@TierraSolAgua

The whys and wherefores of my houseplants. Mostly Hoyas and Philodendrons.

[tierrasolagua]

Hoya kerrii

Hoya kerrii was 2/3 of the hoya triplets I acquired in October 2020. Unfortunately, this one was also subjected to multiple medium changes like the obovata. It did not survive the ridiculous fluctuations and died shortly after.

The second specimen I have had more leaves to it and seems to be hardier. It came to me in a very dense peat mix, but this time I had more experience in dealing with hoyas and so I left it alone to acclimate in my household surroundings, instead of repotting it immediately. I waited for a month, and then moved it to my usual soil-less chunky mix. My patience were rewarded with additional new leaves afterwards, which tells me that my kerrii was adapting well in the medium.

I can’t say much about this hoya, except that it is very slow growing for me. As of June 2021, its only added two new leaves. I’ve seen online that it likes humidity – I think majority of hoyas and tropical plants do – but as we live in a small rental in southern California, it’s a little hard to provide more humidity unless it is kept in a sealed bag. Getting a tent and placing it in our already crowded home is out of the question.

The heart-shaped leaves of the hoya kerrii makes it a target for those one-leafed novelty gifts you can find during valentines season. It is possible for a single-leaf kerrii to grow additional stems, but this is not something I would recommend for people to buy. It is very slow-growing and quite prone to root rot compared to the obovata. There is a better chance of killing a one-leafer and wasting your money than actually maturing it. Getting a two or three-leafed specimen gives it a much better chance of survival.

Growing conditions:

• Medium – Very chunky, air-y mix;

• Light – Bright, indirect sun for about 10 hours, then weak artificial light for four hours more. We have three GE puck lights over the sink).

• Water – Be careful of overwatering, prone to root rot. Consider checking the medium and weight of pot before watering it.

• Fertilizer – Very diluted solution of Miracle Gro orchid fertilizer.

[tierrasolagua]

First post! Documenting my hoya collection

This is my "Poison Ivy" origin story (haha).

Sometime in July 2020, my lovely mother-in-law gifted me some golden pothos and syngonium cuttings, and my plant obsession took off like a freed-up genie. Up until then, I've only had one experience of keeping a plant - a succulent, which was a wedding favour - and of course promptly killed the poor thing not too long afterwards.

I researched the heck out of plant care and succeeded in keeping those cuttings alive until present day, patting myself in the back without knowing that pothos and syngoniums are quite hardy, as a rule. Hmm. Rest assured, I have un-alive'd plenty of plants since then, but I never would have thought I would be the crazy plant lady that I am nowadays.

In November 2020, I was introduced to the hoyas. One of my regular plant sellers sold to me a 3-in-1 starter pack of hoya "tricolor" (which I learned later on turned out to be a carnosa krimson queen), a "sweetheart" hoya (Hoya kerrii - on account of the heart-shaped leaves), and a Hoya obovata, the only one of the three which was properly named.

Here's a group picture of the three at the time I acquired them. Unfortunately, I subjected these guys to a lot of stress, due to my novice experimentation on mediums. This kerrii is no longer with us. The krimson queen fka "tricolor" had to be cut and propped due to overwatering. I have since learned that my hand is terribly heavy when it comes to dispensing H20. A lot of my hoyas are doing okay in recent days, but only because I keenly track my watering and the medium I use is loose and air-y.

I will post the development of the hoya obovata in a separate post, as it flourished very well despite my attempts to unalive it!