Hi there and welcome. You'll be changing your name to "hoyaaddict" in no time! Cowboyflowerman has great plants. None of my hoyas are hanging plants. Most of them are left to have their vines hang, but I don't put them in hanging baskets. A few are on trellises...if you want them to climb up you should make a trellis out of a coat hanger or you can buy them. As for care, there's tons of info on here if you do a search. But here are the basics:

- They should be in a fast draining soil, not regular potting soil. There are a ton of opinions as to what mixtures are best, so do a search and decide for yourself. But the most important thing is that it's not in a soil that will stay moist. These plants don't like wet feet. Cowboyflowerman uses good soil, so there is no need to repot.
- Let the soil completely dry out between waterings. Not all hoyas like this, but most do, especially the ones you have.
- They like bright but not indirect sun
- They like to be rootbound/potbound, so do not pot them in a big pot. The pots that Cowboyflowerman sends them in is perfect for the size of plants he sends. You won't have to upgrade until the plant gets pretty large (usually you can tell by roots coming out of the drainage holes). Keeping the plants rootbound can also encourage blooms.
- These plants love humidity, so put a humidity tray underneath. Put stones or pebbles on the tray so that the water in the humidity tray doesn't reach the bottom of the pot (if that happens, the water will work itself up into the soil and cause root rot). The tray should preferrably be as large as the foliage spans. You can use pretty much anything for a tray. You can use regular plastic trays sold in nurseries, or you can use any household item that would do the same thing (Pirate Girl uses the gallon ice cream covers which is pretty brilliant and cheap). For extra humidity, you can also mist the foliage. Many people think it's a waste of time because it dries up pretty quickly, but it can't hurt, so if you have the time to do it several times a day, why not?

That's about all I can think of for now. There are many members on here that are far more experienced than I am, so I'm sure you'll get more tips.

Good luck with your new hoyas!
Gabi

Well Gabi,

You're turning into quite the Hoya pro, nicely done w/ the basics there, good on ya!!!

Slight correction pls, did you mean to write "bright, but not indirect"??

May I pls. change it to bright but indirect? Tho' some folks do give them some direct, esp. to get them to bloom. Speaking personally, in shelves perpendicular to my west windows, mine get some direct, mostly bright indirect (only a few of mine have bloomed), but w/ my Eleanor's arriving in a week, I hope that will change.

Sandi,

Hi & welcome to the Wild & Wacky Wonderful World of Hoyas, very addictive & fun, even if mine mostly haven't bloomed. I've got abt 35 of them, w/ maybe 8 duplicates in the bunch.

Another slight correction (thanks for the Kudos, Gabi), I use plastic lids from pints, not gallons of ice cream w/ pebbles in them, this size fits perfectly under 3-4" pots, which is mostly what I use.

To answer yr questions, yes, I think you chose well for starters, I'd avoid H. compacta (Rope Hoya) for a while, that can be a tricky one (I gave up on it after killing a few). I Only briefly had a Cummingiana which I lost, don't know the Picta & have a carnosa Tricolor, which doesn't do much for me & I beleive is very slow growing in general. I'd suggest you keep an eye out for Lacunosa, pretty easy, but wants moister conditions. Some folks say Multiflora (also wants more moisture, which is an easier bloomer) is an easy one, but I've lost a few of these too.

Most of my Hoyas are NOT in hanging baskets, I prefer to have them, just like Gabi said, in smallest possible pots on small pebble trays on the shelves I put up. They hang as they want, or climb up trellises.

For my Pubicalyxes which get long, wild, vines which tangle up in each other, I used wire hangers which I shaped into hoops & have carefully, but not tightly secured the vines to the hoops so they grow round & round on the circular hoops.

Come Spring I'm going to order from CowboyFlowerman, I've heard/read raves abt his plants from everybody, am excited at the prospect of it. That's all I've got for now.

Enjoy, may your new Hoyas do well for ya!

Oh wow...thanks PG. Yes, I did mean bright but indirect!! I recheck my posts all the time but I guess I missed that one.
And that YOU for the kudos....I've learned it from you all :-)
I'm glad you finally got your Eleanor's. Looking forward to hearing how you like it.
Oh, by the way..I didn't realize you used pint sized lids...my apologies for giving the wrong info.
And I'm glad you're planning on ordering from Cowboyflowerman...he has GREAT plants (and good soil too, so no need to repot). He should start paying me for my advertising on this site! But seriously, you'll be pleased. Let me know what you think when you get them.
Gabi

Thank you Gabi and pirate girl. I think I saw that lucanosa at Lowes today. I will have to see if it is still there tomorrow. I went to a local nursery I go to about twice a week and got what I believe to be a Krimsom Queen and a Krimson princess or a Rubra(not sure which). I would love to get my hands on a variegated kerrii, absolutely georgeous!
Pirate girl, on the shelves you have, are they lighted with flourescent lights. I have 3 that I could use for Hoyas if that is enought light for them? I keep the lights on about 10 to 12 hours and my AV's are bloomin their heads off.
On that note, Av's are supposed to need humidity, but I do nothing to make more and they thrive, as do my streps. Although I have waaaayyy to many of them, so maybe they are so close they make their own humidity. Do Hoyas really need the extra humidity or does it just help. I know every plant is different. I have an idea for extra humidity. Egg crating. This is the white plastic grid used for flourescent lighting in office buildings. You can find it at Lowes and HD in the lighting dept. One sheet of it is about $10.00. Just find a sturdy tray and cut the egg crating to size, put water in the tray and put the egg crating on top, Hoyas on top of that and viola, humidity! Just refill water as needed.
I think I will soon have too many Hoyas. It could be worse, I could be addicted to diamonds!!
Thank you, Sandi

Just to prove that everyone grows a little differently... I read an article several years ago by a gentleman with a lot of Hoya expertise (can't even remember who it was now...) who said that the watering practices of most Hoya growers was holding back their Hoyas. He said that he watered his Hoyas regularly, not letting them "dry out completely" as most Hoya growers do, and he had substantial success with both growth and flowers. Well, at that point, I started watering my Hoyas more and I've seen a vast improvement in mine. As the gentleman pointed out, there are Hoyas that should be kept dryER than others, but most need much more than the accepted practice of allowing them to dry. So my point is, experiment a little with your watering and see what works for you. A lot of it depends on your soil and how much heat and sun they get... And I don't use humidity trays on any except serpens. I do saturate them with Eleanor water every time I water and sometimes a couple times between waterings, depending on how busy I am.

Most of my Hoyas get some direct morning sun - those that I grow in the house hang on little teacup hangers that are in the woodwork behind the curtains, so they hang so some of the foliage touches the glass. After the sun gets up high, then they're getting bright indirect sun reflecting off our close neighbor's white house. The rest grow in my GH off my kitchen - again, lots of morning and mid-day sun (although my roof glass has a coating that filters the hottest rays of the noon sun...)

Sandi, the two carnosas should be easy for you. Cummingiana is a little pickier about water - a little too little or too much and it seems to want to drop leaves. But it comes right back, so don't let it intimidate you. I have yet to get mine to bloom even though I've gotten it to the point that it grows well for me. I've had it probably at least 10 years, so it should be blooming! Dang thing!

Another great EA Hoya to look for is tsangii (now DS-70.) It's a constant bloomer for me. Lacunosa is a good one, but can be a challenge for even an experienced grower because it seems much fussier than other Hoyas. I now grow mine in the north window of my sun room and it's starting to bloom up a storm (which defies logic, to me...) But the EA plants are big and inexpensive and I think they're a cheap way to try different Hoyas.

Happy growing!

Denise in Omaha

Hi Sandi and welcome to the Hoya Forum. You've fallen in with some real crazies here.

PG it sounds like you'll soon have some valuable data to offer on Eleanors VF-11 since your other conditions will remain constant.

Denise so true, so true. I give my Hoyas almost full sun in the winter and they love it. Nothing has burned. I also give my hoyas lots more water than most folks. Some of them are in an area that gets quite cool at night and I do let these dry out more between waterings. Heres the one thats really gonna make yall cringe: I left my EA plants I bought last fall in their original pots and planting mix! I will probably repot soon as everything seems to like some fresh soil now and then. I've found that removing the drain tray goes a long way toward drying them out. Lots of different things can work depending on your conditions.

Well I agree w/ Denise, we all do things a bit differently.

Sandi, I don't know of folks who use supplemental lights for their Hoyas (except one friend who uses them on Nummularioides & it blooms often). I do not use lights as I have good natural light, I don't need it. Also, I don't have the space for the egg grate, I like the ice cream lids 'cause I can use one each on a small plant & it works fine, all w/ individual lids w/out it affecting its neighboring plant.

Funny Denise, I find Lacunosa very easy, I've split mine in two & I do water it more often than the rest, I use a wick w/ it (for good drainage, trick from Al Tapla of Ficus expertise) w/out a reservoir, which I let dry out .

Sandi, I'd skip the variegated Kerrii, it'a a tricky one, I've lost 2 & know many folks who've lost it, it seems quite finicky.

The all green Kerrii on the other hand is very easy & a vigoruous grower. Mine grows largely upright along side a stake (my biggest is hooped). No muss, no fuss, roots readily, propagates easily.

Yeah Fred, I'm looking forward to my E VF-11, conditions will likely remain constant, except of course for the arrival of Spring, yippie. I've got a bit of a Shepardii spur for months now, hope to kick it into gear.

Also I have what I'm hoping are coming spurs on a Pubicalyx which is quite rootbound. Two odd bits of stem that don't elongate for a while now, on otherwiwse bare stems, I think it's spurs on the way (I've seen other Pubicalyx w/ blooms on otherwise bare stems, so I'm hoping.

Thank everyone for the help and advice. Before I read the post, I added a variegated Kerrii to my order. Oh well, we will see how I do with it.
I was at Lowes today and saw a Hoya Kentiana,(which I'm pretty sure it is) because I saw it this afternoon, came home to research it, made sure it was what it said it was, and went back and bought it. Now,
-should I repot it in new soil or just leave it? The soil I use for my av's is a potting soil like Miracle grow or another kind that comes in a yellow bag, both have fertilizer, and I put approx. half perlite. Would this be ok?
-is it a water lover or let it dry a bit between waterings
-on the vines that are hanging of my kentiana, there seems to be roots? just above the leaves, are they roots? and why are they there? Seems a bit strange.
-can I cut off the yucky looking leaves or will it hurt the plant?
Sorry for all the questions, I will get the hang of it eventually, I just need to keep reading.
Thank you, Sandi

Sandi I have a couple of variegated kerrii and both are in clay pots. I find that if you let them dry out before watering, they will be okay. Everyone has their own potting mixture they use. It's trial and error in finding what works the best for you. The main thing is to make sure it's a fast draining mix.

Thank you,
I have clay pots and after they it gets used to my home I will repot it.
I was just looking at some old posts of people trying to find out what the name is of their plant and I have decided that if I find a EA plant I am just going to bring it home and enjoy it, I'm not going to worry about the name, since they have basically the same care, it really doesn't matter to me I guess what the name is. I will have a headache trying to figure it out. What I am going to do is go to Home Depot tomorrow and get the plant labeled Bilobata, which I believe is always mislabeled and is actually ts-70 or tsangii and is an easy one.
Then I am done!!! HAHA I WAS supposed to be downsizing!
Sandi

Sandi,

Don't worry about the arial roots - they develope in high humidity and will probably just fall off or dry up naturally as it acclimates to your environment.

I hope your so-called "bilobata" is a tsangii (DS-70) because it's one of the best. It could also be an incurvula (mine came as bilobata...) The leaf size is about the same, but tsangii has leathery leaves that are a bronzish green on top, smoother and lighter underneath. Incurvula has very light green leaves that are smooth and the same color underneath.

I haven't tried the standard variegated kerrii myself, but I have the reverse variegate and it took it forEVER to start growing. I've had it two years and I think last year it put on one new leaf, but I've got a new set that put on this winter and a new set coming on, so maybe this will be the year I see some real activity with it. The pics you see of these plants are so lush and full - makes you wonder how those growers are getting such great plants from a species the rest of us have so much trouble with!

Denise in Omaha