Winter 2022

Written By HoyaHoya

Kia ora e te Hoya whanau

It’s the 1st of June and the start of winter in our corner of the South Pacific. Your inbox is probably being assaulted daily with “dos and don’ts” of winter plant care. This information is interesting but pitched in a general kind of way to suit all varieties of house plants. And if you start applying general house plant advice to hoya, especially over Winter, you’re going end up with a H.D.I.T.F (that’s a hoya death in the family).

We remember our first winter H.D.I.T.F it was a Hoya anulata. We made the mistake of buying a barely rooted cutting (never a good idea in winter, btw) and topped that off by watering it during the evening, giving one of its leaves a good cold water dunk in the process. Eeek. RIP Hoya anulata.

Here are our top tips for Hoya care over winter.

 

Sun patterns have changed.  The sun is lower in the sky, has less energy in it and cloud cover means there will be less direct sun for your hoya.

  • Check where the sun is hitting your hoya and make sure it’s not getting bright, direct light (watch out for bright midday and afternoon sun - even during winter this can adversely affect plants).

  • Your hoya may not be getting enough light. You can purchase sansi lightbulbs that can fit in office lamps from the team @sunbulbnz to give your hoya a sunburst.

  • Many hoya love a couple of hours of direct morning sun on cloudy days (make sure they’re back in their indirect light position by around 11am - set an alarm if you’re forgetful).

Temperatures have changed.  Get to know your house.

  • Use a temperature monitor to help you understand your day time and night time temperatures.

  • Double check the hoya temperature guide and use it to move your hoya to the best positions, appropriate for their temperature preference.

  • Your warmer temperature loving hoya (like Hoya anulata, mindorensis, latifolia, cumingiana) need a minimum of 16 degrees. You might need a heat pad to help with this.

  • Your cooler temperature loving hoyas (like Hoya bella, obovata, kerrii, carnosa, linearis, motoskei) just need to be above 11 degrees.

Check your humidity – cool winter air contains less moisture than warm summer air and hoya are a tropical plant, native to rainforests, so they like humidity.

  • Your hoya may not be receiving enough humidity in winter. Use a temperature & humidity monitor to help check this. It’s possible, if you are using gas heaters to heat your home, that your humidity levels might be higher than normal. So good to check and know what you’ve got.

  • If growing hoya in a home environment, 40-60% humidity is about right (60% ideal).

  • Some hoya prefer higher levels of humidity but this is best done in a controlled environment such as a cabinet or grow tent because persistent humidity levels of 60%+ will result in a home that’s damp and unhealthy for you to live in.

  • You can increase humidity by clustering your hoya together or using a small humidifier for an occasional humidity boost.

Watering schedules may need to adjust but there is no one size fits all here!  It will come down to the warmth of your house and the types of hoya you have.

  • If you live in a warm home (and use extra heat pads and lighting to help your hoya during winter), your hoya are living in close-to-summer conditions all year and will still need summertime levels of watering.

  • If you live in a standard NZ home, you will need to reduce your watering schedule. But, as always, water to the needs of the plant (not because it is a certain day of the week).

  • Remember the general rules of hoya watering – thinner leaved hoya (like Hoya odorata, multiflora, coriacea) need more water than thicker leafed Hoya (like Hoya carnosa, pubicalx) and the succulent-style Hoya (like Hoya loyceandrewsiana, obovate and kerrii) will have very minimal water requirements.

  • If your Hoya needs a pick-me-up, add in a microbial (like EM-1) and Groconut to give it a wee pep up.

Getting new hoya to root is much harder

  • In order to root well, hoya require heat / moisture / light… and often in winter heat & light are sub-optimal. This means that it is harder to develop strong root systems.

  • It is even riskier than usual to purchase an unrooted cutting as it is more prone to root rot and especially vulnerable if the courier journey to you becomes a tiki tour.

  • If you’re propagating, make sure you are giving your cuttings the best possible start with the use of rooting supports and microbials (like EM-1).

Hoya leaves gather dust, slowing hoya growth by disrupting the photosynthesis process

  • Gently wipe down Hoya leaves with a microfibre cloth

Hoyas will thrive if you can give them a little extra care (remember, they’re tropical plants)

  • Water during the daytime using water that is at room temperature

  • When you water, try to flush water (not a little dribble on top), water should flow freely out the bottom of the pot and be well-drained.

  • The jury is out on whether fertilising should continue during the winter months and to what levels. Having analysed a number of research articles on this, we can tell you that the results are inconclusive. But our hoya thrive on slightly diluted fertilisers throughout the winter months. We also supplement our fertilisers with the use of EM-1 – we consider this like a probiotic for plants and Groconut which has been proven to give plants a nice natural boost through winter.

 

Just remember that hoya collecting is fun and meant to bring you joy.  Even very experienced collectors have trouble with their hoya from time to time and we all have had a HDITF (or several) – even those that have been growing hoya for decades.  We are all still learning.  Don’t get disheartened if you have a hoya growing setback but do reach out for help, especially if you are seeing yellowing leaves or changes in the firmness and texture of your hoya leaves.  These are all indicators that an intervention is needed.

That said, we love our hoya collection over winter.  We have more time to spend with them because we are spending more time indoors, so we get to enjoy them more.  You even get the occasional surprise, like this sweet Hoya nummulariodes which flowered for us today, on the first day of winter.

Happy Hoya’ing

One of our nummulariodes fully flowered today

Ps – here are some links that might help your collection through winter

HoyaHoya https://www.hoyahoya.nz
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