are washed down the host tree or support when it rains. In many respects this treatment is the same that I use for epiphytic orchids which grow under similar conditions in their native habitats .

In winter, in my climate, I stop feeding: November-January.

It makes the feeding schedule really easy to follow this way, as you don't need to worry if you should be feeding or not when you water.

I do change to a fertilizer that is balanced for bloom boost in the spring on my more mature plants - again 1/4 strength, but with the small ones which are unlikely to flower anyway, i just carry on with the 20.20.20. For the small plants though, I don't think it's critical either way.

Matt

I use 1/4 strength Miracle Grow, which is a 15-30-15, nearly all the time. I'll use plain water for a week or two, twice or three times over the fertilizing season - here -early March - late Oct.

For my cacti, I use a wonderful product called Cactus Juice once every month or six weeks, during the same timeframe.

Christine

I alternate with Peters 20-20-20 and Peters bloom booster 10-52-10, always diluted to 1/4 strength. I use Peters african violet (12-36-14) for my african violets and I'll sometimes give that to the hoyas as well, rather than mix up a seperate batch. I also always add a drop of superthrive.

At Mel's suggestion, I also add a pinch of fertilizer and a drop of superthrive to my misting bottle and try to mist a couple times a day and I think that has been very beneficial. As a matter of fact the leaves are getting huge on some of my plants so I'm thinking of cutting back a bit on the dosage of fert. I pour on the soil. If the leaves on the carnosas and australis get any bigger, I'll run out of space for more hoyas!

I have never heard of the pinch of fertilizer in the mister, thats a great idea....thanks for passing that on....i am going to try that....

Sandy

Thanks, everyone. Mattadeus, I like the idea of a quarter strength solution at every watering, that does seem more logical, as I do tend to forget whether I fertilized last week or not. When you use quarter strength, do you water first? I know you are supposed to, but at this lower dosage it seems unlikely to burn the roots. (maybe thats what you were saying)
Christine, I've always heard that miracle grow can accumulate salts in the soil when used over a long period of time. Have you noticed anything like that? Maybe a white film on the outside of clay pots? (which can also be chlorine from tap water).

Ok, I just did a quick inventory. Only 6 of my hoyas are in clay pots, but I have a lot of other tropicals still in clay - I see evidence of salts on the outside of a few pots, but not the hoyas. Around the bottom 1" of nearly all of the clay pots though, there's white. When I transplant I do see the white stuff so scrub it off. So, you're saying I should find another fertilizer then? Or maybe just be more diligent about letting the chlorine dissipate before I water? How do I find out what the real cause is? I've used Miracle Grow forever, indoors, and also outside for my perennials and annuals. Now I'm getting paranoid and planning a flushing out for as many plants as I can manage...lol...a true obsessed hoya addict ... lol...
Christine

ceedub, a way to distill H20, is by letting it sit out for 24 hrs then water your plants with the "distilled" old water. At least, this is some of advice given to me. Now I have saved 4 milk gallons. Fill them all up, then use them as I need to. HTH.
Heather

Heather that's the only way I water my plants. I won't use water directly from the faucet. I have about 6 gallon bottles that I keep filled with water. I now have a large bucket full of rain water, due to all the rain we've received lately, so I'll be using that also.

Agape,
Awanda

Good tip. Thanks. :)

Christine,

to give you an unscientific report on tap water, i recently transplanted a philodendron into a large clay pot....i havent fertilized it since transplanting and i noticed the other day, it had the white residue on the outside bottom of it....i use miracle grow too but it wasnt from the fertilizer....i assume its from the tap water....hope that helps

Sandy

I think miracle grow is probably not going to kill any plants but the most salt-sensitive, but it has a bad reputation amongst gardeners (of which I am one) and probably dosen't help your plant with the excess salt buildup. Why not use something a little more fun? I think fertilizers appeal to the mad scientist in us all (look at the excitement over superthrive and that ellenors thingy). Does miracle grow have micro-nutrients? I don't think anyone should agonize over a fertilizer, I think any better quality fertilizer is probably fine, I'm just curious to other folks experience. When I fertilize outside plants I always use maxsea, which is a complete fertilizer with micronutrients and seaweed extracts. However, it does smell a bit tangy for house plants, so I wanted an alternative for the hoyas. And, of course, I want to spoil them.

Mark,

In answer to your question, I don't ususally water first with plain water before using fertilizer at this strength and have had no problems so far. I would however use plain water first if I was using it at full strength. I also flush through the pots at each watering which I think helps to maintain a comfortable level of salts in the soil. I don't believe I'm being particularly wasteful of fertilizer when I flush through using 1/4 strength feed, and it does make the process of watering and feeding much less laborious doing it this way.

Matt

So far I might have given my hoyas fertilizer once or twice a year. That's about the amount of times I remember it! I have also heard that they don't need much fertilizer to stay healthy and bloom, and obviously it has worked well for me. However, I do try to repot them every year.

Just because of this thread, I gave all my hoyas a vague dose of fertilizer. Didn't want to chock them!

Good night (= god natt) from Sweden!

Christina