I went a little seed happy this year. I started growing seeds this year at the end of April and since have been growing latifolia, quinquenervia, Dr. IBOK, finlaysonii, incrassata, merrilli, fitchii, 'Penny's Treat', versteegii, and papaschonii. The only seeds that didn't take at all for me were obscura. There is something so rewarding about growing Hoya from a tiny seed to something lush and beautiful. Some of my earlier seeds are already getting decently large. One thing I think that some people don't realize when growing seedling is just how much water they need. From my experience the more mature they start to get the more water they require. I also experimented with starting my fertilization earlier than last time. Once I noticed a seedling starting to put out 4-6 larger leaves, I sprinkled in a couple Osmocote balls. Additionally, last year I struggled with some of my seedlings getting elongated since they were not close enough to the lights. I adjusted my Barrina T8's and have them hanging 9 inches from the bottom of each shelf. Initially, I had the lights a little lower but I noticed some leave burn. I still had a few seedlings become elongated with the lights at 9 inches but that was easily remedied by repotting them deeper into the seedling tray cells. This year I have run into a problem with my DR. IBOK seedlings. The other day I noticed they seemed to not be as far along as I was expecting based on when I planted them. I checked the clear cell trays and noticed root mealybugs (ugh). Another plant had them that was hanging above my DR. IBOK tray and unfortunately mealybugs can travel through drainage holes and infest other plants. I immediately tossed all the soil and rinsed the roots and leaves really well in hot water. I picked off any remaining pieces of soil particles from the roots before spraying them down with my alcohol spray. Alcohol spray: 1/2 cup isopropyl alcohol 70% 4 cups water Unfortunately, because the seedlings aren't super mature, I didn't feel comfortable cutting off the roots and trying to reroot them. With root mealybugs your best bet to avoid them coming back involves chopping the roots. I am hoping that I did enough to help salvage them so they will continue to grow. I repotted them into fresh soil and have them quarantined in their own little cache box just in case the mealybugs do rear their ugly heads again. Click here to read more about root mealybugs.
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