I picked these up at Home Depot today. I'm afraid to mess with the soil too much but don't know if I should leave alone or repot. When I lift the plant up the whole pot comes up so they don't lift from the soil itself.. roots seem to be intact.
by Immediate-Winter1025
18 Comments
Repot***
Put it in a chunky mix. Usually, big box store soil is very suffocating to Hoya and other plants. It’s a beauty!
These are beautiful! Can I ask where (generally) you are? My local big box haven’t had any interesting Hoya recently.
I would give them a week or so to adjust to their new environment before repot. But I’m still new to this, that was the advice given in July when I started my Hoya rabbithole journey.
I would repot in chunky mix definitely. They may take a bit to bounce back and start showing growth, but it is worth it in the long run! Every hoya I’ve gotten from HD I’ve repotted and after about a month or two I see growth 🙂
I scored the same ones last spring at Home Depot. Can’t say it’s always the right call but I repotted immediately when I got home. The soil soaked and super dense. All are still alive and well.
You cam repot if you want to right away but treat the plants to be safe i do a 1 cup (peroxide) to 2 cups(water) just to be safe then any bugs will die
Miracle Gro indoor tropical plant mix, 34% and the rest medium grade orchid bark works wonders.
I adjust it a touch and add in worm casings castings, whatever, for them as well. Not sure how your budget is so I gave my most inexpensive soil recommendations. If you can’t find just the orchid bark
Miracle Gro corse orchid mix or their regular orchid mix with leca/medium grade vermiculite (careful with watering as vermiculite can hold water), medium grade volcanic rock, heck, even cleaning pine cones that are open and curing those up can work to help bring in the air and let your Hoya’s roots feel like they’re secure in a tree.
Toss in a trellis and a warm spot and they’ll go bonkers. I’m in an extremely dry place that’s hot. We were in the literal 80 mark on Christmas Day (Phoenix Metro area USA). Our highest record is only 10 degrees off from Death Valley’s highest temperature. With that in mind, adjust your watering, containers, lights, and soil mix to your growing conditions 🙂
Are the roots going bound?
Imo, unless you notice a significant issue with them, I’d wait until closer to spring to repot them.
I would move to chunky mix.
That look like an Australis Hoya and every one I have bought from Home Depot has died with 2 months. I don’t re-pot right away but I do wash the leave and spray them with Bug B Gone but it makes no difference.
The last ones I bought were queens and as they are small and inexpensive-$4.98, I took the chance and removed all the soil, washed the leaves and planted them in a mixture of organic soil, orchid bark, perlite and pumice them sprayed them again. Planted in pots with holes and so far they are doing good. I have trouble with all my plants as my home is far too hot and not enough humidity and also too dark. One day I will bite the bullet and buy grow lights.
I would let them acclimate for a week before repotting
Good ol’ autocorrect
How beautiful! 🤩
Personally, I’m never in a rush to repot, unless they’re showing signs of struggling in their now-small pot.
I repot new plants immediately to prevent pests from spreading to my other plants and inspect the roots. The soil in nursery grown plants holds too much moisture in our homes as a general rule. They haven’t experienced any stress from being shipped to you so there’s no reason not to. I use coco coir, coco chunks and perlite or pumice. They seem to love that mix because they grow like weeds.
They’re beautiful!
Give them some time before a repot! Keep away from other plants in case they have mites and stuff. I’d wait a few weeks-month+.
I also learned I need to take my ass to Home Depot 😄😄😄tyyy!!
Edit: I use a 1:1:1 mix of succulent soil, orchid bark and horticultural charcoal for my Hoya. They seem to be doing well so far! When you repot, check the roots for either dry rot or root rot for overwatering so you don’t waste your time/money!
I wait at least a week for all plants to let them acclimate. If it’s soil is still wet after a week (which frequently happens with big box stores, I will replant. If not, and there is visisble growth, I wait.