I received this lovely Hoya (?ID?) in my 1st plant trade. I have had a Rope and a Krimson princess for a number of years, not knowing what they were, that did very well, flowering prolifically ea summer for me. Now I have ? maybe 7 types and , quite honestly feel a little like a new mom of quads, hooping that I am giving them the right care, as best an environment as possible, etc - that I can.
This little gal just doesn't look happy to me. Leaves look shriveled (?? to much / to little water, light, ? temp - I keep my house fairly cool in the winter (night 60& - 65*, day 68* to 75* if warm day outside). The past week has been pretty cool. mostly 60* to 76* on a few days.
Any input will be greatly appreciated.
I am a very hopeful new Hoya mom. (Just wish I'd kept better track on their individual names.)
Thanks so very much!
Sheri
Darn it all!! Of course you cannot me anything without seeing the plant and of course my dig cam is messing up. I must buy a new chip , I guess--------
In th e meantime I will just have to try to describe the problem that has me concerned:
it is one of the tiny leaved ones. Each leaf being about 1" by 2/3" and pointed. many of the leaves just don't look 'full" to me, sort of like they are in need of fluid in their little cells. also there is one stalk that is now turning yellow, which i know is not good.
Perhaps this is to vague without a picture, but I am hoping that someone out there can give me some helpful tips or something. I do not want to loose this plant. It is very special to me.
Its planting medium is orchard mix and it is planted in one on those clay orchid pots that has holes around it. (Lin - it is one of yours)
Thanks again
BB
SOS!! Does this Hoya look well? What to do? Type?
BirdieBlue: I got your name in the September Houseplant swap and I sent you two hoyas in the box. One was carnosa Krimson Princess and the other was H. lacunosa. From your description it sounds like the H. lacunosa that you are having difficulty with.
I don't know what advice to give as I just grow by trial and error and am having some problems with a couple of hoyas myself, that I received recently.
I remove the plant from the container, check the roots to see if they look healthy and trim off any dead or decaying roots. The yellowing vine can be cut back until you see if you have any viable/live stem there at all. I have had yellowing vines and cut and cut and find no life left in that part of the plant. I usually remove the plant from the pot to look at the roots. Hopefully they are white and healthy and not shriveled and tan in color. If the roots look dried or "iffy" looking, I soak the entire plant in a couple of drops of Superthrive and warm water for an hour or two before repotting.
Just like with any plant, yellowing could be a sign of over watering, under watering, sudden temperature change or just normal die back. I've had vines on a couple of hoyas dry out, turn yellow/tan and just die. I always assume it has something to do with the roots. If they aren't getting enough water, food or air circulation the problem starts there and works it's way up through the stems and leaves. You can try repotting in fresh medium to see if that helps but I think the yellow vine is probably not salvageable. Sometimes I've had to just do as a lot of others have and cut any remaining stems into pieces to start new plants.
Thanks Ladylin! You always have some good suggestions. that rabbits foot fern also has a couple of yellow leaves. I'm sure I'm not over watering, but guess I'd better check roots. Is 60* at night too cold for these plants?
Sheri
The Kangaroo Paw Fern: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/106932/ does get yellowing leaves sometimes when it's either too much wet or when it's too dry. I have two large ones that I pulled a bunch of dead leaves off of a few days ago. They were bone dry. I watered them well and they perked back up. 60 degrees is not too cold at all! We got down to 46 or 47 here last night and my plants were fine. I had moved my orchids indoors and a couple of little hoya cuttings but all of my other plants stayed outside. I threw sheets over a few things, just in case it got any colder than that.
Birdie: Here's the link for Rabbits Foot Fern: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54822/ and here: http://www.srtrop.com/ferns/humata.htmlI don't know if this is the one you are talking about. If so, you got it from someone else. But, I always thought those didn't like to be too wet either. Maybe that's why I've killed a few ... not giving them enough water? ^_^
The one I sent you in the houseplant swap is the Kangaroo Paw Fern which likes to be kept moist but not soggy: http://www.srtrop.com/notes/kanga_c.htm Mine goes completely dry between waterings as I am a lazy plant mom but we have enough humidity here year round that I guess the moisture in the air helps.
Lin,
You are so right , the kangaroo paw is what I have (Do the "paws" need to be able to hang over the sides of the pot?)...I am waiting on some of those white plastic labels so that I can ID everything appropriately.
Anyway, did I do right by planting it in orchid mix mixed in with the miracle Gro to lighten it up or is it one that likes to be moist, so the miracle grow would have been fine.
To be honest, now that I have a few Hoyas and have been reading about amending or planting in orchid mix, I may be planting some of my things in to light a medium. Used to just amend the MG with per-lite and maybe a little Sand and peat and sometimes some Styrofoam peanuts in the bottom for drainage if using a big pot to lighten the weight. Now I am adding a lot of the orchid mix or orchid bark.
Again, anybodies 2cents is welcome.....heck a penny's worth is good for me! hehehe!!
Wing waves and happy gardening to ya (in thee warmer states!) ;-)
Sheri
Sheri, I use the same soil mixture for all of my plants. It consists of Potting Soil, lots of Perlite and lots of Orchid Bark. That is what works best for me because with our humidity I need a fast draining medium.
Thanks all for the tips. I apppologise for the confusion about which fern I had. Lin was right, it is a kangeroo paw that indeed came from her.
Happy gardening to all
"Sheri, I use the same soil mixture for all of my plants. It consists of Potting Soil, lots of Perlite and lots of Orchid Bark. That is what works best for me because with our humidity I need a fast draining medium".
Lin--do you use the orchid bark in your Gesneriads also? I've actually used it in my ferns, hoyas, and a couple of gessies just b/c it seemed like a good idea at the time. Have not tried it with AV's though. How much do you add to the perlite and soil?
I haven't used that mix with Gesneriads yet but am seriously thinking about it next time I repot some things! I don't have too many Gessie's anymore, about 10-12 Chirita's and a couple of Episcia's. I tried wicking AV's and things but the mix just seemed to stay way too wet, even though I had lots of perlite in the soil, so I quit wick watering last year. I ended up getting mites or something last spring also, so had to throw out lots of things. I seem to have pretty good luck with Chirita's. Some are planted right into those two part self watering AV pots and some are just sitting down inside the outer pot (one of these days I will get around to planting them, LOL.)
For all other plants I just take a large tub and dump in soil, orchid bark and perlite. I don't measure anything because I am lazy ... I mix it up with my hands and just visually decide when I think it's chunky enough for good drainage. I have been growing house plants for forty years and in the beginning I couldn't keep anything alive for long because I was over watering ! Back in the 80's when I was working long hours and the plants became ignored they seemed to thrive, so that's how I began to treat them, they seem to do well if I neglect them. I only water once a week during the hot dry months of summer and every other week if we get rain. In winter time it's sometimes once every month and a half. They don't look so good sometimes but in spring when I get back to the regular routine they seem to start growing again. With our high humidity that method seems to work for me. Oh, and that's just for plants outside around the pool and on the deck and porches! I use the garden hose to water them!
Inside plants that aren't in the self watering AV pots, I water probably every two weeks if they look dry. I just try to keep a watch and not let them dry out too much.