Lacunosa from PLG never went to bed!
Been blooming all winter.

I notice my KQ carnosa is budding up. She went to bed mid-November, and I think she began stirring at the end of January.

Shooting Star never slept, bloomed all winter...
Serpens has been actively growing and vining, and put on a bunch of peduncles.. Now looks like some are budding.

Hey, Brad! Sorry about those cuttings!

My Hoyas are all awake now....
Pink Silver, Obovata, Vanuatuensis, with Royal Hawaiian Purple leading the charge!
Royal Hawaiian seems to grow year-round....

Josh

One of my newer tiny plants (DS-70, tsangii or similar, I'm not sure) has the very first new growth I've seen on it! Tiny tiny little leaves at the base of the plant.
Nothing else so far.

Most of my Hoyas are still activly growing and blooming. I have a first time bloomer that should open it's buds any day plus more obscura and kanykumariana buds developing. Strange thing though is that there have been no blooms from my Hoya pubicalyx.
I find that depending on the species some of my Hoyas actually grow more (and bloom) during the winter vs the summer.

Mike

I'm with Mike. My Hoyas didn't really change their pace this winter; most are growing exuberantly. I think this 'balmy' winter helps.

The majority are still too new for me to know their seasonal schedules, so I have no idea whether a given species loves winter, or has just gotten settled and begun to take off.

Unfortunately, I'm also with you, Brad, on the mealies. I haven't had any mealie related deaths this winter, but I have this aquarium where I never removed the cuttings and I finally pulled all the plants out yesterday and discovered a handful of mealies and a massive scale invasion that was concentrated on two plants. I could. not. believe how many scales could exist on one plant and it still look fine. THAT will teach me to leave plants in the aquarium where I'm not regularly picking them up. UGH. SO. GROSS! Looking at the poor plants, I felt a wave of horror as severe as if I had glanced down and discovered my body was covered in leeches and warts.

/shudder

/shudder

sp. Estrella was in the tank, apparently unattractive to either scale or mealie and had decided to bud up again, but idk if they'll make it through all the spraying the case will be subjected to over the next weeks. But bless her heart for going for it!

You mean hoyas sleep?! Guess mine never got that memo. My plants have been growing like crazy all winter. I have three established plants and 8 rooted cuttings and not a single one took a break. The cuttings are growing so well that I had to pot a couple of them up just the other day. My speckled carnosa is budding up like a fool, and is on a mission to single handedly take over the large window my plants are sitting in!

Mel

What it means sleeping hoyas? Here they don't sleep, keep awaik all the time. Sleeping hoyas means not producing flower or growing?

Mitzi

Yeah, he's using the verb "sleeping" jokingly. He means they aren't actively growing. During our winter, many Hoya species slow down. However, if you provide supplemental light, or if they are near really big windows, they seem to get enough light to be highly active.

I've no doubt Hoyas never 'sleep' in Brazil!

buongiorno a voi,,, ( are you sleepin now?)

here in italy is very very cold...

more of my hoyas are sleeping but i see:

linearis is good and grows

serpens now puts sprouts( she likes cold)

grows slowly nummularioides

australis in bed

kerri
globulosa
obovata

zzzzzz..... ronf ronf....

spring coming soon!!

Here is hot as hell, very very hot, umbearable.

GG I think that due to our climate hoyas don't sleep here! In the winter time they just go slowly, but still growing.

Mitzi

hi mitzi, when winter comes to you???

Hi Lalla,

June, July and August is winter here, but in Brazil the winter is fine, no cold at all, only few days...........

Since I started late in the year with hoyas, they didn't do much during the latter part of the summer. Then when I brought them inside for the winter, they really "pouted" so I transferred them to my greenhouse where they have literally taken over the space. The DS-70 and 'Royal Flush' haven't stopped blooming yet!
And on my last shopping trip to the local big box store, I had to rescue 'Ruby Sue', who had been hanging out in the same place for at least a month if not longer. I know she was just waiting patiently for me to take her home. Let's hope she is loving the greenhouse as well!
Beverly

I feel your pain, Brad, as my one and only hoya has mealies as well. I pulled them all off...hopefully they are gone.

I'm not sure if mine is sleeping or not. I've only had it for six weeks or so, and it hasn't shown much growth. The ends of both vines are shriveled and hard. Do you guys think I should trim off the ends to encourage new growth?

-Jacob

Jacob, Hoya vines will die back to the last node when the conditions don't support the new growth and it's not a big deal. So, that's what you're seeing on the ends of your vines. I tend to nip off the dead growth, for aesthetic purposes and so I can tell when a vine has recently died back. But, even if you left it there, the Hoya would just ignore it and grow on around the dry nub when it felt like it. Cutting off dead plant matter won't really stimulate growth, so it's up to you whether you trim it or not.

If you're talking about trimming more than just the dried ends, then I would just leave it be. A lot of Hoyas grow in a stop-start manner and after they've been moved to a new environment it takes them a while to take off. So, in this case your plant isn't acting unusual at all and you just need to give it some time. If they are in a super humid, bright environment, Hoyas will grow more constantly, but in the typical home it feels like they gradually build up materials for periodic bursts of growth.

greedyghost - Great info, thanks! I'll go ahead and just leave it be for now. I have a couple of African violets that I am used to trimming/pruning often, so part of me wants to dote on the Hoya as well. However, it's probably best to leave it be and let it adapt to the conditions in my home. It's quite warm and dry in my room given that it's winter right now. I have a feeling that when the hot, humid summer arrives my Hoya will really take off.

-Jacob

I get you. Yeah, I grow a fair number of Gesneriads, too, and Hoyas don't really require the same type of grooming. Pruning them will stimulate a burst of growth, however as their foliage can take a long time to fully mature, their growth is more precious, and most people don't cut their Hoyas unless they want to propagate the plant or reduce its size. Another issue is that several species initially grow peduncles on long leafless vines, so if you were always pruning, it would take you longer to see flowers.

I do think your Hoya will take off around summer, partially just because it will likely have acclimated by then. Some Hoyas do take a year to get really settled, though, so it is not a plant for the impatient. We're always grumbling on here about one plant or the other that is not growing, then one day, the problem Hoya will just take off like it's making up for lost time.

Hopefully I'll wake up one day and discover that my Hoya doubled in size over night. I can dream, right?

lol I'm sure you could get recommendations for Hoyas that will double in size overnight. Hoya compacta wouldn't be at the top of that list though. ^_~