I water my Hoya's once a week. This gives them time to dry out before their next watering because the grow medium doesn't hold a lot of moisture. Click here to check out the soil mix I use. Besides filtered water, I use Neptune's Harvest Fish & Seaweed Fertilizer 2-3-1 as well as Liqui-Dirt as recommended by my friend and mentor Christie. My watering schedule is as follows: Week 1 - Neptune's (diluted to half strength) Week 2 - Liqui-Dirt (follow directions on package *two-step dilution*) Week 3 - Plain filtered water I find that even in the winter time using this schedule I have great success with plant growth. Additionally, I mix in 2-3 drops of ecological labs microbe lift mosquito control per gallon of water to keep fungus gnats away.
Keep in mind that how often you water your Hoyas is highly dependent on your environment as well as your chosen grow medium. Click here to read about my fertilizer update Sep 2021. Click here to read about my fertilizer update May 2022.
0 Comments
Within the plant community, I would say there is some disagreement when it comes to leaf shine. Some argue leaf shine is harmful to plants and can damage leaves with harsh chemicals while others say it helps clean foliage and repels dust. I fall somewhere in between. I do think it is important to keep your foliage clean so your plant can get adequate sunlight and photosynthesize. Some products/methods for leaf shine I am not a huge proponent of e.g. Miracle-Gro leaf shine or mayonnaise. However, I recently came across a blog post from April Mall (Unsolicited Plant Talks). In her post she has a simple recipe that I love. April's Recipe:
When I make up this recipe, I reduce the amount of peppermint oil to 10 drops. Once you have your solution, April recommends a microfiber cloth for the application. Spray the leaf shine on the cloth and clean away! IMPORTANT NOTE: avoid using on any pubescent foliage Click here to check out April's original post. My plant collection is made up of 98% hoya. All of my hoya's are potted into the same mix to make it easier on me. I did not invent this particular mix. Credit goes to one of my plant friends and mentor Christie. To make up this particular mix you will need: The ratio is 40% FF, 30% pumice, and 30% bark. For example, you could do 4 cups FF and 3 cups pumice and bark. FF is my go-to high quality soil. I refuse to use anything else. As far as pumice goes you can technically use perlite if you prefer. My personal preference is pumice because you can't crush it and it is heavier than perlite. In terms of bark, I absolutely hate extremely thick bark especially since I use mainly 3 and 5oz cups as pots. I tend to buy small bark but I would recommend maybe a medium bark to keep the soil mix a little chunkier. Hoya's are epiphytes so they feed of nutrients in the air. You do not want to have a soil mix that is overly dense. The key to a good hoya mix is something light and airy. I make my hoya soil mix in bulk so that it is ready at my disposal. I then store it in a 4 gallon tote. In the past I have used traditional nursery pots. At the beginning of this year, I started transitioning all my plants into clear nursery pots. Why? I can actually see the plants roots as well as monitor soil dampness. Wet soil will appear darker while dry soil will be light brown. THIS IS A LITERAL GAME CHANGER. If you think your plant might have root rot or anything going on you can just pick up the container and gaze in. I exclusively only use clear pots now. My go to are 3 oz cups which I use a glue gun or scissors to make drainage holes in the bottom. For 4in pots and larger I get them from rePotme. The only downside to using clear pots is algae build up. After 6-8 months of using clear pots, you might notice green algae. Having a little algae build up is not a problem but if it becomes excessive it can compete with the plant roots for water and nutrients. I personally use Physan 20 which treats fungus, viruses, and algae. Once a week after I have finished watering my plants, I spray both the soil and foliage of them with Physan 20. I have only noticed a less than a handful having algae build up in my collection of 100+. If you are interested in learning more about algae click here for a helpful video. |
Archives
March 2024
Categories
All
|