Hi, Only fertilize during growing season.

Jan

I dilute fertilizer year round for my Hoyas. I rarely give the full dosage. I give a little boost to the plants every other watering or so to not risk burning them or the plants having ill effects. Been doing it this way for quite awhile now and it works for me.,,,,Debbie

Al, IMO, for 'Hoyas and most other plants,' it's best to stop fertilizing when a plant indicates it's time for a rest. Slow and/or no new growth.
Most plant books give a general time to stop fertilizing, Sept-Oct. But it depends on the type of plant and where one lives.
Places that have longer growimg seasons opposed to say the mid-west or eastern states, can probably fertilize as late as November, not to mention restart much sooner.

As a last feeding, I spray plants with with Fish Emulsion..(foliar feeding) plus other home-made ingredients to keep insects at bay..

As for those who use completely soil-less mixes, I have no answer..Toni

This is my rationalization of year round weak fertilization:
Decomposition in the jungles where these plants grow does not stop. It continues year round providing nutrients to the plant. Plants get no rest period unless there is a drought and all the soil dries up. I don't think jungles ever get bone dry!
Hoyas are understory plants so decomposition is always at work. The Hoya may climb high up in the trees but the base is much lower and moist and in litter.
I try to think like a plant to grow a plant.,,,,Debbie

Wow, I was going to ask the same question. Apparently it is not cut and dry. People have different opinions. So what about people like Al and I? It will be a tough decision...

I learned the hard way that there are plants that you shouldn't fertilize in the winter months. One is Christmas cactus, this has to do with the flowering tho. It causes buds to fall off before they fully open. Maybe not in theory, but in my experiance it did happen. Another plant that I have that stops growing in the winter is my corn plant. I barely water it and don't fert it at all in the winter.

With hoyas, I really don't know. Last winter I only had 1, H. Wayetii and it grew all winter I think more so than in the summer months. But since then my collection has grown (I have 19 and 4 no 5 or 6 more coming) I have no idea how they do in the winter, but I will probably continue to give them VF-11 thru out the winter, just cuz I like it so much and what it does for all of my plants. I don't think that qualifies for a fert tho.

If this is wrong, I hope someone juumps in and advices me different so I don't kill the new hoyas.

If you're talking about traditional fertilizer, I'd say stop maybe around mid-late Nov., then restart mid-March. I use VF-11 and use it year-round. Most Hoyas don't stop growing completely (a few do, but not most...) so a very diluted fertilizer won't hurt at all.

Just my opinion...

Denise in Omaha

Yeah, I guess it kind of depends on your conditions.

If you live where it's pretty warm all year or you keep your house quite warm all year, then it probably won't hurt to fertilize lightly all year.

If, on the other hand, you live in the North where winters are cold and the days are very short and/or you keep your house somewhat cool to save a few dollars, then it is probably best to stop fertilizing, as Denise has stated above, in mid-November and start again in mid-March when the days start to get noticeably longer.

I read something online that said if a plant was not growing, the excess nitrogen did something funky that was not good for the plant. I'll have to see if I bookmarked the page where I read this.

If your plants stop growing, then it's a pretty good sign that no fertilizer is needed and they are going to rest for a while.
My .02
Mike

I fertilize less in winter and always at less than half the recommended strength. If there is active growth I would fertilize but if growth stops during the winter there is little need to continue with the fertilizer.

Hoyas come from a huge diversity of habitats. Some Hoyas never like to dry out while others are adapted to drought conditions and experience a dry period of up to several months in nature. Hoya pachyclada and Hoya australis subsp. rupicola are two good examples of Hoyas that have succulent leaves designed to help hold the plant over during the dry season. There is really not much information on these seasonal cycles in relation to growing Hoyas but it is the norm when discussing many orchid species in cultivation. Many orchids will not bloom if they are not allowed their natural dry rest periods and at worst others will rot if not rested. I don't think Hoyas are so picky but there definitely are many species that are quite well equipped to deal with drought. Trying to find any climactic data I could on a few orchid species taught me that if you know the collection data of a plant you can Google the location plus climatic data and look at the percipitation that falls each month of the year and the average temperatures as well.

I did a quick search and used Hoya sp. Chaing Mai for the example. Searching for Chaing Mai Climactic data I came up with the link below. Sometimes the data is much more detailed showing graphs and charts and other useful info.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Chaing Mai Thailand Weather

Well, since I'm in the Midwest, I think I'll go with stopping the fertilizer in mid November and resuming in mid March. If they don't do well, then I'll try very lightly fertilizing throughout the Winter, but I think they'll do just fine without it and will be ready for a dose come March.

Thanks everyone for sharing your techniques!!!

Tish