Several client have requested from AdeniumRose Company information on what we do when we receive hoyas bare root without soil. Most of the time we received hoya plants in coir husks from our Thailand growers (not soil/no moisture). They usually have 2..3 leaves with the a couple very small roots. They call them rooted cuttings – we call them barely rooted hoya cuttings. Being as small as they are AdeniumRose Company takes extra care to get them to survive from being out of soil and moisture for 2 weeks in a shipping container.
As soon as the hoya plants arrive they are taken out of the box, sorted and mist the roots. Once we are ready to pot the succulent plants (usually day 2); we soak the whole hoya plant including the leaves in Dyna-Gro K-L-N with bit of Dyna-Gro Tekt which helps the plant to adsorb the nutrients of the K-L-N faster for 30 minutes. Remember these are tiny plants that we grow for several months into well established thriving hoya plants – they need to get a food start.
The soil used by AdeniumRose Company for the Hoya plants is very similar to the soil used for the Adeniums except instead of 10% soil it has about 15% soil (65%perlite, 15% core, 15% soil, 5% rock). Once potted in 5″ round pots they are put in 100% natural 70% sunlight. The day after they are potted they are watered and started on the same watering schedule with AdeniumRose Company’s established hoya plants.
Hoyas have very few problems. They are great hanging or climbing plants for sunny windows areas. Hoyas plants are easy to grow and they are usually pest free. However, there are a couple of pests and problems associated with all succulents and cactus. 95% of all Hoya growing failures are due to the soil retaining too much water. The plants love water as long as they do not sit in water. The soil needs to be very porous and “airy” so water and air can flow through it.
Fungus: Another problem you may see is black spots or fungus What causes it? Humidity and/or water dripping/sitting on the leaves. You do not need to mist your hoyas.
Pests: White flies/spider mites and mealy bugs. We rarely see these on our hoyas but if you do treat the plant using soap based insecticide (wipe the leaves first to get the bugs off). Continue the light spray treatment for 3 weeks even if you do not see any more pests. Make sure you spray top and bottom of the leaves.
Wire wrapping/Supporting your vines: some hoyas like to climb and others like to hang. Use plant clips to help support the vines growth. Do not wire wrap the vines. Instead train the vines around the hanging pot wires or the trellis with the clips.
Our 2nd shipment of Hoyas will arrive in January and should be released by May/June of 2016. Adeniumrose Company sent the list of hoya plant varieties desired for our next shipment last week. If you have a particular hoya plant variety you desire please send a comment and we will try to grow it. The hoyas we are contract propagated for AdeniumRose Company by our growers.