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vieja_gw

hoya ... no bloom & ? trailing 'stems' ?

vieja_gw
13 years ago

I have a cutting off my sister's huge very old hoya that blooms most of the year but my 10 yr. old cutting has grown so much but only had ONE flower in all this time .... I treat it as she does but no flowers on mine! Also, occasionally my hanging east window plant sends out long 'stems' with no leaves... should these be cut off or will these be the flowering part? Other than no flowers, the plant is very healthy & gets fed with all my other house plants (ferns, ivy, airplane plant, red oxalis, etc.) that do great! Any ideas why mine doesn't bloom?

Comments (4)

  • joolesk9
    13 years ago

    Hi vieja,

    It could be that you are being too kind and over-feeding your hoya!
    If it has grown loads, with lots of foliage, try cutting back on the fertiliser, and only feed weakly when you see buds developing.

    I have a hoya shepherdii that sends out long stems with no leaves too. They do get in the way!, but I leave them, as the following year they do show growth. Its up to you really whether to cut them back. I'd get the plant blooming first and then consider a haircut!
    Good luck :)

  • mdahms1979
    13 years ago

    The long vines often form bloom peduncles before the leaves fill in so don't cut those off. Some Hoyas are very slow to fill in with leaves while others form leaves right away.
    Bright light will allow the plant to produce more blooms and if your plant is Hoya carnosa it will also bloom more heavily during the cooler months. If your plant is not up close to the window I would move it as close as you can.

    Mike

  • vieja_gw
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    the hoya is in an east window that has no curtains at all... full sun. It is 'friends' in the window with a huge red oxalis plant that blooms all the time & has to be rotated several times a day as those red 'clovers' turn constantly to the sun! That oxalis, BTW, will grow outdoors in the ground here too & survives our zone 7 winters & my outdoor plant is over 10 yrs, old!

  • mdahms1979
    13 years ago

    That is a very old Hoya carnosa to not be blooming more than it is. If the window gets good strong morning sun it should do the trick. I grow my Hoya carnosa a little ways back from a shaded south window now and it does not bloom often but it did when it was right up near the window. Are the leaves of your plant very dark green? My plant bloomed best when the leaves were medium to light green.
    You might try repotting or topping the current potting mix with some new soil if it looks old and tired. I still suspect that light may be the problem but that's just because your plant is so old and still not blooming much. You could try an experiment; add a daylight compact fluorescent bulb to shine on the Hoya for the part of the day that the window is more shaded, see if that causes the plant to produce peduncles. It has been shown that plants only flower once they produce enough energy through photosynthesis. Each species has a specific number of light hours that they need to get the energy to bloom and it can be easily manipulated with artificial lights. Some plants are sensitive to light during their dark period, even a night light or street lights are enough to prevent some plants form blooming, not sure where Hoyas fit into the picture. Plants in nature are used to getting a certain number of hours of light each day, in the tropics plants that are growing in the sun can expect a good 12 hours of light each day. Remember that Hoyas are not plants of the shady forest floor they are what are often called gap plants, growing on the margins of the forest or in fairly open situations vs. in shade for the majority of the day. Shaded parts of the plant may not bloom but the portions that climb into the light will be able to gather enough light energy to flower, this is why many Hoyas and tropical forest plants are such strong climbers. You can grow beautiful plants in lower light but without the proper light intensity and duration a plant just can not bloom.

    Mike

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