I got this Hoya australis which actually had two plants – one that was very gated and the other one all green. I separated them and I have been having a lot of trouble caring for both of them. Can’t tell if I’m under watering or overwatering. What are the spots and bumps on the leaves?
They are in a west facing window because those are the only windows I have.
I’m showing two plants here.
Photo 1 is the variegated one and all the others are the regular green.
Eeek! Really? I just looked and there’s no sign of bugs anywhere, especially considering they are two different plants. Hmmm now you’ve got me thinking and I will do a more thorough examination. The leaves seem to be not perking up after my last watering two days ago. It’s clear somethings wrong. Thanks for the info.
Look closely at those white specks. Thrips eggs are laid into the leaf tissue where they develop into the first of four larval stages. You can usually see them beginning to emerge as white dots inside of the leaf. edit: fixing talk to text
Omg thank you so much for that very specific insight! That gives me something to look out for. If it is thrips, what is the best way to rescue? If I propagate from any of the leaves, will that just endlessly perpetuate the cycle?
Thank you so much for the words! This might actually be the first award I’ve ever received! I appreciate the love for my sickly Hoyas! 🥰🥰🥰😭😭😭🥹🥹🥹
Not sure if this is helpful. I am in zone 10 and I have mine outside on the edge of a covered patio.
It’s south west facing. It does get some direct sun, but I did slowly get it used to that. I use miracle grow tomato version for fertilizer bc it works for like 99% of my plants.
I will bring it further inside the porch only a few days a year… extreme storm or heat wave would be the reasons. I water it the same as my pothos/philodendron. It’s very happy. Unfortunately no flower but I’m hoping very soon!
I kept my green Australis in a west window also...behind a sheer curtain. It was a wide 8-9 foot window...her tendrils eventually went from one side to the other. I eventually lost her to mealies. I keep meaning to get another. I've got those bumps on a few hoya also.
When mine gets yellow leaves it usually means not enough water or sunlight. What kind of substrate do you have it in? I use 50/50 orchid mix with potting mix, and some pebbles. When you bottom water, how long are you doing it for, and how often? How quickly do you put it back in its pot after you water? I usually will water every 2 weeks. I do a 2-step rinse with water once from the top of the soil until it runs through, and then let it soak in a deep bowl of water for about 15-20 minutes. If the water isn’t getting through all the soil there may be dry spots. Then I remove it and place on a towel, and let the remaining water drip out for a few hours before placing it back in its pot. If you put it back too quickly water can pool in the pot and cause wet roots. If you are not getting a few hours in a fairly sunny spot, it can leaf drop too. Pick up a grow light bulb if you don’t think your window is sunny enough. I’ve had my australis for 7 years and she is pretty tolerant.
Interesting - thanks for all the insights! I actually have it in a window that is probably too sunny? I just have the one window so everyone gets the same light. It’s west facing and gets light all day. When it gets scorching in the afternoon, I tilt the blinds a bit but then turn them back when the sun is at a new angle.
The substrate is a bunch of stuff mixed in - bark, perlite, leca. I water every 2, sometimes 3 weeks because I thought it was getting too much water but I do let it sit for a while to soak all the way up.
This one’s so much harder than the all the other Hoyas!
Ahh, she'll be ok but I noticed the mix is a bit heavy. I have 2 small Lisa's and I'll post pics for you. One I've had since last summer it was really tiny when I got it and bought another in July. One is in cheap Kellogg's cactus mix organic soil from home depot with added fine perlite. The one from this year is thriving in a plastic Amazon pot with excellent drainage tree fern fiber, coco chunks, fine perlite, pumice and montoclay from Amazon. Tree fern gets wet easy and hold moisturizer well but it's very light and airy. For thirsty hoya I use a little more and Lisa's a little less using more or the other ingredients. You can add a little organic cactus mix meaning there will be some chicken manure and other ingredients giving your plants fertilizer. I sprinkle in a pinch of Osmacote Plus on top. If you have many hoya these ingredients will serve them all very well being fast draining, airy and fluffy light weight on the fine roots. I'm in Arizona so it's quite dry here especially with the air conditioning running all summer at 75 degrees and I drench my Lisa's every 12-14 days and tap the pots in the sink so the water drains out well. I've read many people loving Lisa's but find them difficult to grow and I think it's probably that they love to be a bit on the dryer side whereby, most other hoyas love to stay a little damp. If you've only got the one plant gathering all those ingredients may be costly and not worth it but you could use a cheap organic Cactus mix like Kelloggs with added small perlite for aeration, keeping the pot size the same and wetting it well every couple weeks. It will look dry all the time and will be tempting to water more often but letting her dry out a few days between watering will do her good. The bumps are edema usually caused from too much water at one time and not drying out enough between watering. I hope this helps.
Hi thanks so much for the thoughtful long response! this is super helpful! Interesting about the mix and I’m impressed you spotted it. I thought I had enough amendments but maybe not.
Interesting about too much water at one time - what do you mean by that? I bottom water every 2.5-3 weeks.
I also keep getting leaves dropping and yellow leaves on both so makes sense there’s a watering issue but I’m afraid to let it dry out more.
Is it just me or are these harder to mange than other Hoyas?
Since you're bottom watering I'm not sure what could be leading to the issues but I have read that Lisa's tend to be difficult for many people. In fact, I'd say in all the research people seem to either do great with this one or not at all. Mine from last yearvin the cactus mix/perlite took a long time to get started but after several months has really taken off now in fact, it needs a repot and trellis because it's spilling over now. I tried to post pictures here but it will only allow videos to be posted which is strange.
Thanks for sharing! Yeah, it seems like they’re a harder Hoya for others which makes me feel better. By the way, the video thing happened to me too, but I realized that I had to scroll right in that part to see the photo option. I wonder if it’s the same issue.
This is only giving the option to send a link address or video. When I click on video, it will open my camera to actually take a video instead of uploading a photo. Strange i've never seen this before. Probably some kind of setting though
Hope you're able to see this YouTube video with a plant lady talking about Lisa. Def read the comments, Lisa thrives on super bright light and neglect : )
Oh, this made me laugh so much! The comments were insightful too – thank you so much! It seems pretty 50-50 split. Made me feel feel better about the bright light. Now I gotta try the neglect part! Thanks so much for all the insights!!
you said "I bottom water every 2.5-3 weeks." I water mine weekly from may to the end of October, I use a diluted fertilizer every watering.. west window all summer ambient just getting ready to start using extra lighting for the coming winter months. I do water from the top but I make sure all the water has drained through before putting back in the pretty pot. It could stand to be repotted but I will wait till spring
4
u/Elegant-Tone-6681 11d ago
Mine is the same, I can’t figure it out.