Are there drainage holes in the bottom of the pot?

Yep. When i water it I wait until water comes out of the bottom drainage hole and then pour any accumulation out of the tray.

Maybe you’re giving it too much pepper? ;-)

I'm very new to hoyas and only have one, so hopefully you'll get suggestions from some more experiened folk, but could it be overwatering? My understanding is that they like to really dry out between waterings, and if you're only letting the top inch get dry, the roots may be wetter than they want to be. I wait until the leaves feel soft and flexible before I water my obovata and it is very happy.

That's a good point. I could probably let it dry out more - especially since the pot seems to be quite deep.

I'm also wondering if i should remove leaves with the black spots to prevent spread? It looks like an infection, but could just be dead spots

I would remove them. Even if it's not something that will spread, those spots won't heal.

Hoyas also like to be root bound and in a well draining mix. Do you have a good mix of perlite in your soil? Are you using potting soil or orchid mix? I use coir and perlite so it doesn't stay saturated. I do sometimes use clay pots, but the combination of regular potting soil and clay pots can be too moist for Hoyas. I have had the best luck with a mix of coir and perlite in glazed pots with a decent sized drainage hole. I use a coffee filter in the bottom to prevent the dirt from draining out. My compacta was also VERY slow to take off, but is suddenly putting off shoots. I, too, would remove the damaged leaves since they won't heal themselves and will continue to drive you crazy.

It's a cactus soil, which i thought would be fast drying enough. I don't see a lot of perlite in there...Do you think that is well draining enough?

That looks like past pest damage and or sun scar, salt burn, or mechanical damage. Not disease.

If that were my plant I would do as Carolyn says.

A fast draining mix with a good amount of bright light should do it well. It will help prevent salt burn, pests, and over watering. It will dry out evenly through and through and allow good aeration to the root zone for proper growth,

I would make sure it was pest free too. The swirl in those leaves that hide parts of the leaves undersides can harbor bugs without you even knowing it.

Why not fertilize? What kind of temperatures are you exposing that plant to?

In my opinion, the cactus soil you buy on the shelves if Miracle Grow stinks. I would amend it with even more per lite, pumice, crushed granite, small bark, or even turface of you had too

Mu best mixes consist of pieces of bark, the majority, then pumice, and a bit of soil or peat of none at all if you like to water often as much as you like without fear of rotting the roots.

Mike

Hi JK,

You've gotten good advice above, in several respects. I don't recognize that kind of damage, but agree, it won't heal so those leaves might as well be removed.

I too would amend the mix as suggested above. I've grown Hoyas in C&S mix plus Perlite (50/50 each) for some time; recently added a bark component (called ReptiBark, bought at pet stores). So now I use roughly 1/3 of each C&S mix, Pelite (or Pumice) & Reptibark. My plants seem happy & drain very well. I'd suggest small plastic pots (yes, I agree, less deep) & I use a dish of pebbles beneath them, to slow down the drying a bit.

Both of these pots are double potted so I can have a saucer w/ pebbles inside which the potted plant sits on top of. Not pretty, but conserves some moisture while allowing good circulation around it. (That wick is just there to help me be sure of full drainage).

Perhaps try not to get water on the leaves, it can pool & make a problem (I think that might have been how that black spot happened). If water gets in the nooks & crannies try using the corner of a paper towel to remove any water.

While these pix don't show it, these are in or near a west window getting good, bright light much of the day.

Karen your plants are beautiful. Good growing. I like you idea with the pot in pot. Some of my hanging ones dry out to fast at times. Thanks for that.

Thanks Mike. Don't know about beautiful, but they seem healthy. I use a lot of double potting &/ or pebble trays, for everything except the succulents. Exactly, it's 'cause sometimes they can dry out too fast (or faster than I might notice ;>) )

Let me find some other examples.

There are pebbles in the saucer under this Ceropegia woodii.

Here's another version, I'd put this under Hoyas or Epis (sorry for the dirty saucer & pot but ...)

A current experiment, a true CC that I'm growing Hydro which seems very happy.

Oops, I digress, sorry to divert your thread, JK.