Hi all,

I'm historically terrible at telling if my hoyas have scale or aerial roots. I've had scale + mealybug infestations on other houseplants in the past and, in an attempt to err on the side of caution, I had been removing anything that looks remotely like a scale bug.

But my hoyas (4 year old props from a 40+ year old Mama plant) have never bloomed. My sister has 10-year old props from the same Mama, however, and hers bloom like crazy. She's never had scale or any other problems with it.

She suggested I might, in my scale bug-related paranoia, be removing aerial roots and thus keeping my plant from blooming.

So I've been successfully neglecting to remove anything from the hoyas for a year or so...but now one of them has a ton of yellowing leaves and shriveled stems!

I cut back most of the damage, gave it a good watering (it had been 2 weeks/dry climate/summer but never over 80 degrees inside), and am now checking it for scale.

I'm fairly certain it has an infestation, but I'm afraid of doing my normal removal (with a pin and/or alcohol Q-tip) in case they are, in fact, aerial roots. Am I paranoid, or have I correctly ID'd a scale bug situation?

Any and all tips as to how to revive this lil buddy would be greatly appreciated (root vs scale answers, or otherwise!)

(PS I neglected to take a photo before pruning so the last photos are about 1/3 of the leaves I cut off, as examples of the extent of the damage.)


Thanks so much!

--N

It doesn't look like scale. The yellow leaves may be an indication of a root problem, or your soil could be too wet.

Pop it out of the pot, check for nice healthy roots and make sure the "soil" is light and airy.

I use Pearlite, orchid bark and a little miracle grow potting mix. When I water, it runs right through.

Check those two things and let us know, but it doesn't appear to be scale. You have something else going on instead, and again, I would suspect too wet.

Hi NattyBlack,

I don't see any sign of scale insects on your Wax Plant (Hoya carnosa) ? I can't see the soil clearly but with those yellowing and dropping leaves, I do believe the issue is likely soil/water related.

Hoyas are epiphytic in nature, growing without soil, on and in trees. They naturally produce adventitious/aerial roots in search of a tree or other structure to climb. I don't know if removing those aerial roots will deter blooming but if you ever see growths that looks like tiny little microphones (as shown in my database photo below) never remove them because they are bloom spurs (scientific name is peduncle) and that's where the buds and blooms form.


When grown as container plants, Hoyas require a light, porous fast draining soil. My potting medium is also a combination of a little potting soil with lots of perlite and orchid bark mixed in. It's a light, fast draining mix that allows for good aeration at root level and good drainage.

Mugsie said:It doesn't look like scale. The yellow leaves may be an indication of a root problem, or your soil could be too wet.

Pop it out of the pot, check for nice healthy roots and make sure the "soil" is light and airy.

I use Pearlite, orchid bark and a little miracle grow potting mix. When I water, it runs right through.

Check those two things and let us know, but it doesn't appear to be scale. You have something else going on instead, and again, I would suspect too wet.

I'll check the roots today. The soil was completely dry when I noticed it was yellowing (I only water once every couple of weeks. I'm in the desert so I don't believe overly-wet soil to be the culprit), but I do believe it's in "regular" potting soil. I have some miracle gro cactus soil... would that do, along with lots of perlite, instead of the orchid bark/potting soil?

Will update once I get a chance to check out the roots. Thanks for the help!