I come from an American-Filipino family that have raised Hoyas for 3 generations. We cringe at most hoya advice we see on social media. Thank goodness there's someone with simple, real, factual information. I can't wait to show this to my family! So glad you were in my recommended 🙏😌
Yes! I stopped listening to Hoya advice a long time ago. When I first started collecting - came across by accident, it was before the pandemic and boy did I fail! When the pandemic hit every Hoya RU-vidr became an expert on Hoya care in the very short time that they started the journey. After losing many hoyas, I finally started doing my own thing, observing and paying attention and realizing that all Hoya care is not the same. From my first dry rot (let them dry out) to tight roots wrapped around leca, moss, lava rock etc. (keep pot bound) it taught me to treat them as individually as my children - basic love and care but different needs to personality! I grow 90% of them in leca and the rest in coco husk. Soil, spagnum moss, pon for instance didn't work for me. Thanks so much for those common sense sentiments! Look forward to your next! Dee, NY
Dee - I, too, listened to all the bad advice, even from growers and retailers. I thought Hoyas were super slow growers, the whole Succulent thing, drying out, etc. The voices that said otherwise were few and far between. Discovering that ""there's more than one way to grow a Hoya" was liberating. Thanks for watching and sharing your comment.
I agree with you that they don’t want to be pot bound! Such a myth! I have a royal Hawaiian in a huge terracotta pot with a trellis and she’s very happy! The trick is the soil. If you have compacted soil you will rot it. If it’s nice and airy you’ll be fine!
That's it, it's just wrong. That was the reason behind the video, to prevent new Hoya people from making the mistakes I did. Thanks for watching and adding your comment.
Your final comments are right on. I was given a hoya (don't know the variety). I put it in a large container and within a couple years it became its own jungle. I put a cutting in a small pot, got lots of leaves, and it flowered for the first time. Do be afraid of following "advice" blindly. Don't be afraid of using your own experience and curiosity to experiment.
I agree. Not everything is going to work for everyone in every situation. I've found that the good advice usually starts with "what worked for me" and then you can decide if it will work for you. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment.
Ahh, yes-seconds in, something about the sass and the beverage on the table lets me know that I’m gonna like it here. Before I even get in-what I hate hearing 1. They like to be root bound 2. They like neglect 3. Taco test Thanks, in advance, for getting into the nuance that often goes overlooked.
We all did. At first, I tried to grow H lanceolatta bella in cactus soil and a terra cotta pot 'cause "the internet" said to treat them like cacti. Thanks for watching and your comment.
💯 agree with absolutely everything presented in this video, and it’s what I teach people who buy my hoyas. I never subscribed to these falsehoods, even when starting out with growing hoyas. The one thing I have learned from my own growing experiences in FL is that during the cold months, the hoyas that stay outside require far less water if they are not actively growing (which makes sense, because they aren’t growing), and if they are overwatered when it’s cold out, that can cause root rot , especially if the substrate is older, more broken down and likely to retain moisture. I found that for me, the best thing is to continue to water regularly, but in much smaller amounts, and to try to avoid watering when we are forecast to have a particularly cold night. To your point, however, your conditions are very different living in RI, so growers need to experiment to see what works best for their conditions!!
Thanks for watching and sharing your experiences. We can't leave our Hoyas out during the winter here, so when they come inside, most of mine go to the plant room where it's 72°F and sunny through the winter. Because of the heating, my plants actually use more water. You're right, it's all about the conditions, even from room to room.
Agreed, and because I heard the "let them dry out" i did, and lost whole vines a couple of times till I realized that advice was BS. The same goes for cactus and succulents.
I sometimes wonder how that advice got started in the first place. Thanks for watching and for your comment.
4 месяца назад
I have two HOYA vines from Hawaii… never heard of the “taco” thing. They love lots of water & hanging out in the window I mostly listen to what all 💗my plants say to me… 🪴I LOVE ALL MY PLANTS
Thanks for watching. For someone new to Hoyas it can take a while to develop the ability to listen to their plants, especially when there's a lot of bad advice getting in the way. It's up to us to help them succeed. Thanks for your comment.
Best advice ever. I already do everything you said and my Hoyas are happy. I love all the plants I see around you in the background. I subscribed to your channel because of how calm you are and your correct advice on plant care. Thank you.💚💚
I wonder if the thought that they like to be root bound comes from the fact that if a plant has tons of roots it’s healthy and doing well. But that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be just as healthy or more if it were up-potted. Also I think repotting is a stressor so usually they pause growing for a short time but that isn’t because they preferred being root bound. Then also I think people up-pot in a pot that is too big and then it stays too wet and rots and they think it’s because the plant preferred being root bound. It’s all faulty logic.
I think "potbound" came from folks who had healthy plants in very small pots and thought it was the best care, forgetting that it's not how they grow in nature. The plant was able to get what it needed in that small pot because of human intervention. Repotting is a stress because the supply chain gets disrupted. The plant doesn't "pause" so much as get re-established. Soil based for Hoyas does bring with it moisture and rot issues. Thank for watching and adding your observations.
I'm now thinking about a root HOA in all my plant pots LMAO. On a serious note, just got my first hoya and I was following pretty well each bad tip imaginable. Glad I came across this. Cheers!
Congrats on your first Hoya. Welcome to the Rabbit Hole. Your gorwing medium will be your first choice. Do your research. Think about the care you're willing/able to provide and work from there. What species did you get? Thanks for watching and leaving your comment. Remember, we're here to help.
@@PlantedInRI Thanks so much! I got a mathilde due to folks saying it's a good beginner plant. It's currently in a net pot with a chunky orchid mix. My biggest quandary is to trellis it or not? Seems to be a lot of differing opinions on if it's okay to put it in a hanging basket or trellis. Seems 50/50.
Very helpful and I hope a lot of newbies to growing hoyas see this. You have confirmed what I figured out on my own as well as from watching several other hoya grower's videos who have addressed these same issues.
@@PlantedInRI I feel some not all you-tubers are beginner's themselves which many started with a few plants and then walla overnight they acquired their own channel during the so-called epidemic and so many of us just followed them and their unsound advice which then we grew to dislike hoya's because we figured they were the experts. Many are so inexperienced and very unqualified and they (the experts) just copied another plantuber's advice to keep the disinfo going on and on and on. It is very sad and I unsubscribed to so many of them. I'm better at doing my own thing and going with my intuition and if I fail so be it at least I'm learning through my own experience and nobody else!
I like your video and the information you included. I think that unrooted cuttings grow roots faster in a small cup as opposed to a larger pot. But if I have several cuttings that are lightly rooted, I’ll pot them up together in a larger pot because they’ll grow in so fast.
Yes, a smaller pot for unrooted cuttings is the way to start, and is the way I start. Once they get going, I move them to a four-incher so they can just grow. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I appreciate you sharing your hoya insights. My sister-in-law’s mother has a h. pubicalyx that has been growing in water for 50 years. It’s looks fine, but has never flowered. I think it is probably biding its time until conditions improve. Sometimes I wish my H. compacta would have new growth spurts like my H. carnosa, but maybe that is wishful thinking. I love the diversity of Hoyas. Makes them intriguing.
You're right about Hoya diversity being the hook. H compacta has a reputation of being something of a slow grower. I've never grown one so other than the basics - water, light, food - you have moe experience with them than I do. Thanks for watching and adding your comment.
ya know growing alot of different types of plants makes it very easy to see what plants really need and want. They all (somewhat) work the same if its doing x the answer is y and so on. Just gotta observe what the plant is doing. Is it going yellow, is it drooping, burning, sending out runners. The plants tell you what they need you just gotta look.
Yes, but the "observation" is not a skill everyone is born with, and it takes some developing. Sadly, the path to that skill can be littered with the corpses of plants. Mine was. But once you start to know what your options are, it's lots of fun. Thanks for watching and posting your comment.
I have never heard of those rumors. I took horticulture in the 70s. I don't listen to young influencers. My oldest Hoya is 43+ years old. I grow them Like houseplants. My failure rate is very low. Doug of Vermont grows some very challenging types.
Lucky you to have not heard any of that advice. A Hoya for forty-three years, congratulations. Doug Chamberlain is inspiring and a great source of information. I appreciate his straight forward approach. Thanks for watching and adding your comment.
Happy to be helpful. Just remember the part about not making radical changes all at once. Figure out the "how" first. Thanks for watching and adding your comment.
There are a few Hoya/Plant myths that are sure to start me ranting. I'm trying to learn to simply state my case and move on. I appreciate the watch and the comment.
Thanks for your question. I don't use any soil for my Hoyas. They are either in pon-ish in self-watering pots (semi-hydro), or they are in a mix of coco husk, pumice, and sphag bits in self-watering pots. Hoya growing medium isn't so much about "fast draining", it's more about "airy". Think orchids. For my growing conditions, any type of soil is too dense no matter how well it drains. Thanks for watching and posting your comment.
That's a subect of very intense debate, and there are many answers. You'll need to experiement a bit to find the one that works best for you based on your growing environment and care level. It can also depend on the hoya, and upon what the hoya has been growing in. I use either pon-ish or a coco chunk/sphagnum/pumice blend. I've seen some complex blends, but for me, simpler is better, less is more. Hoyas tend to like an "airy" mix; think like orchids but with perhaps a finer texture. I use non-porous, wick-based, self-watering, pots. And I feed regularly. Thanks for watching and asking your question.
Thanks for asking. I don't use the brand name pon, it has slow release fertilizer added, so I refer to what I use as pon-ish. My Hoyas are either in pon-ish and self-watering pots, or a coco husk chunk, pumice, bits of sphag mix also in self watering. I don't grow any of my Hoyas in a soil based mix. Growing in pon-ish you need to use some sort of nutrient solution since there's no organic matter in it, and since it's mixed, I use it on my other plants.
Could be, there are several possibilities. What is the substrate? Did you recently repot? You can always gently check the roots, and cut back anything that's dead and/or take a cutting and root it as insurance
I just found your channel and although I am not a Hoya fan, I am finding your video very interesting. But a question popped into my head from something you said, do plants have a life span?? Will they live on forever with the proper care??
Thanks for watching and your question. Some plants can live a very long time, hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, but it does seem that everything dies. I think that's what makes the lifetime, however long or short it may be, so important.
Just found you !! EXCELLENT video!👍 thank you so much! I was hoping I could ask your advice regarding Hoyas… I have a couple Hoyas that are growing wild and crazy… Unfortunately not due to me because they’ve been neglected and I have to. I’m in Florida and they’re outside… I was wondering… I purchased a while ago, some material to make some trellises and watched a lot of RU-vid on the best kind of trellis, how to wrap them counterclockwise… Etc. etc. etc.… My question pretty please, is it best for me to take this ginormous wild overgrown plant and try to wrap it around the trellis the best I can and give it some fresh potting medium… OR is it best to trim it back somewhat and put it up that way with the trellis? Which will give me the best chances of having lots of flowers moving forward? In addition, what do you recommend for a potting medium since I’m growing them outside? I understand a chunky mix is best… But wanted your advice please? Best regards… Hope to hear from you soon…😊❤
Regarding trellising - If I were faced with that dilemma, I'd do both. If you're going to repot, chances are there's going to be some vine die-back. So before I did anything, I'd take cuttings from the most out of control vines and start them rooting, then I'd repot and trellis. I'd want to keep as big a plant as possible, but that's me. Flowering can be triggered by changes in light, changes in humidity, changes in temperature, increased food, etc., so without knowing the species I can't tell you much. Find out from what part of the world your Hoya comes and try to give it those conditions as best you can. You will need to experiment a bit to find the best mix for your growing conditions. If I were growing Hoyas outside, I'd use a nonporous container with lots of drainage. For a mix I'd probably start with a mix of coco husk chunks with some pumice and some bits of long fiber sphagnum or tree fern fiber. Because you live in a warmer climate, and based on the needs of your plant, you may need to water this type of mix a couple of times a week. This could be a good opportunity, before you do any repotting, to use some of those cuttings to experiment to find the best mix for you. If your Hoya is fine, then there is no rush to repot. Think "airy" rather than just "chunky". It should retain moisture, but not water, think "orchid". There is no "one size fits all" solution. Thanks for watching and posting your question.
Hello. I have just found your channel. I would love to know your opinion on spray feeding your Hoya with Orchid Spray. Have heard this a lot. 99% of all my plant indoors are in Leca or a mix of Leca and MAB Grow (Australian version of PON). Will check out your the rest of you channel. I had wondered about a lot of what you said as I have two Hoya planted in self watering pots outside (undercover) and they are doing very well. edit. I found your web page and read about the spray. So can I ask do you feed your Pon planted Hoya with hydro feed and the spray or just the spray?
Thanks for asking. I have used the foliar spray, and it can be a nice little boost, but I don't think it's quite enough by itself. I don't use brand name pon, which has a slow release fertilizer. Leca and pon have no nutrients, so water alone is not, in my opinion, enough for them to thrive. I water all my plants in passive-hydro with a hydroponic nutrient solution, and I don't bother with the spray. In fact, I use the nutrient solution for all my Hoyas in self-watering pots, whether they're in organic or in-organic medium. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching and for your question.
Craziest advice I've seen is wrap it clockwise only when putting on a trellis - which becomes nonsense as soon as you look at the pot from the otherside...
That's one I haven't. Now I do know that the vines naturally wrap themselves counter-clockwise if left to twine on their own. If you have ever seen the rogue leafless vine wrapping itself around one of your other plants or even a curtain pull string, it's always counter-clockwise. so if you are wrapping a new vine around a support, it should be counter-clockwise. April at UnsolicitedPlantTalks has a video about it if you want to check it out.
I was so happy to get your video in my feed today. It’s truly excellent and I can easily agree with all your statements enthusiastically! A few I had to learn the hard way but the Hoyas all survived, I learned and I was grateful. Love this video and your sense of humor! Very refreshing. 👌🪴🥰
