huge problem afraid im loosing my baby!!!!!

19 years ago

i aquired this plant in november from a friend at work.his mother in law died and had this and 20 other various tropical plants i aquired them all.they had been outside(low-mid 30 degree temps) and grossly neglected.i repotted them all in a highly organic potting soil,they all were doing great!!!!!then (end of dec./january)they showed up with bugs anything from spring tails to pill bugs,earthworms.another type of worms i never been able to name.etc.i used an inscecidal soap.i was so upset.but there were no warnings for hoyas on the lable.it took two treatments to get all the bugs and i never thought to flush the pot until yesterday when i was looking through your forum.the girl at the nursery said that i was giving it to much water cause the leaves (two were turning yellow.)so i stopped watering them after the treatment.even though i didnt believe her.this plant had two vines in the pot they were fairly large. the one vine completely lost all the leaves.the second one is not looking verry well at all.the stems of the leaves attaching to the vines are shriviling up a few even look brown and mushy. and the leaves are turning brown.some of them even looked mushy if you will for lack of a better turm but now are shriviling too.the over all look of my poor baby is i guess you could say wilty......bad!i feel so bad you dont see these around here ive never seen one till now and i dont know what to do i really need help.i flushed the pot yesterday,took a cutting off it,used rooting hormone and put it in the pot with the momma,sprayed the plants with water(room temp) and wrapped it in the plastic you use for you windows tapped it but not before blowing in the bag like a balloon it is cloudy here and will be for a week so the usual window spot were it sits getting afternoon sun only but indirect light allday is kind out of the question...so for now i put it under a table lamp.please somebody tell me what to do it took a hundred an eighty degree turn for the worst after i listened to the girl at the nursery and its dying quick ive done all i can think of and ive spent 150.00 trying to bring them all back.out of all ive lost two baby spider plants before i realize the problem was bugs and they all are fine now but this one i dont want to loose this one too.please someone help me its been 9 years since i had plants i still rember most things and am slowly recalling other stuff(bugs) but for this problem im at a loss ive never had a plant do this before.and i cant find any information on this problem.please tell me if ive done something wrong or how to help my baby please help me.

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Comments (9)

vera
19 years ago
What kind of hoya is it? Different hoyas have different needs. Some of them love being moist all the time, some hate being too moist and need water only agter they dry out a bit. Also, check roots for rot. Look like the soil you used was contaminated with all those critters. The cutting you took - I would put it into the separate pot! preferably with the NEW clean soil (or other medium, again depending on what hoya is it, some ar every hard to root).
On a different note - it was very hard to read your post. Please if possible, use Capital letters at the beginning of each sentence and add a space in between them. Use of paragraphs will also make your post more readable.
xxchris76xx
Original Author
19 years ago
I'm not sure what type it is. The guy couldn't tell me anything about any of these plants except that he thought this one gets pink flowers on it..I've been researching them all, and all i have discovered that it is a hoya.It has medium sized,dark green, kinda ovalish shaped leaves...its a thick waxy type leaf...and it was white speckled slightly before all theses problems.It spent a month and a half/two months doing well in a bottom feeding pot (like you use if you go on vaction for two weeks)soil was damp only watered 2 times a month because of pot.. then i noticed the yellowing,and the bugs all at once.It did not have any flowers so its hard to really say what type it is.Anyway i did the insect bath ,then in two weeks I did it again like it recomended and I did not water it anymore after that because the girl said not to(about two/three weeks) the soil was barely damp in the bottom of the pot and dry at the top to the middle of the pot.)this seemed to be when it took a rapid turn for the worst.Then yesterday I poured two gallons water through the soil the water that came out of the pot was nasty it looked like strong tea at first then at end it ran clear.i did look at the roots yesterday also like you suggested,but didn't see anything that looked wrong.

I hope this is a little easier to read...I tend to go in freak out mode when I try to explain about this plant its really got me bothered...and no ones advise has worked I just hope its not to late.I loved this plant it was so beautiful at one time.Even without flowers it had character.Thanks for your reply if I can get a picture of it now online I will in the next couple of days.
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vera
19 years ago
Try this site for id http://www.shell.linux.se/mypos/hgalleri.htm It is in sweden, but just click on every letter (english), and you will get many great photos for an id.
If soil stays wet for such a long time it seems like it is too heavy and the plant was overwatered. Hoyas like a lighter more porous mix.
User
19 years ago
Hi Chris,

Sorry to hear of this problem; try looking at pix of Hoya Carnosa. From yr. description, it may be that & also Carnosas, being more common, are some of the more readily available Hoyas.

The punctuation & capitals you added helped a lot -- much easier to read, thx to you & Vera. Pls. consider punctuation, capitals and separate paragraphs almost like breaths, you gotta breathe once in a while (yes, even when one is freaked out, you poor thing!).

I really agree w/ Vera to pls. take that cutting out of Mama pot immdiately. The whole point is to try to save it (I'd take a few more cuttings if there were enough to spare & it were mine). By putting it back in w/ Mama plant, you're re-exposing it to whatever the problem is. Also, Hoyas don't really need rooting hormone, I'd even suggest you put the cutting(s) in a cup of plain water & let it root there. When the roots are a 1/2" or longer, then you can pot it up in fresh, new mix. Pls. read around this forum for good mixes, but you could also use some AV mix (AV = African violet) w/ added perlite if you don't know what else to use.

Vera has grown some beautiful Hoyas & shows good sense in their care, I'd be confident w/ her suggestions.

Growth that is soft to the touch or mushy is rot, pls. cut that off right away all the way back to growth that feels firm to the touch, pls. don't wait, as rot can spread very quickly.

I'm not sure the lights you added are a good idea, Hoyas are said to prefer bright, indirect light rather than direct. Even afternoon light alone should be OK.

I also think the enclosed bag, after the original neglect, then the bug treatment & minimal water, followed by flushing out & then bagging up is going to leave the mix too wet & likely to rot the plant further. I'd open the bag up at least halfway.

Personally, I think it would help the plant to stop trying anymore remedies right now, there have been too many changes in too short a time, the plant needs some time left alone to try & recover & just stabilize for a while.

Good luck w/ it. We're pulling for ya! Pls. post again in a wk or 2 w/ an update.
xxchris76xx
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks to all of you for your help.I'll post again and let you know what happens and what type I figure out it is.in a couple weeks.Thank you so much!
xxchris76xx
Original Author
19 years ago
All this bug treatment....and I open the bag to find little white dots crawling around in the dirt!!!!!Now what do i do? I took more cuttings off the plant. The stems look weird though...I dont understand, some sections are hollow? some are not?I love this plant,but i'm thinking i can do no more for this one.If you have any info...please help. the sections that are not hollow...I put in water but I'm not sure it will work...maybe I should go find another one somehow and start over?
xxchris76xx
Original Author
19 years ago
The site you sent me too. That was great.Thanks.The one that looks like mine is the one marked "Hoya Carnosa Unknown".But atleast I found that much out.Thank you very very much!!!!Now I just hope I can pull the poor thing thru' there isn't much left now though.

Thank you very much for everyones help!!!
vera
19 years ago
Carnosa is the most common type of hoya and most readily available in stores like Home depot, etc. Carnosa is also the easiest hoya to root in water. Only firm, green stem will have a chance of rooting. Hollow stem means rot - sorry! So, if you still have a firm part of the stem with at least 4, preferably 6 leaf nodes and a few leaves, try rooting it in plain water. If not - forget about it and get yourself a new healthy plant. Personally I am not good at nurturing sick small cuttings back to life, and easily throw them away. I much prefer to buy a good healthy plants if possible.
Welcome to the hoya world and beware - it is contagious, LOL.
xxchris76xx
Original Author
19 years ago
Plants are contagious for me period...
this one seems to be the most.I have 24 plants from diffrent tropical regions living in an extremely small apartment.My family asks if I think I live in the jungle.And every time I'm out I want to get a new baby and have to tell myself wait til you move its only a few more months!!!Yet I still keep compiling this list of plants to buy.

Thanks for the welcome...I wish I new of you all before now!!!Maybe I could have saved my baby alittle quicker.
Oh well...I'm going to hunt till I find several diffrent HOYAS ,and the one I had too.they are beautiful.and in the mean time I think I'll atleast try to pull this one thru...maybe I'll get lucky.And if not I atleast gave it a good shot.

Thanks to all of you for your help.You don't know how nice it is to have you here if I need you.Specially since this is a new type for me.THANKS!!!!!

huge problem afraid im loosing my baby!!!!!

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huge problem afraid im loosing my baby!!!!!

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