Hoya Spa/Hoya ______ is mad at me.

12 years ago

I'm currently wrestling with the decision between splitting up my photo sets to separately themed accounts and going pro with Flickr (spoiler: Of course I'm just going to end up with a paid account).

While going through my old photos I discovered this:

This is what my H. pachyclada looked like when I received the cutting from David. Can you see me shaking my head sadly at my computer screen? This is the same plant that I have recently referred to as a "single-leafed refugee." Oh, yes, it's very much alive and bursting with new growth, having survived the torturous overwatering I gave it this winter. However, I am shocked... SHOCKED by how far it has fallen since it was lovingly entrusted into my hands. I don't usually suck this much, I swear.

So, my question for you guys is:

If given the chance to send ONE Hoya from your collection to a recuperative spa, where kind angels nursed it back to glory and you didn't have to stare at its accusingly bare nodes, WHICH Hoya would you send?

(Feel free to share the gory details of how it got to be a spa candidate, so that we all may learn a thing or two about what NOT to do. Before/After pictures are a plus. I'll post a current picture of my pachyclada this weekend so that no one has to feel lamer than me.)

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

quinnfyre
12 years ago
Mindorensis. For sure. It is a one leafed wonder now, sadly. It was one of the hoyas that did not take kindly to the funk of 2011, and dropped most of its leaves. Not that it had a ton to begin with, but still. It is in my terrarium now, enjoying higher humidity and more frequent watering. Fitchii, right next to it, is putting it to shame. It looks marvelous. Mindorensis is just sitting there with its one leaf. Hey, at least it still has that. I put it in the terrarium with three, and it promptly dropped two. I thought it was going to be mega sad, but as long as it's got that one leaf, I can foliar feed it, and it has a better shot photosynthesizing. Here's hoping.

My second candidate would be cagayanensis. It has taken a sudden turn for the worse and it seems to be that the soil turned sour. I changed the soil but it is almost all yellow now, and dropping leaves left and right. I've got a bit of it that is staying green at the moment. I hope it turns around, but it will be a mere fraction of the plant it was before this all happened.
greedygh0st
Original Author
12 years ago

That's my sad AFTER photo of pachyclada to encourage everyone else to air their dirty laundry.

It doesn't really surprise me that mindorensis would be the sulky type. I've never pissed mine off, but I haven't particularly pleased it either. It grows a new leaf at about the same pace as Texas secedes from the union.

Cagayanensis has been okay for me, but pimenteliana (still not sure if these are the same thing or not) went through a freak out last fall. I put it in the same cool humidity dome where I keep megalantha and engleriana and it turned around. I still consider it a cagey little fellow.
Related Discussions
My hoya is dying after I moved-need help.
Q
Comments (7)
Greg, I meant if there were just a limited number of good vines left to remove them and re-start them, cutting the rest back completely. It's been my experience that a plant works hard to "revive" damaged parts and you can lose a plant by letting bad damage die back naturally. I suspect this has something to do with the limitations we put on them when we grow them in pots... Whatever the reason, I find a damaged plant has a better chance of surviving with a severe pruning. Not only surviving, I might add, but eventually flourishing better than before. I actually found this out by accident. At the risk of telling the same story over and over and boring the long-time readers... I've had German Shepherd dogs for many years. If you've never had one, you probably aren't familiar with their overly-enthusiastic tail-wagging, the signal of the "happy dance" when Mom or Dad comes home. The "dance" has resulted in many, many - uh - "pruned" plants. I used to get really upset until I realized that those "pruned by the dance" seemed to look awsome after they recovered. Thus began my no-fear attitude towards pruning. Yes, you'll have a crappy looking plant for awhile, but in the end, you'll be rewarded... As for flowers, patience is the key. If you do have to prune it clear back, I would start (for a year or so...) with a general fertilizer that will encourage foliage (like Miracle Grow...) Once you've got some good foliage, then in spring and summer, use a bloom booster fertilizer. Plenty of sun (that is, indirect sun in your neck of the woods!), fresh air, warmth... that should do it! Sorry to hear your damage is so extensive. I think we've ALL learned this lesson the hard way! Denise in Omaha
...See More
What's Everyone's Hoyas Doing?
Q
Comments (17)
I'm jealous. I've never really smelled a stephanotis. I've seen 'em for sale, and they were blooming, but they weren't really fragrant. And for something that has a reputation of being really fragrant and smelling wonderful, well, it's kind of disappointing to only experience barely fragrant ones. I'm going to have to get another one of these. I had one once, but I didn't really know how to take care of it at the time, and it dried out one too many times. Mainly, my hoyas are growing. Buotii and sp. Tanna Island have decided to take off again, but this year's winner so far is wayetti. It is shooting vines almost literally everywhere, and there are peduncles all over the place. It has been in bloom constantly once it decided it was grown up enough to bloom. Unfortunately, it is in an awkward position for pictures. The vines are staying pretty leafless for now, but it is making up for it by producing peduncles on these leafless vines instead. Subcalva and variegated macrophylla have decided to like me ok again, thank goodness. Sp. Square leaf is going down the toilet; I'm going to just have to cut it and start over. Luckily, I have another cutting already started. It looks ok. Not great, but ok. Two out of my three pubicalyx varieties are giving me problems. Pink Silver is happy as a clam in my west window, but Chimera and Splash are worrying me with dropping leaves. We'll see.
...See More
Hoya Dreams, Hoya Nightmares
Q
Comments (9)
I really like the idea of just having a beautiful restful little dream about plants. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have tranquil dreams. Apparently my psyche is just not that chill. Now dreaming about buying a super expensive cutting or not being able to get an order perfect sounds right about my speed. I know I've woken up before feeling surprised that I didn't actually have Hoyas that I'd spent the whole night dealing with. Or this one morning, my dream had convinced me that everyone in the forum had gotten a kunming kina all on the same day. And then when I went online, the threads about it were missing! I quite frequently dream about dealing with mealybugs, and wake up feeling relieved that the warzone has evaporated. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with them - I've seen maybe 4 in my life. I just love the sweaters for Hoyas dream too. My Hoyas would be in such trouble if that's what they needed from me. It takes an average of 4 years for me to finish a scarf. I'd really love to try that dream tea, even if the result was that the mealyshepherds invented a giant Mechamealiezilla that breathed fire and knocked over plant shelves. Favorite quote from this thread: Anyone who has mealies crawling all over them needs to go. Indeed.
...See More
I cannot grow hoyas in soil !
Q
Comments (11)
hi, to be honest I'm a little surprised you're having so much difficulty growing hoyas. my grandmother got me into gardening and I took over from her when she died, she had 3 established plants some decades old and to be completely honest she did nothing but neglect them lol. she passed on 7 years ago since which time I've repotted them once, back into the same pot by lifting the plant, putting searles premium potting mix underneath then putting the plant back in and more on top, they went NUTS and grew all over our bottlebrush tree, further surprising me by flowering and developing seed pods, collected the seed and we now have a new variation which seems to be a mix between a variegated pink flowering one and a deep red one, the resulting leaves have small spots of variegation and deep pink flowers that are different in shape than either parent. considering the ease with which the seedlings have grown ( we have about 20 new plants) and the neglect the adults have recieved I'm a little shocked they can be such difficult plants to grow. we are in the process of cutting down the bottlebrush tree as unfortunately it has rot, so I'm planning on placing the 3 adult plants still in their hanging pots at the base of a few tree ferns and letting them grow all over them. hope it works, not that I need worry, in removing the tree I've got enough hoya cuttings now to start off at least another 20 of each plant. wish I had some helpful advice for you, all I can do is agree that they are indeed epiphytic plants so a hanging basket under a tree or a moist pocket in the fork of a branch is ideal I've also got a few growing in my elkhorn ferns and they seem to love it. good luck!
...See More
quinnfyre
12 years ago
Cagayanensis was doing great. If it had gone downhill for no perceivable reason I would be mad at it, but the soil was definitely off. It smelled sour and bad. This is one of the reasons I try to change the potting mix over to coco fiber of coco husk chunks as soon as I can, but I held off on this one because it had been doing well and I didn't feel like setting it back. Also because I had been feeling overwhelmed in general. If it survives, then great. If not, I will try again with a new one. In fact, I may just get a new one as backup. If the original one survives, then I can consolidate. I did this with subcalva, vitiensis, variegated macrophylla and will eventually consolidate brevialata as well. It worked out well. The backup made me feel more comfortable and seems in all cases to have encouraged the original to get over whatever sulking fit it started. Perhaps due to competition? Fear of being replaced? :) And upon consolidation, I end up with a nice full looking plant. Kind of cheating, I suppose, but it's easier for me to combine them and grow them as one plant than it is to have multiples taking up all the room.

Hoya Spa/Hoya ______ is mad at me.

Comments (3)

quinnfyre

greedygh0st
Original Author

Related Discussions

quinnfyre

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Hoya Spa/Hoya ______ is mad at me.

Comments (3)

quinnfyre

greedygh0stOriginal Author

Related Discussions

quinnfyre

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

greedygh0st
Original Author