Please describe the conditions that your plant is experiencing so we can decide if there is something that needs adjustment. The most important factors are light intensity or exposure (N,S,E,W) and duration, temperatures day and night and moisture level. Did you just recently repot? How long does it take for the potting mix to dry?

Mike

The australis was repotted a week ago. I put a grow light just above the foliage as I believe it needed more light (this was yesterday). The mix is still damp somewhat, but not overly wet I believe.
It has healthy looking leaves , 3 so far, just falling off my poor hoya. There is something going on. No yellowing of any leaves at all thank goodness.
So these like to dry out like other hoyas before watering or no? Any help will be greatly appreciated!! Please help me and my hoya............I cannot lose her........Ill be heart broken so much. Thanks everyone.

Well after reading the Hoya australis article I mentioned in another thread I would not feel comfortable giving detailed cultural information unless we knew just what Hoya australis subspecies you have. Some subspecies of this Hoya can tolerate moist conditions, others like to dry out and still others like ssp rupicola do best with dryer conditions followed by a distinct dry rest for part of the year.
Does anyone grow the Hoya australis from Exotic Angle, is this Hoya australis ssp tenuipes or ssp australis?
One concern I have is the sudden move to higher light levels, what wattage of lights are you using and how far away is the plant? Did the leaves that fell develop whitish areas or any other damage? I grow plants under two 40W fluorescent tubes and have had problems with sunburn in the past when both bulbs are replaced at the same time because they are just too bright to be close to the plants. There is a good chance that your plant has just dropped a few leaves because of the shock of repotting and that it is fine but I would try to keep the potting mix from staying moist for too long and watch for any other signs of stress that might indicate a problem until you see some good new growth.

Mike

Blondetazz,
I have an Exotic Angel Australis who is doing very well. I give her a good watering and let her dry out before giving her a thorough watering again. All of my hoyas are thriving in a south facing window with blinds, so I can control how much sun they get. I think Mike may be right in suggesting that your australis might just be going through some shock after being repotted.

Mike,
The tag on the Exotic Angel Australis just says " Hoya Australis,Hoya Carnosa.
Origin: South China
alba in Hawthorne,CA

It is Hoya australis ssp tenuipes. Nothing on its leaves at all, they are nice and green. If my soil is staying damp for too long , how can I dry it out quicker without hurting my plant? Is there something I can put on the top of the soil or? It my be shock from transplanting.......I was so careful when I did this, but it may be just that, which it would make me happy. The light is a grow light and is just above the foliage, 40 watt bulb or a little better. The plant seems to love it though.

The EA australis is ssp. tenuipes, so you've got that right. Mine dries out a bit before I water it. Did you put some extra perlite in your soil mix? I use coir and perlite, about 2/3 and 1/3. The faster it drains, the faster it will dry.

It's a vigorous grower. I grow mine on the north end of my GH on a trellis and have to constantly whack it back at the top. It bloomed up a storm this fall (in fact, still has a few on it...) The flowers last a long time, and they're very, very fragrant. In fact, I think it might be the culprit of some bad sinus problems I've been having the last 6 weeks or so. But I'd rather take Benedryl and tolerate the sinus stuff and enjoy the flowers than pluck the buds.

Good luck with your new Hoya!

Denise in Omaha

You would know if the problem was because of the light because there would be burns on the leaves, we will assume that the light is not the culprit.
Weather your plant is Hoya australis ssp australis or Hoya australis ssp tenuipes it will be fine if left to dry slightly befor watering again, ssp tenuipes is said to like shadier rain forest conditions where ssp australis likes drier more open habitats. When you repotted your plant what did you use as a potting mix? There are several ways to open up the mix by adding fir bark or orchid bark, perlite, marble, granite or even limestone chips or crushed oyster shell for species that like an alkaline mix with high available calcium content versus the standard acidic mix most epiphytes are grown in. For Hoya australis I think a mix of potting soil, perlite and medium sized orchid bark would be a good one, if you can't find orchid bark try looking at the pet store for fir bark or even some coconut hush chips that are sold in the reptile section. Ideally the potting mix should not stay wet for more than a week at a time, if you notice that the mix is not drying on the top by that time you need to either put additional coarse components into the potting mix or even drill some holes in the pot part way down to get more air into the mix.

Alba gardener the Exotic Angle tags are almost always wrong so it is usually best to ignore them from what I have seen.

Mike

Wow great advice everyone:) Thank you:)
The mix has fir bark and perilite in it. When I repotted I did not disturb the root mass and took it straight out of its original plastic hanger pot and placed it into a 10" clay pot, filling the bottom and sides with my mix. Just placing the whole plant in the center of the pot.
I will be getting, when I can what was suggested at the pet store....excellent idea!!
Any pictures of austalis that anyone has to encourage me will be great.
I finally watered it some last night, I believe thats why it was dropping some leaves as it needed watered. Does that make sense? Is that how it tells you to water it........by dropping good leaves? It looks a LITTLE BETTER today and no yellowing of the leaves either (good). I also mist all my plants with vf 11. Is that ok for australis also?

Blondetazz, I just wanted to say for some reason i find hoyas do not do well with clay pots. I have tried a few different hoyas in clay and I always move them back to plastic.I am not saying your plant wont like clay but mine do not.If you like the look of clay use it as an outside pot with the plastic inside.

I find hoya leaves will yellow if under watered and over watered.Sometimes its a guessing game.
Why did you pot it up to larger pot? They like there roots tight inside there pot.If it were my plant I would put it back into the EA pot but take the bottom catch tray off.
Good luck with your hoya with what ever you try.

Cindy

I agree with Cindy that most Hoyas will be easier to care for in plastic vs clay pots. Clay pots are useful because they breath and this allows the potting mix to dry evenly but it also means you need to water more often to prevent the roots from drying out. When you use a large 10" pot it is more difficult to determine just how dry the potting mix is because you can't simply pick up the pot to judge it's weight. I would try to put my finger down into the new potting mix to see if there is any moisture left, your plant might be suffering from the stress of too little water instead of over watering. I think that the critical thing for you to do is figure out the schedule that you need to water your plant by. If the air is dry or it is sunny you many have to water every few days to make sure that the potting mix does not dry out completely but the amount of water needs to be in balance with light levels so the addition of the plant light was in my opinion a very important step to assuring the health of your plant during the winter months.

Do you have access to a digital camera? If we could see photos of your plant it would be easier to tell if it is over potted.

Mike

I don't share the "keep it underpotted" philosophy myself. Unless you like keeping your Hoyas smallish. I kept my EA australis in it's EA pot for the first 8 months or so, then moved it up to a very large pot (a large ceramic pot, 10" wide and 9" deep), because of the sheer size of the plant and knowing it's going to be next to impossible to pot it up in the future. It's grown like gangbusters. It's possible it delayed the blooming process, but since I've only had it about 3 years, I don't feel I've waited nearly as long as I have with others...

I would just leave it alone, but do make sure you adjust your watering for it being in clay. Since you're so far north, I don't think you have to worry about it drying out too fast unless you plan on growing it outside next summer.

Denise in Omaha

I do have a digital camera and will try to find my darn card reader so I can post a picture to all of you.
So far what I have found out is that if it drops healthy leaves it needs water asap...........lol. Since the watering the other day it looks much better to me. I also have a trellis I made up and placed in with the plant when I repotted, dont think I mentioned that before.

Here is a few pics of my australis to help........

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/Blondie09/DSCF0431new2.jpg[/IMG]

and

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v735/Blondie09/DSCF0434new.jpg[/IMG]

try to add this pic again., sorry...........

{{gwi:993215}}

Well from the photo your plant looks nice and healthy and is definitely not over potted as it will continue to grow into an even larger plant if given the room for a large root system. I should have known that your plant would be so large, Exotic Angle does sell nice full baskets.
So as an update has the problem with the leaves dropping stopped entirely? One thing I thought I should mention is when watering really soak the potting mix thoroughly and then allow it to dry slightly, don't give little sips of water every now and then.

Mike

I have been giving it sips not a full watering. Gave it another sip yesterday, when should I fully water then? Dropped a good leaf yesterday, but that may have been my fault.
Also when I did repot I wasnt sure if it was clear or not, but I just put the entire root mass of the australis, after removing it from the EA pot, into the new mixure and filled in the sides and bottom of the new clay pot with my soil mix. Is this ok? I really want this plant to be ok......I havent seen any new growth as of yet and that does worry me a lot.

When you repot Hoyas into a larger pot they will often spend some time growing roots instead of top growth. I had a rooted cutting sit for about three months after I potted it into a 6.5" pot because it was busy growing roots but now it is almost 4 feet tall and growing strong. I know that a lot of people don't like the EA potting mix because it holds lots of moisture and if the mix you used to fill in around the root mass is of a very different consistency you could run into problems with uneven moisture distribution. I would let the potting mix dry out until the top is dry and then check with your finger to see that the mix is also dryish a couple of inches below the surface before you water again. Watering with little sips will cause wet areas and dry areas and you could risk loosing some of the roots. Watering until you see water flowing from the bottom drainage hole of the pot lets you know that the potting mix is evenly moist and it will be much easier to develop a schedual for watering the plant. Most of my Hoyas in 6" or larger pots get watered about once a week but you should get in the habit of checking to see how dry the potting mix is because at times certain plants will need water more than once a week or they may need a few extra days to dry more depending on the temperature, the amount of sun and air movement they receive.

Mike

You mentioned not removing the EA potting soil from the roots, this may be your problem. The soil from EA will stay a lot moister than the surounding soil causing rot of not careful. I'd suggest removing all the EA soil with a light spray of the hose and repot it in a consistant well draining soil.

In addition, I find this plant to be one that 'self prunes' older leaves. I've had other beginning growers of this plant to ask the same question.

Check out the thread "Hack Job" to see my care and feeding of this species.

I think you are dealing with normal age, condition stress, and life as we know it.

Your plant looks GREAT!

how do I find the thread ? Still drops a few leaves yet........

I did also repot as suggested last week. I removed the ea soil as much as I could and replaced it with my soil consisting of: perilite, retile fir bark pieces as suggested, shultz soil conditioner, and pot. soil, all mixed together before putting into pot with plant. About equal amounts of all.
The ea aoil was so heavy and nasty! Glad that I did this. I didnt want to at all but knew it would be best for my plant and help me not to worry as much.
Having one hand, it was a hard chore for me and took awhile, but I did it and no injury to the plant at all during this.
To get the soil mass of ea soil out of my australis I took a two pronged fork and gently worked it out of its roots.
The plant was replaced into the clay 10 pot with its trellis.