Do you mean wilting in the sense that the leaves are getting soft, losing their "crispness" or is the whole plant wilting or both?

I lost a lacunosa to root rot from overwatering, and the above where some of the signs. You didn't say how wet or dry you have been keeping it. I let mine (and all of my plants) get dry before watering again, and that works for me, but you will get 5 other people here telling you not to let this one dry out. It's a tricky one.

As for kentiana, the more light the better, with the exception of hot burning mid day sun - when mine gets too much sun, the plant starts looking yellowish. i would prefer that all of my plants get direct morning sun, but my window arrangement makes that impossible. If I were you I would move it around, leave it in each place for a while and see how it does. If it starts to look bad, move it to a different spot.

I'm gonna have to disagree on the watering issue. Lacunosa and multiflora are 2 hoyas that I never let dry out completely. I don't keep them "wet", but I do keep them on the moist side. I lost a lacunosa once because I treated it like my other hoyas (letting it dry out completely). So if you are watering your lacunosa like you water your carnosas and kentiana, that might be the problem. The lacunosa that I lost had wilting and yellowing leaves. The one I have now is always on the moist side, and it blooms non-stop and has firm, gorgeous foliage. Anyway, that's my 2 cents about that.

As for the kentiana, I keep mine directly in front of an east-facing window (so it gets direct morning sun), and it grows and blooms like crazy. I do think that hoyas like eastern exposure, but don't keep it too far from the window. If you keep it in a south-facing window, it'll probably bloom quicker, but as Ines said the leaves won't look as good. Leaves tend to get lighter in color when they are in too much sun, but I don't think it will hurt the plant. It all comes down to whether you'd rather have lots of blooms or nicer foliage...I prefer nicer foliage since that's what you'll be seeing more.

Congrats on your compacta blooms :)

I have read that lacunosa like to go drier, I let it go drier than my carnosa's, but not very dry.....what has happened is that I bought an EA lacunosa, and when I checked it out, these two pieces were not rooted firmly, so I rerooted them in another pot.......the whole plant it self is wilting, not just the leaves......I cant see it being overwatering as I am pretty generous with the perlite, I like to mis and spray and pick at my little plants, so I use lots of perlite......I also just got a moisture meter Just to make sure I wasnt overwatering......and so far it seems I am not. Maybe the roots were damaged, maybe its shock, I just dont know what to do.......

Tracy

Usually wilting and yellow leaves is a sign of being too dry, wilting and green leaves a sign of too wet, but there are always exceptions to the rule. It also depends on where you have the plant- if it is in a bright warm fairly dry area, you are going to have to keep it watered more. If it is in lower light and kept cooler, probably less. Most of the plants I have lost to overwatering, at the end being indoors and in the lower light in the winter is what pushed them over the edge.

How long ago did you plant them? Maybe they are just adjusting. I potted up some prayer plant cuttings a few days ago and they still haven't perked up yet. It is also possible that those two stems were up out of the soil for a while and dried out and now the roots are not doing their job, it might take some time.

Are the leaves dehydrating? Kind of wrinkled? That usually means it's not taking up water properly. It's hard to get a plant past that dehydrated stage. I would probably take it out of the soil and put the cuttings in water and see if they'll rehydrate.

Like Garbo, I'm careful not to let lacunosa get too dry. But I don't let ANY of my Hoyas get terribly dry. If you have your pot sized properly (so your Hoya is relatively rootbound...) and a fast-draining mix, you probably won't have too much trouble watering them properly as they dry out pretty fast.

Denise in Omaha

Yes they are wilting.....so that might be the problem is that the roots were damaged, I dont know how long they were uprooted for. I was actually a little dissapointed at how the plant was "thrown" together in a pot. I potted them up maybe a week ago maybe two at most. I think sticking them in water might be the only thing that works.....not a big deal, mama plant is doing awesome.....thats how I knew something was wrong.

I have recently repotted a couple hoyas, so that they went into smaller pots......I do use a lot pf perlite, and I notice they need to be watered every three or four days.....it is pretty hot here right now....in the 3o's....thats in Celsius, I think like 90's farenheit. They seem to be doing fine......*knock on wood* Some times I think I use too much perlite....lol.

Tracy

Tracy,

Are you using plastic pots or unglazed clay pots? I recently learned that plastic pots seem to be best for *most* hoyas (I guess the more succulent ones don't care), so that they don't dry out TOO quickly. And with all that extra perlite you use, you definitely don't want to use pots that will steal all the water away too quickly!

Gabi

Lacunosa IS a Hoya that likes it more on the wet side. I kept mine on an intermittent wick, while I don't have blooms yet, I have lots of happy, lush growth. This is one that will just die if kept dry like other Hoyas prefer. Gabi's right abt this, really!

I'd take a couple of cuttings & cut the bottoms off & place them in water. W/out cutting the bottoms off, there's no chance for it to drink. If it's on its last legs, drinking is abt the only way to save it. Good luck!

I use plastic pots for my hoyas......I only use the clay ones for the cacti and succulents.....it just seems to suit them better. I actually use clear pots for my hoyas(just started) so that I can see the roots, and see how dry they are....just easier to see things, I really like them.

Is it better to root things under lights or natural sunlight? Well the hoyas anyway?

I think natural light is always best, but I have artificial lights because of my low light situation where I live now. If you are going to use artificial lights, there are certain types of bulbs you need for growth. THere is a forum here you can go to to read up and ask, but I think basically you need a combination of warm and cool bulbs, which is what I installed.

One thing you have to notice on some of the "plant lights" you see for sale - tubes and especially bulbs and spotlights...if you read the fine print, you will read that they are not GROW lights, but spotlights that are meant for decorative reasons, like highlighting a plant in a corner or something like that. So read up on them before you buy. Some of them are no different than a regular light bulb when it comes to promoting growth.

I have one shelf in a mini greenhouse, that runs almost 80 watts of floro light. I grow AV's in there when they are not in bloom. I have been hanging some of my smaller hoyas in there hoping to give them some more light as they get rooted. I mist them every day as it is quite dry and hot here right now.

Tracy