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Avatar for Katonical
Jul 26, 2024 11:44 AM CST
Thread OP
Gatineau QC Canada
Actually I got two of them.

I admit, I made some mistakes.
1) I used and relied on a moisture meter. I think I let it get too dry, or there was a lack of humidity when the AC was running a lot, because the new leaves developed crispy brownish ends and wrinkly leaves.

2) I added a pebble tray (which I guess doesn't help much) and watered too deep for the soil it was currently in. Don't know if the water evaporating kept the soil too moist or the soil itself was too compact, but it stayed too moist and some base leaves turned yellow.

So I went from one end of the spectrum to the other. One was more dried out than the other, now the better one had more yellow leaves from being kept too moist.

So two nights ago, I decided to take the plant out of the pot. On one, there were a lot of roots at the top of the pot and I was wondering if that's why certain parts of the plant were drying out despite being watered.

This one
Thumb of 2024-07-26/Katonical/61d531

Thumb of 2024-07-26/Katonical/0d3895

So for that one, I gently smoothed all the roots facing downward and re-potted it in bark/worm castings/perlite/cactus and a bit of potting soil. Both plants now have nice and airy soil with roots facing downward.

This is the one that showed more yellow leaves and dropped a few when I repotted. Definitely waterlogged as it was quite compact around the root ball.
Thumb of 2024-07-26/Katonical/5c4791

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I did give it an initial drink of rainwater (let it drain right through and hope that wasn't a mistake). Then I placed the pots in front of a fan for the night, the next day was windy so I had the windows open.

I guess I'm just documenting what happens, feel free to comment if I'm doing anything wrong.

I plan to just leave it be now, dry out pretty good and be careful how much water I give it from now on, idk. I'm sure the new substrate will help, but I know the plant will have to adjust to it. I don't expect them to do much for a little bit, I just hope they don't die.

Also when I checked the humidity, it was over 50%, so I don't think that's an issue at the moment. I also got rid of the pebble tray to give them a chance to recover hopefully.
Last edited by Katonical Jul 26, 2024 11:49 AM Icon for preview
Avatar for Katonical
Aug 2, 2024 10:21 AM CST
Thread OP
Gatineau QC Canada
Update:
Well ummmm not sure what to say, not exactly what I was hoping for. But I did learn a little bit, so not a total loss.

Here's a pic update of each plant
Plant 1
Thumb of 2024-08-02/Katonical/5f3d42

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Plant 2
Thumb of 2024-08-02/Katonical/818666

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What I learned:
Plant 1 actually did worst than plant 2
Plant 1 WAS growing better than plant 2 with new stem growth, but it's demise was swift. The bottom leaves turned yellow and dropped easily almost overnight. When I repotted this one, I discovered the roots were all in a compact ball of heavy potting soil that just doesn't dry out. It was definitely remaining too soggy for too long and led to root rot. Not knowing how to ID rotten hoya roots, I just tried to remove as much compacted wet soil as possible when repotting and tried to leave them alone in their new bark/worm castings/cactus soil/perlite mix. But almost half the stems continued to collapse. The stems dropped yellowing leaves and top leaves wilted slowly and dropped too. Upon examining the roots of these stems, they were all stringy and falling apart (root rot). I left two or three stems because they still upright and leaves looked ok.
Overall, a bit disappointed with the outcome how they continued to rot, but I learned a good lesson about the importance of proper substrate. I'm not sure if the remaining two stems have rot because I didn't want to tear up the roots again since they looked ok, and I'm not sure if I was absolutely supposed to cut out any rooted roots and now it will spread to healthy stems or if the still healthy stems can overcome the rotten roots and grow new healthy roots, but it's done and we'll see what happens.

Plant 2
This one was drying out at stem tips/points. It wasn't growing as much stem as Plant 1, the stems on Plant 2 just seemed to keep drying up and it would start a new one only to dry up.

Upon repotting, I discovered that the roots were mostly at the top. I suspect that's why new growth kept drying out. Although this plant dropped a few leaves, it was no where close to what Plant 1 did. When I repotted, I gently smoothed the roots downward. I didn't bother to upset the roots this time to have a look because it looks like it is doing alright and I don't see any dead stems.
Avatar for Katonical
Aug 2, 2024 10:33 AM CST
Thread OP
Gatineau QC Canada
Oh yeah, and I haven't watered since the initial watering after repotting. I think I should leave it almost dry out? 🤔 I have to use a moisture meter because I can't trust my judgment, the meter reads at "2" in the red section.

Thumb of 2024-08-02/Katonical/b1bd40

But that means there's some moisture right?
Avatar for Iochroma
Aug 4, 2024 7:57 AM CST
San Francisco Bay area (Zone 9a)
So, um, you live in the far North; you apparently have sheer curtains in front of the window where the plant lives…
Get rid of that. Curtains block all the light, and you don't have that much to start with.
Second, moisture meters are junk; don't rely on them. Use a bamboo skewer or something like it. Every soil is going to read a little differently.
I hope the pot has adequate drainage; it's not clear from your picture.
If the roots are all near the top of of the soil column you must water it more frequently in the long days of summer (almost nothing in winter though).
In all, Hoyas are very resilient, and I would think it will recover with time and light.
Avatar for Katonical
Aug 6, 2024 10:51 AM CST
Thread OP
Gatineau QC Canada
Thank you Iochroma for your response! 😊☺️🙂

Disclaimer: I know I sound really novice and make lots of mistakes despite trying to read and learn everything I can. But I don't give up that easily, so I'm still trying.

So my plant 1 and 2 hoyas pretty much all flopped now 😒 I have one stem left in each pot because the stems just kept dying off and when I removed the stems, the roots were all stringy.

So I'm not having much hope for these two plants, but I really want to try growing them again so obviously I have to make changes.

The lighting:
Short story:
I may add supplemental artificial light.

Long story:
In the summer, they get afternoon sun. It is direct for a little while but mostly yes, it's filtered through sheer curtains and a big maple tree outside, but it does still get a bit of direct sun if the angle is right. It is definitely bright on a sunny day. But I believe you that it might not be enough still. I am toying with the idea of adding supplental artifical light like the rest of of my plants in other parts of my home because I really want plants in that window facing the street.

I have the same hoya in my kitchen east window with a wood blind, it's been there close to 20 years and I didn't do much with it over those 20 years. The leaves facing out at the bottom (where there is a little gap from the blinds) all turned yellow from too much light, but the ones shaded at all are still nice and green (and white and pink). So I just roll with it. Since I've gotten into houseplants and been giving it better care (better watering practices, pruning), it started growing a bunch of new stems and I couldn't be happier. It always flowers for me (probably because I water stressed it in previous years) but it's flowering non-stop this year, so the plant CAN do alright in the summer months at least. But still thinking about supplemental artificial light for the west window, especially for the winter months.

What I think I did wrong:
Short story:
I overwatered

Long story:
All my plants are planted in nursery style simple pots with drainage holes and just placed in cache pots. But I didn't repot right away, so I didn't check the roots and they were in a potting soil that was too dense and compact, so when I watered through, it was holding onto too much moisture. In hindsight, I probably should have just watered very lightly until I repotted into a more suitable fast draining mix. So I think I over watered, at least for plant 1.

I thought it was a humidity issue on the plant with roots at the top (plant 2) because the stems kept drying out. Thinking the roots being at the top was causing the plant to dry out way faster than the plant with a heavy compacted root ball (plant 1). But not knowing how the roots were at the time, I added a humidity tray which I think might have kept the roots too moist (especially plant 1 with the wet root ball). So plant 1 went downhill after I started with the humidity tray and went downhill fast. Plant 2 did better initially, but maybe didn't like to be repotted and slowly declined as well.


What I plan to do to fix the situation for next time and the rest of my hoyas:
Short story: I need to repot right away. Check roots and get plants into a suitable mix that I'm familiar with.

Long story:
I have a few new hoyas that I'm afraid to repot, but I know I have to, so I'm going to repot while the plant is still healthy. Also gonna be careful with the roots and not press too hard while planting (keep the pot mix nice and fluffy and airy.)

I plan to use bark, cactus soil, perlite and spagnum moss, worm castings in my mix going forward. I also bought some orchid pots with holes and saucers to hopefully give more air flow. I already have a fan going 24/7 so I hope this way it can dry out enough.

Sure! I can use a skewer stick to check moisture levels, I never even thought of that! I agree, I need to know just how dry/wet the soil is and I just can't tell yet without checking somehow. I know I will learn, but right now I can't tell. Thanks for that suggestion!

I will try to keep the plants dryer. I admit, it's hard for me not to overwater and wrap my head around plants growing in dry soil (I am used to aquatic plants and outdoor plants), but I'm learning!

I didn't water my snake plants for a week after I repotted and they actually grew in that time! So although there's so much conflicting info about whether to water after repotting or not, I think I feel more comfortable with waiting at least 24-48 hours after repotting. Maybe not a week of dryness for hoya, but a little bit to allow roots to get used to new media.

Again thank you for your insight, it is very much appreciated 😉
Last edited by Katonical Aug 6, 2024 11:04 AM Icon for preview
Avatar for Katonical
Aug 7, 2024 12:04 PM CST
Thread OP
Gatineau QC Canada
@Iochroma Hi, I moved the sheer curtains way over to the side and got myself a little grow light.

I have lights in other places of my home and I gotta say, the plants do pretty well! I guess you're right, could be the lighting isn't bright enough for my plants to use up the water they were given.

I used to say (for aquarium plants), light is the gas petal for your plant growth. Everything else, (fertilizer for the aquatic plants) is provided according to how much light is given.
Avatar for Katonical
Aug 15, 2024 8:50 AM CST
Thread OP
Gatineau QC Canada
I know it's pretty sad, I only have one stem left, but we have new roots!



Thumb of 2024-08-15/Katonical/aff7f7
Last edited by Katonical Aug 15, 2024 8:51 AM Icon for preview
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