Good morning Denise. Thanks for the information. I should have stated that the leathery leaves are closer to the soil level, the other foliage is all healthy. You are right that it may have dried out. Due to a death in the family, we had to quickly pack up and leave for 10 days. I've given it a good drink since we got back. I'm planning on switching to Bloom Plus fetilizer hoping to get more flowers. It seems that ever since I got my greenhouse and grow more bedding plants and perennials, my houseplants are suffering. Thanks. Marg

Hi, I had the exact same problem with my big, old carnosa! It was getting new spring growth at the tips, but the older leaves were leathery and wrinkled. Some leaves were even yellowing and dropping. I water very sparingly in the winter, but the soil seemed moist, at least on the surface. When I poked around in the soil, I did notice some pockets of dryness, though. It was hard to know what to do as root rot and drought seemed equal possibilities; so I took a deep breath and put it in a bucket of water overnight and gave it a good soak. I am happy to report that this did the trick and within two weeks the leaves were plump and shiny and more new growth was evident. (I did take cuttings in case of root rot.) It seems that I have not been watering deeply enough, so in the future I will plan on an occasional soak, even in winter. And also spritz more in the winter.

Jane13, that sounds exactly like what is happening to mine! Denise already suggested that it wasn't taking up enough water and now I know for sure. It is already showing signs of 'plumping up' since I watered it when we returned. I also was told not to water or fertilize to much during winter. I don't fertilize at all during winter but now I'll be sure to water more often. Thanks ladies. Marg

I read an article a few years back about Hoyas and how the general consenses of "not too much water" was holding back most people's Hoyas. He said he watered his regularly, year round, didn't let them get too dry. Since I read that article, I've been much more generous with water and I feel far more successful growing Hoyas. I wish I could find that article to share... I'll have to dig around and see if I can find it as I throw NOTHING away that pertains to plants!

Denise in Omaha

Marric, I am glad your hoya is recovering nicely! It is very hard to deeply water these old gals if they are in hanging pots. With the branches going everywhere you can't take them down for a soak and wash in the sink.

I didn't give mine any fertilizer as Denise suggested, but I will be sure to the next time I water. Also reading this forum I see that most hoya lovers do not use a standard potting soil; maybe another soil won't dry out to the point that it is so difficult to rewet. I will try that next time I repot.

Got to go - there is a bumblebee in the house. A sure sign of spring!
Jane

Sounds like what happened to several of mine this winter. I was busy, the heat was on, the house was dry and the hoyas got so dry they lost a lot of their roots. I'm glad you're seeing results just from watering. That didn't help mine (they'd lost too many roots), so I took them out of soil and put them into s/h. Within a day or two, they had recovered, and they are now growing happily in Hydroton. So for those who don't see results with watering, there's still hope...

Amanda