It has been suggested that I bring my question about repotting from another thread to a new topic.
I have a Hoya that has been in the same pot for many years and would like to know how to prune the roots for repotting. Also, considering that Hoyas as I understand them come to bloom easier when they are a little root bound, should I up-pot to the next size up or just what?
I will be waiting to hear some advice from the pro's on this too. I've never pruned any roots away unless they are dead. I always just pot up one size. Well, I have actually root pruned large ficus trees for repotting, just because those things can get massive and outgrow their pots quickly but for general house plants I only prune away dried or dead roots.
Have the roots grown out of the bottom drainage holes of that pot it's in? I see you have the plastic pot sitting down into another container. I would remove the plant from it's container and take a look at the roots to see how they look and judge by the size of the root mass as to how much larger of a pot it needs ... usually one size up is recommended for most plants. I've always heard if you pot up plant into too large a container, it will concentrate on filling the new container with roots before any new foliage.
It actually amazed me that roots aren't as tender as I'd thought. What I did was take the plant out of its pot, and, using a very sharp knife, cut the roots off about a half-inch all the way around, including the bottom. Then put fresh potting medium in a new pot (or even the same one), plop the plant back in, and voila, repotted. You can pot it up to the next size pot at this time if you wish, just don't go more than about an inch larger in size. One of our subscribers in Sweden repots all 200+ of her hoyas every spring using this method. Don't completely untangle the roots, but you might want to give them a bit of air if they're really packed in there, by tugging at them a bit.
Yes, hoyas like to be potbound to bloom, but their roots still need not to be so squashed that they can't take in nutrients!
The drawback of just potting up one size ad infinitem, is that eventually the plant gets so big, and the pot needs to be so big, that you've got a behemoth on your hands - that happened to me with my first hoya - a carnosa of course - and it ended up in a pot 2 foot diameter and deep on a six foot high trellis, that my cats used as a jungle gym when they were wee kittens.....sad story but the plant did recover ... eventually. And it gave them a never ending love of chewing on strings and ropes ...
Christine
Good advice, Christine... I pot UP until I like the size of the pot and then trim roots. Your hoya looks like a pubicalyx, and they can live for years in the same pot...did I say years? YES....10-15 years comes to mind!
Carol
Very good advice Christine, and I see what you mean about eventually the plant getting large and the pot being so big!
This past spring, I removed my old 1970's carnosa "Krimson Princess" from the very crowded hanging basket it was in. It was planted in the coco fiber moss stuff in a wrought iron hanging basket for quite a few years. The coco fiber disintegrates over time so every year I would just stuff more fiber down into the basket. Then, I decided to repot it entirely. I divided the plant and potted it up into two large pots. I probably should have just root pruned and planted it back into the same basket, or another hanging basket. They seem happy in the separate pots, but they are heavy! I'm glad my DH has one of those hand truck things ... it comes in handy when I need to move large potted plants. I have a Ficus tree on the pool deck that is very large and heavy as well as a couple of other plants.
VERY nice....great trellises. I still have to use Tomato Cages!!!! Low tech here in paradice.
Thanks ladies! Those are the trellises I spoke about a month or so ago. I wanted something sturdy and went looking in the huge shed out back. My DH is a pack rat and I have yelled at him so many times over the years about saving so much "stuff"! Well, I don't think I will yell about it ever again. When we bought this house in 1975 it had a cement patio out back with those aluminum railings. We had the patio enclosed into a room back in the late 70's and had the pool put in. Anyway, I was rummaging through the shed and found two of those aluminum railings and dragged them out and asked him if he could cut them in half ... bingo, four trellises! One is being used for a Jasmine, two are for those hoyas and the fourth is used for a night blooming Epiphyllum. I need to call around and see if I can find more to cut up, LOL ... they are very sturdy and great for vines!
Oh ... that pussy cat is "Miss Princess" who should have been named "Queen" as she thinks she is ruler of this house and the other cats! When my Mom passed four years ago we inherited her and she has taken over. The other cats tolerate her but she tries to pick fights with them all the time! Not fun when you get woken up in the middle of the night with horrendous cats screeching! They don't have front claws (indoor kitties) so they don't hurt each other, just bat their paws at one another and scream and hiss!
