Hi there,

I definitely think plastic pots are best, but some like to use terra cotta and do fine with them. But you'll find yourself watering more often. If you like terra cotta, try using them as cache pots.

As for the roots being tangled, I'm confused about that question. Roots are always tangled! Also, you said there are 3 roots? - do you mean vines??
If you are referring to vines, it's up to you whether to untangle them or not - if you like the look, then it's fine to keep them tangled up. If not, then you should have no problem untangling them as long as it is a hoya with flexible vines (some harden pretty quickly) and as long as you are very careful not to break the leaves or vines.

Good luck, and welcome to this forum :)
Gabi

Hi Alba,
Just where is Hawthorne? This may help answer your question better. Some parts of CA get frost quickly, other areas, hoyas can be left outside year round. I live in the North-Eastern most part of SLO County.

I prefer clay pots, orchid pots even better. For cuttings though I like the 4 in plastic orchid pots. If the hoya cuttings are off of the same plant, then I'd just pot the whole root ball. It will give you a fuller plant quicker. If they are different hoyas, then I would separate them gently.

Oh gosh...I feel so stupid! You did mean roots!! Thanks for clarifying, Mentha! I guess you mean that the roots from each cutting are entangled (duh!!)....in that case, I agree with Mentha about potting them together in order to get a fuller plant.

Mentha, when you speak of leaving the plants outside, I feel like I missed something (again!). I didn't see a question about that, but are you referring to what type of pot to use if the hoya is outside?

Gabi

P.S. sorry if I missed something...I'm already in vacation mode :)

Gabi,
Just hitting all bases :) I like to keep my plants outside as long as possible, I figured other CA'ns may also. Light is also an issue, depending upon lateral lines, they may get less light up north, thus grow slower and need less water.

Outside I still prefer clay because I tend to water heavily in plastic and like to see the pot's color change before watering again. Now if they had color changing pots like some of those fancy dolls' hair, we'd be in business! I do however use s/w pots most of the time because it's less messy and grandparents would be p*&^%d if I rotted the porch. They've already made me move my plants once.

Hi Alba,

Hoyas can be quite different one from the other, many like to dry out btwn watering, a few like to be on the moist side.

Broadly speaking, the moister ones will do better in plastic pots which will keep them moist longer, some of those that like to dry out btwn waterings do better in clay. As to those that get thick stems, & become heavy quickly like Kerrii & Obovata, they seem to benefit from the weight of clay pots to keep them stable & upright & keep them from pulling the pot over from their weight. Once in a while I'll put some rocks in on them to hold them down into the mix 'til they root.

Experiment a bit & you'll begin to get a sense of what works best for you, based on your conditions & watering habits.

I like clay, because I think you have less danger of overwatering for all of the reasons listed above. I also like the way clay looks, and for environmental reasons, I am trying to avoid plastics today wherever I can. Plus, hoyas being the kind of plants they are, the clay allows more air circulation around the roots, especially if you use the pots made for orchids, which are the best.

Still, I have most of my hanging plants in plastic pots. When repotting (which is infrequent) I am switching to clay or ceramic, but it can be a hardship as most of those kinds of pots have no saucers so are messier indoors, plus you have to get a separate hanger too. And they are heavier. Home Depot and alot of garden centers sell ceramic orchid pots with built in saucers, and those are pretty nice. Still messy though. I guess it all depends on how easy you like things to be.

Hi alba, welcome!! I prefer plastic, but I have a few cuttings in clay. For me plastic keeps them from drying out too fast in my very hot summers, but we are in our rainy season now, so I have to bring them in from time to time to keep them from being too wet all the time.

Mentha, I know where San Luis Obispo is. I lived in Santa Maria, Lompoc, Westminster, Thousand Oaks, all over CA. many years ago...

puglvr1,
I was born and raised in Atascadero. I now live east of Paso Robles towards Bakersfield and Fresno, not far (5 miles or so) from the tree James Dean hit.

Do you find that with the humidity in FL things grow differently, thus need different care? With 1400 wildfires going strong you can imagine how dry it is here and more water is needed for growth. When I lived in Knoxville, TN I hardly ever had to water, now it seems I'm always outside with hose in hand. Fair time is coming up, so we're on our way to 120* days really soon and I don't want to be outside twice daily watering.

Wow!! What a small world we live in...I've been to both those towns!

Florida humidity takes some getting use too, but I lived in the Philippines and Guam many years ago, so I am not unfamiliar with it. Most of my tropical plants grow here really well this time of year. Nothing like rain water to get them growing! The only thing that doesn't grow for me in the summer are my Jades/Succulents. For me they color up nicely and grow in the fall/winter when our temps get cooler at night.

I feel really bad for you guys with all those wildfires, and really hope they get it contained real soon. We need to send our rain your way to help put them out, take care!

Small world it is!! I lived in Lompoc, then on base at Vandenberg back in '80/'81. Then lived on Guam in '82-'84. Biloxi, Mississippi in '80. (Ex was in the USAF...) It IS amazing how differently our plants grow in different environments. I left my singular Hoya behind with my wonderful step-grandma (may her kind soul rest in peace...) but grew others. I was amazed at how differently they grew in each of these conditions...

Clay is great if you're inclined to overwater. Plastic is better if you are a little forgetful. Either will work fine if you're diligent about checking for dryness.

Denise in Omaha

sorry to hijack, but my dad was at Vandenburg. He was going to go to Guam, but mom found out she'd have to wash clothes by hand so opted to stay here. He was at Kwajalein for 15 years, he worked on the radar for NASA. I have a step sister and half brother both from the Marshall Islands I've never met. My brother moved to Texas I think, but not sure.

When I moved back home from TN I took all my plants with me. I left the couch behind, but couldn't part with my plants. Many came from friends here on GW. They did better in Atascadero than they do here in Shandon, though. It's about 10* cooler there. I have never been able to grow a Tahitian Bridal Veil since.

Hey everybody, another newbie here, to the forum and in collecting / growing hoyas.

I was reading this thread and was wondering if anyone has tried potting hoyas in slotted, fast draining plastic orchid pots? I saw someone mention the ceramic orchid cache pots, but the plastic ones are no where near as messy to use and they drain great. It's what I use for all my Phals. and Paphs.

Also, what type of potting medium do you all use? I've been using Cactus soil amended with course sand and fine orchid mix (fir bark, charcoal and sponge rok / perlite), but I just received a H. pubicalyx 'Royal Hawaiian' and a H. macgillivrayi today and I do NOT want to take any chances with them. Think they will be happy in the regular mix I've been using?

kitster, do you mean the plastic "basket" pots? I believe people use those for hoyas, I have purchased a few in those kind of pots and though they need more frequent watering, I like them.

You could use just the orchid mix with a little potting soil added for hoyas, they would like that.

Welcome Alba. And Kit.

I think the larger question that needs to be answered here is a matter of method. Do your plants hang or do you stake for upwards growth from sitting pots?

I think that TC works great for those with limited options for hanging, and those that grow their plants supported by stands, shelves, window ledges while utilizing stakes or some other support system.

For me, and my larger plants I'm coming up on a real weight issue and have snapped the 'good' hangers on the higher end $ self water pots. Two plants have kamakazied to the ground recently, and I've no clue what to do with them. Because of that, plastic is nearly my only option to help keep the weight down.

Recently I've found lovely pots (developed for water garden plants) that look more like plastic sieves than anything else. BUT, there is still a large weight issue, and the design of these pots will NOT support the size of plants that I have.

I make my own mix of soil, and chuck the kitchen sink in there, depending on what I'm repotting that day! I think a terrestrial orchid soil would be nearly tailor made. I'm still on the look out for Black Magic terrestrial soil; it has soil, some bark and perlite with lots of brick bits or something similar to water garden soil. (I have no idea how to spell calcyned or whatever some folks use.) I pot up a lot of broms in it, also. What works for you is what is best to do. I'm sure that Mentha mixes in more water holding bark than I do down here. If I buy plants in the high desert above Plam Springs, I immediately repot because the level of moisture retention items causes plants to rot in a few days at the coastal level.

California wise, I'm as far south west as you can go and still be in the US!

Here's the type of pot I was referring to:

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They have 3 rows of slits around the circumference of the pots and 24 slits on the bottoms. Complete drained of water in about 1 minute. They also have wonderful air circulation which allows the potting medium to dry out nicely between waterings.

Right now I'm watering my outside Phalaenopsis and Brassia orchids 1-2 times a week, depending on how hot Huntington Beach gets. My indoor plants get watered every 1 - 1.5 weeks, again depending on outside temps. We have no AC and I have the plants over a humidity tray that gets filled every 3-4 days.

I only have a few hoyas at the moment, well few compared to the number of orchids I own. Currently I have the following plants: H. carnosa 'Tricolor', H. carnosa 'Exotica' (or 'Krimson Princess' or whatever it's known as this week), H. compacta (variegated), H. ciliata, H. macgillivrayi 'Coen River' (IML 16), H. pubicalyx "Bright One', H. Pubicalyx 'Silver - Pink' and H. pubicalyx 'Royal Hawaiian'. Ooops, forgot H. tsangii . All are small plants except for the 'Royal Hawaiian' and no flowers so far. Of course I only started getting into hoyas a month ago ;-)

Those are the same type pots I was referring to, I have smaller black colored ones....and I would definitely use those for hoyas. Depending on conditions, it would certainly take more watering, but thats ok because I think the roots would be very happy.

Ok I had to Google where Hawthorne was, it's right in the heart of Los Angeles, about half way between Cena and me. This helps with a good all purpose mix for epiphytes. I would go with a nice epi mix. I use my epi mix for my hoyas also. I'd not add any organic anything to my soil that doesn't already come in the potting soil. I don't like fungus gnats, they eat roots. Soil nematodes are also really bad around here. My mix changes from batch to batch because I tend to experiment a lot, but one thing is sure I do not like peaty soils.

My mix of the day is:

1 part commercial potting mix, peat free if possible (not Hyponex, it always has bugs) I usually buy the cheap stuff from WM without ferts or water retention stuff and add my own stuff to it.

and 1 part Perlite (I used to use vermiculite, but it broke down too much ) 3.5 cf at OSH for $14

a combo of 1 part aquatic soil, chunky aquarium gravel, or red lava rock gravel. Whichever I can find at the moment. My favorite cactus nursery uses the red lava as a top dressing, so I just scrape it off and add it to my potting mix. This really helps with my over watering problem. I intend on buying a bunch of this stuff from the rock yard in the near future because I have a lot of repotting to do.

I sometimes add styrofoam packing peanuts or cut up styrofoam packaging to the bottom of my pots. I've found that roots tend to search out the styrofoam like it does perlite. It also makes my pots weigh less and recycling is good :)

Mentha, I'm curious about the red lava rock. Have you used it for any length of time? I read somewhere on one of the forums that the red lava rock is used as mulch to keep out weeds, and that it has something in it that will kill plants. (it may have been Carol on DG) I have been looking for hydroton, but can't find it locally. In the meantime I break up broken clay pots into very tiny pieces and add it to my hoya mix which is 1/3 pot. soil, 1/3 orchid mix and 1/3 perlite. So far, my little cuttings are going OK. I'm only losing one hoya (hollianna) I never changed the mixture it was in when I bought it and it's leaves are turning yellow. I've re-potted it into my mix and hopefully it will survive.

I've been using it off an on for a couple years. I don't think the red lava rock has anything that will cause a problem, otherwise orchid growers wouldn't use it so often. It does, depending on the size of the rocks hold water. I use it because it drains well, but then I used to use cat litter in my mix. I'm all but conventional.

Wow !
I am impressed with all of the replies that I received regarding repotting my hoyas, and what to do with the three little cuttings that have rooted together and their roots are tangled.Thanks for all of the helpful hints including what soil mixture to use.
I live in Hawthorne, Ca which is about 3 miles from Manhatan, Beach and about 3 to 5 miles south east from LAX. The weather here can get warm, but it's not as warm as being in the valley
Alba in Hawthorne, Ca