I have a few fairly large hoyas that I got from the unmentionable vendor. They are all growing on trellis's, which is OK. But I would like to remove the trellis and let them *sprawl*.

Upon examining them, I notice there is several feet of branches that have sparce leaves in each pot. If I do remove the trellis, would it be OK to cut these off?

All of these plants are still actively growing, is it OK to do it now or should I wait until they slow down?

Any advise you an offer would be appreciated.

Thanks, Maid~

Actually, if they're actively growing, it's a good time to cut them back because they'll take off. But I know what you mean, and this is why I don't like them on hoops myself. I got one this spring from her that was the same way and I untangled the feet and feet of bare vines, cut it back, rooted smaller segements where there was a leaf here and there, and let it start anew from a much smaller looking plant. It hasn't grown much since (which is typical for me of the Hawaiin plants - they want to take a season "off" and adjust to these vastly different conditions...), but I have a feeling it will be a good grower when it gets started. But like you, I prefer a more natural, rambling kind of growth. The only disadvantage to that is when they ramble into each other!

Denise in Omaha

I thought about them growing into each other, and thought maybe it would be a bad idea. But what I think I will do is cut off the lifeless looking vines, keep what I can and root them. As far as the main plants, I'll try to keep them as trained as possible, until I have room to let them go.

I have a couple of reasons for wanting to remove the trellis's. . .

#1 as I mentioned, I like the more sprawling look.

#2 the shelf they sit on has to be so tall to accomodate the height. So much wasted space.

#3 I need to replace the soil. I don't like the mix she uses. It may work for her, but it gets dry way too fast for my liking, it's hard to tell if it's dry down to the roots b/c I can't get my fingers thru the brick hard mix.

#4 I don't have a clue how to re-pot them and keep the trellis in tact, it's going to be hard enough to accomplish switching out the soil.

So, I guess I'll tackle that project today. . . wish me luck.

Maid~

I have H. Obovata that I had to re-arrange,lol...there were so many leafless vines, to me it was so unattractive. The bad thing was the leafless vines had several peduncles on them! I debated for several weeks whether to trim the ugly leafless vines meaning sacrificing the peduncles at the same time. Well, I finally made the decision to cut them all off... and to me it looks so much better. Since the peduncles didn't have any buds on it anyway ...I figured I would never have the courage to remove them if they did, so it was now or never. To me the plant looks so much neater, just wanted to share my Obovata story with you.
Good luck!

My kerrii was like that. It had this 6' vine with nothing but peduncles at every node. They bloomed each year, but it was just homely. I finally cut it off this year - it was hard, knowing it would probably bloom again, but the plant looks better for it. And it put on lots of new growth that included lots of new peduncles, so I think it was a good move.

Denise in Omaha

Well, hearing your stories helped nudge me into taking the plunge, I gave three of my largest hoyas a haircut. :)

It made me nervous, but I knew it had to be done. H. AH0240 kept getting yellow leaves, and eventully they would fall off. I thought it was simply b/c of the transition. Well, I should have at least examined the roots a long time ago. Not only was it in a mix I don't care for, the roots completely pulled out of the pot when I pulled the trellis out. I think that was the only thing keeping them inside the pot. They were very shallow, which made the plant quite top heavy with nothing to keep it in place. Poor thing. That could have happened during the shipment. . .

Anyway, 3 out of 4 or done. H. dasyantha is getting new buds where the old ones fell off, hopefully it will bloom. Then I'm going to do the same thing to it.

I know what you gals mean when you said you sacrificed peduncles for neatness. I had a few old ones on two of the ones I cut back. I did save them on a vine with 3-4 leaves. Hopefully they will root.

I can't say the plants look any better *yet* but hopefully they will benefit from the work I did.

Thanks to both of you~

Maid

I hope they all "snap out of it" for ya.

Would you mind sending a pic of the H. AH0240?

Carolyn

Here's the picture you wanted. This is right after I got it, and what it looked like up until today. I'm hoping the yellowing leaves are a cause of the shallow roots, and with the re-pot and trim it will perk up. I gave it a good drink of VF-11 and mixed in some peroxide as well.

Although the roots were shallow, they are quite large. I didn't pot it up, just removed the old soil and added my soil, perlite and bark mixture.

There was a lot of soil her soil mix in the box, but I just put it back in the pot, didn't think to examine the roots. Thought I'd give it time to adjust before I did too much fussin with it. . . I'm thinkin now that was not such a wise idea.

Thanks for the kind words. . .

Maid~
H. AH0240

Take care, all,

Carolyn

Carolyn, oh no! Maybe you'll get lucky and another leaf will sprout for you!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

The plant is looking great. It's just small. :) The leaves look beautiful, even with a bite out. Can't wait til the spring. I'm hoping it takes off!

Carolyn

I agree Carolyn, I can't wait til spring. . . for more reasons than one. . .

Maid~