Hoya serpens? Hoya newbie checking in for advice

14 years ago

Hello,

I decided to give hoyas a try and have ordered several from places online. In the meantime, I bought one locally that I believe is Hoya serpens:

As you can see, it has both peduncles and buds, though whether that lasts... I know it's not the easiest species, and it's ailing to begin with, though at least I got it cheap. I'd still like to see it survive, though.

So far I've repotted it in a soil/orchid soil/perlite mix and hung it about a foot and a half from a south-facing window. I only have north- and south-facing windows, so I opted for what I thought was best. It's hung high, so it shouldn't get direct sun in the summer, and very little if any in winter.

I've also bought a fertilizer, though I know not to fertilize it at this time. It's an orchid fertilizer with an NPK of 2-2-2, since I recalled reading something about 10-10-10 being good. Now, upon further reading, I see mentions of a high P number to encourage flowers, but would this still be a good general fertilizer?

Wow, that was a long screed. Anyway, any advice would be great.

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Comments (7)

kellyknits
14 years ago
I, too, keep mine in a south facing window and it's doing well!
Your buds look good! Mine is throwing out lots of peduncles, but no buds as of yet...
I'm too up on fertilizers so hopefully someone else can answer that for you!
Kelly
mdahms1979
14 years ago
I think the fertilizer you got will be fine. A balanced fertilizer is good for all around growth and flowering. A fertilizer with a high first number has more Nitrogen and is used for growth but can inhibit flowering in certain plants and overuse can cause growth that is attractive to insect pests. Fertilizers with a high middle number have high Phosphorus and are often called bloom boosters for their abilities to bring plants into bloom or to increase bloom size or numbers but Phosphorus also helps with root growth.

I always mix fertilizer at only half the strength recommended on the bottle unless it was designed for epiphytes like orchids.

Mike
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citosa
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you to the both of you; it's good to know that I'm doing reasonably well.

Does anyone have any thoughts on whether the ID is correct?
mdahms1979
14 years ago
By the look of the leaf in the photo I would say you plant is Hoya serpens, this one has fairly unique leaves so it's easy to identify.

Mike
citosa
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you, Mike. I like knowing what I have.
User
14 years ago
While it's been a few years since I grew this one I don't recall it being fuzzy like that, seems unusual to me.
citosa
Original Author
14 years ago
To the naked eye it doesn't look hairy at all. I believe it was just chance, with the angle and the flash bringing out the hairs.

Hoya serpens? Hoya newbie checking in for advice

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kellyknits

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Hoya serpens? Hoya newbie checking in for advice

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