I actually never jumped on the leca bandwagon. Adjusting ph and roots growing outside the pot just didn't attract me. It was always organic mix with store bought soil and perlite, but now that I live in hot and humid environment, where I control the water, my mix has moss, bark, coco chunks, perlite and very little coco peat.
I keep all my Hoyas in terracotta pots and use a mix of coco coir, coco husk, pine bark, perlite, worm castings, a little leca and charcoal. This combination suits my watering habits perfectly and the Hoyas love it.
@@BasiePlants That's exactly what I think too. I would be hopelessly lost trying to keep a hoya in a plastic pot or even PON, but as mentioned above we (my hoyas and I) get along very well. It's great that there are so many different options!
@@BasiePlants By the way, I only use leca in my substrate mix because my mom still had it lying around. Now I always mix a little under my substrate and have not noticed any difference to the mix without leca so far. At some point I will have used up the huge sack 😀
I grow all my plants in cocopeat with pumice. (Some plants including bark) I stop using perlite in my mix, because it’s much lighter then soil. After a few months a lot of perlite is on top of the pot. And pumice stays nicely mixed in the soil mix.
I also like pumice and coco peat a lot! I just have to do a bit less pumice :D But I agree, it is much better than perlite, doesn't go to the top and it is very light!
This is me too, I just finished my last bag of perlite and don’t want to go back. Having it all rise to the top was driving me insane 😂. Soil, orchid bark, pumice, now minus the perlite
I love hearing everyones’ ideas and filtering out what I think might work for me. Right now most of mine are in homemade PON in self watering pots. They are drying out pretty rapidly in this very hot summer, but during cooler weather I find they are very easy to keep up with.
I am reading them too and I am loving it! So proud of everyone commenting 😂 I also think pon works better in winter for me but in summer it is so much work :D We need a magic mix, I am convinced of this 😂
I'm moving my hoya to pon substitute with self watering because I just can't keep on top of watering no matter the season because my house is so bloody dry. So far so good. My strategy has been to root cuttings in pon with a stratum middle layer with a view to selling the bottom cuts that are in a soil mix. The standing water has worked to raise the surrounding humidity by 10% which is a bonus.
My humidity is mostly okay but the temperatures are insane. We had 43 the other day and I had to have AC on all day to 27 which drastically dries out the mixes. Winters are not as bad. It would be great to have a magic mix where I water the same, but in summer it holds on to moisture more, and in winter not. still trying to work it out but I am no witch :(
Ermergerd I had to jump in here because I agree - vehemently - that semi-hydro is a LOT of work to set-up and maintain. I use a "chunky" mix for my hoyas now and they love it. I still have some plants in leca/pon and they're doing well, but nowadays I stay away from semi-hydro if I can.
I still definitely like pon for my tents and cabinets but for plants in my room environment it is too much work. Even overdoing bark can be a hassle. In reality, I just want a self-maintaning hoya jungle, is that too much to ask for?! 😂
@@BasiePlants why can't these plants take care of themselves and leave us alone?? 🤣 I guess its our own fault considering mother nature was already taking care of them 😄
I now have most of my hoyas grown in 100% diatomite, few are in the pon (pebbles+zeolite+diatomite) and few are in a peat mix. They all doin great so far. I like how I can make pon more/less moisture - retaining by adding less/more pebbles (same with pumice) and It still will be very airy. I aslo water them in one day :)) but they are almost same-sized. Thank you for sharing your expirience, this is helpful!
Hello Mero from Puerto Rico!! 95% of my 45 Hoyas are in a reservoir of lecca and then Pon. My plants are truly enjoying the mix except for very few that don’t. I will suggest the pots with the indicators to make your life easier with watering.
I have a couple different substrates in use but I'm finding sphagnum/perlite and/or bark or a more chunky aroid mix with some extra sphagnum to work for me. I only just started my hoya journey last year so I really don't have that much e experience with other types. My 19 Hoyas seem happy though.
Hey Miro! I’ve had very similar experiences with semi hydro and LECA. I found that Hoyas don’t take up water as quickly as my anthuriums or philos do, so I when I would refill the reservoir for all my plants, I was overwatering my Hoyas and got some root rot. I transferred a lot of them to a Coco Husk/ perlite mix, and they transitioned so well. I still have a few in Semi Hydro but those are watered at a different schedule. I’ve used a Pon/LECA mix and it works quite well to be honest.
I moved my whole hoya collection to diy pon this spring and my plants and I have both been loving it! I had a horrible time with soil mealybugs and with pon I can keep a close eye on those roots 👀☺️
I just transferred all my Hoya to Semi-Hydro, basically because I just can't keep Hoya roots healthy in organic mixes. I just can't get the watering right. Now I just have to keep the reservoir filled and that's a huge game changer for me. Also it was a nice birthday present waking up and seeing a new Miro Video 😊
All my hoyas are in organix soiless mix. I use cocopeat crh lots of perlite orchid bark coco cubes pumice and leca. Its really airy! My newly potted hoyas are growing well. Even used the same mix with my anthuriums and they love it too!!
Used to grow succulents/cacti so had a lot of leftover leca. Tried semi hydro in leca with not much success. Now using up the leca in a chunky aroid mix with bark, perlite, charcoal, worm castings, bit of cactus mix. Also trying pumice/zeolite and having some success with dracaena, Hoya kentiana, monstera adasonii, heart leaf philodendron and just started a monstera Peru. The Peru in soil has kept putting out runners after runners and wet sticks in sphagnum moss have done nothing for 6 months. Sigh. Want to try more hoyas in pumice/zeolite. Have not put in any lava rock or ceramis in the pumice/zeolite yet.
Love you. Love the channel. Love LECA. You’ll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands! LECA has made my watering so much easier, and allows me to travel without stressing about my plants. I’m glad you found an approach that works for you!
Great video - thank you. I too have tried leca in the past but moved away from it as well. It just took too much work as opposed to an airy soil mix. My plants seem to like the soil mix better too. I think it's more beneficial to the roots, which in turn adds to the vigor of the plant.
I also prefer organic mix or the mix of inorganic/ organic. I am really liking coco peat, pumice and bark, perhaps perlite is not as necessary and it flows to the top. I do use it however since it is easy to come by here, unlike pumice which I have to import. Sady, I don't have much use for leca and I have about 40 liters of it left.
Coco peat, coco coir, coconut fibre...it is so confusing and I still don't know the difference and what I am acutally using but my plants are OK. Maybe you could explain that with some examples 😂
Ok, handsome, I completely agree with you! My experience with Leca has not been great. The maintenance was too much for the return. My plants did not always thrive in Leca. The only plants that thrive in Leca, for me, are the syngoniums. That is probably because they like to be moist. (Eww, “moist”!) I am happy with the organic mixes, such as you have used, for most of my plants including Hoyas. Most of my success has been with that mix. So what do I do with the 25 lb bag of Leca? Do you have any ideas? 🤷🏼♀️ We look up to you, my man. By the way, handsome, I love the Hoyas you are repotting. 💕🪴
I agree there were some that simply didn't love it for me either :) But same goes for pon... There are ways to try to fix this, but honestly who can bother? 😂 Syngoniums did well for me in leca! They however hated pon. Oh I am not sure what to use the leca for 😂 I think I will ask around to see if someone needs it :D
i never learned how to water in soil, constantly overwatering. pretty early on i transplanted everything into leca/pon and have been successful 2+ years in. especially since i travel so much it works extremely well to be left alone anywhere from 2 weeks - 2 months (dependent on weather, season, where i'm living) and most of my plants live in self watering pots
Thank you for your constant uploads, I love your videos! Most plants (some hoyas, mostly orchids, some Philos) are sitting in an anorganic substrate called Luwasa over a semihydro footing of leca. Some like it well, some less so, and those who want to go, go, and never return to my place :P The Luwasa and Leca is flushed before use, and I filter the quite hard water with a common Brita Filter. Also I am using longtime fertiliser for everyone. I have a few terrestrial plants in soil, but I keep their count little. Mostly I do not have any problems, I tend to avoid or purge the divas (often the ones sold as easy plants!). Actually, as soon as my plants got the right amount of light (summer, or like in this winter, finally with some lights), they got healthy no matter in which substrate, and most can stand a few dry or wet stretches. All plants are in plastic pots, summer is hot, but winter can be long, cold and quite dim. Therefore, stemrot is a threat in my case.
Just commenting before I forget: semi hydro (PON/ mineral substrate and not LECA) and stinks water reservoir is due to organic fertilizer. Once I moved away from the fertilizer I was using (Liquid gold leaf) and started using inorganic( semi hydro) fertilizer the stink issue went away.
I totally understand. I have mine in a chunky mix of soil and very few in pon with leca. Love your videos. Informational and always very funny. Stop with the choco abuse🤣🤣
Could you please talk more about trimming the dry vines and node scarring in Hoya? I have a plant I think damaged by mites of some kind. Those vines are not dry/dead but the knobby ends I can see where nodes tried to activate several times but failed. Probably from mites before I recognized it. If I trim to a lower set of nodes will they grow again? Thank you as always for your humor and sharing your experience with us!
Excellent idea! I will have to make a video on this :) I typically trim away long vines where leaves have dropped before developing as I don't want a vine with no leaves, and then leaves again at the top. How far I will trim depends. If I grew it from a one node, one leaf cutting, and the new vine has no leaves but is long, I may trim it back leaving 2 nodes so it can still grow again :) I hope this makes sense!
I am using one of my hoyas which is an Epiphytic plant as a guinea pig experiment. I am trying to grow in a net pot with only bark. Biweekly I will fertilize using 2-2-2. I am hoping this will work if it does then I will gradually transition 1 plant at a time. I feel it is a doable plan due to I do not have 100 hoyas😂 currently I have 12 hoyas. I feel comfortable with a small number of hoyas and non-hoya plants.
Yes im a beginner and Switched soon on the pon train because I got big problems with fungus flies this summer. But there arent that much positive points to stay by it. Like you said in the Winter it smells and the damn cleaning of the stones before a first use makes me sick. Think for the hoyas im going back to coco, Bark and perlite
I use organic media - potting mix, with extra perlite & bark. Lately, I’ve been using Fluval stratum to root/propagate cuttings which works really well. Thanks for the video!
Pray them away 🤣 I don't have access to predatory mites but I hear those work great. I have to either use sulphur treatment or some miticide like abamectin.
I love making a mix, it's like making a cake. A little if this, little of that. I use: bark, lava rocks, activated charcoal, pumice or perlite and worm castings. I toss in a little Epsom salt and maybe some sand or random leca I have laying around. Oh and don't forget the pest control!
i really love pon and semi hydro with alocasias and plants that love to stay moist and are naturally growing near water! but for me its just easier to grow the rest in soil. also pon gets freakin heavy when youre getting to larger pots!👀😂
My alocasias did best in coco peat with perlite in self-watering. I tried semihydro with them and pon afterwards and it did not go so well 🙈 I love pon too but only if I had access to more selfwatering planters with indicators. I have Hoya 'Jeniffer' in 15cm selfwatering planter with pon and it is doing amazingly! But I agree, the bigger the pot, the heavier it gets 😂 Good for stability, not so great when you want to hang something or when you need to move lots of big plants around.
@@BasiePlants sounds like a good mix aswell! Ah and what I forgot to mention: I dont use pon by itself. I mix it with vulcaponic which is bigger in size and also loads of perlit and some leca to make it have more air-pockets and lighter so that the roots dont compact since they are so fine with alocasias. Some also mix fine pinebark into it but im fine with pon perlit and leca😮💨😂 Lets hope they stay happy in pon then haha. Had my frydek in it for a year so im pretty hopefull by now. I kinda see loads of people being happy with new substrates short term but when we get to longer term growing a lot of people start to run into trouble or they just prefer different growing mediums by then🤷🏻♀️
Stream of consciousness on plants makes this seem more like a conversation. I need to repot 2 hoyas that are not growing and they look very root bound. I live in Arizona where the humidity indoors is non-existent. I just started with Hoyas last spring, and the 2 in the larger pots are putting out vines everywhere, whereas the ones in the 4" just are not growing. In part that may be the water evaporates so fast (even inside my house it is 80F). So a bigger pot may help.
I use Lechuza pon for all my Hoyas, I put them in a 17 cm elho selfwatering pot, I also rot all my cuttings directly in Lechuza and the elho pots :) /soplanthia 😊
I feel you on the leca thing…… I’ve got about 70 of my Hoyas in leca, and it’s been a bit much on upkeep since most of them are 2-4 inch pots. I’ve been putting new Hoyas I get in pon in self watering pots, and it’s so much less upkeep. I’m going to start the mass move over from leca soon. I do have one plant in leca pon mix, it’s not one of my Hoyas though, it’s my Thai constellation. I did roughly 50-60% lechuza pon, 10-20% 1/4 inch chunky pumice, and the rest presoaked leca. I figured since monsteras love chunky I’d customize and try to make it what it wants. I also added the leca to mix to make it chunkier since I was nervous moving this one from moss to pon…. I like to call this one extra chunky pon. For some of my other plants I have mixed a bit of the 1/4th inch pumice in to my pon to chunk it up just a tiny bit. …… I’m also making my own pon mix as well that I like that has roughly 1/4 inch particle size except the zeolite is a tiny bit smaller, but close enough. 4 parts pumice, 2 parts lava rock, 1part zeolite. Someone was super awesome in one of the diy pon groups and Facebook and they sorted out their lechuza pon piece by piece and that’s the ratio it was. ….. basically, I think I’ve gone from a deep dive in to leca, to taking a journey to converting most of my Hoyas over to pon. I’m nervous, but honestly just so tired from trying to keep my leca plants reservoirs from going dry so quick, dealing with algae, and all that mess. My Hoyas loved it for sure, but gooodnesssss 😂 anyways, I guess that’s my life right now. I do have Hoya undulata, clemensorium, suzie q, and brevialata coming in the mail and I’m going to hopefully transition those to pon asap since I like to check the roots anyways. ….. oh and my variegated heuschkeliana is in leca, but she’s thriving. I want to move her to pon with a self watering pot, but I’m afraid of that transition in particular because …. That would be a sad day if it went poorly. ….. should I just say screw it and move her over?
LOL I will remember your comment to hoyato be careful with the room you gave it. For sure going to try that on my plants during repotting. The Meritithii is gorgeous.
Um , are those flat mites ? And you treat them individually , and put them back with their friends ? Could you explain how you are treating these mites ?
Thank you so much for posting this information today! And for the laughs 😂- I’ve studied this before but like you(without trying it) thought, I’ve got a lot of plants to move over to that if I do it- in the future I may try it for one or maybe two plants, for now, I’ll stay in dirt.
I tend to go all in on something (which no one could guess lol) but I think trying it out with some pots is a good idea to see if it's something that'd work for you or not.
I enjoy your videos regardless of what you look like and the chaos of things falling apart is so me. 🤣 I’ve tried all the different substrates and still use all the different kind still 😁
I definitely use different mixes and intend to keep using pon, it's just that for my plants in the room environment, pon is too much work. In the tents and cabinets it is great :)
Sterilizing LECA is only possible in the oven. Not all viruses 🦠 die at 220°F. Baking it at 300°F for 30 minutes will kill viruses. You can’t ever get higher than 220° in water. It’s also much, MUCH easier and safer. Hugs to you, Miro!
I think it’s great to be able to experiment and seem what works for you! I went down the same route as you (not as hardcore tho) and ended up loving soil at the end. Definitely mixed the leftover leca and pon in all my soil 🤣
I love ❤your videos even though you talk a.little too.much sometimes😉i am trying to learn how better to grow my hoyas & orchiss. I will definately try using you type of mixture. Thanks for sharing🌱
I looked up and saw the Hoya meridithie (probably spelled wrong) and went damn that’s a huge Hoya. A must i have been hooked ever since I received the Hoya ah 006.
This repotting videos are always the best and so fun 😅😅😅 Add one big dog rolling in perlit and me spraying it with water in panic that dog will inhale it to get picture of mine recent repotting day 😅 I was using leca just as saving medium for some hoyas and somehow I will have to transfer them 💀 or to totally reroot them 🤔 Also the mix I was making it was always too barky and with too much perlite from my beginerhoyagrower fear that I will get root rot -when in reality I dont water them as much as I should 🤣 So some that need more water didnt grow as fast as now when they are in mix that is keeping them more moist... And for some I tryed pon, but from now that is just for plants that Im scared I would kill by rooting in organic mix... Drying too fast in my conditions, but its really great for terarium or any closed space...
I use organic mix, because I make organic fertilizers ... and... living in Florida any moisture is a mosquito breeding site. Not to mention the potential smells from standing water. I watched in HORROR as you put the mix from the mites plant into the new mix! 😮 🥺🥴 The Hoya angels spilled your perlite. Love watching, I especially love the research you provide with your videos, the places of origin ,the growing conditions, and temperatures too. Last fall, when you mentioned Hoya don't like temps below 50 farenhdit prompted a reassessment of my placement of my collection. speaking of collection: I'm up to 80 species. taking a pause as I renovate and make a dedicated plant and pet birds room.
Hi Miro I have a plant that was given to me as a cutting 35 years ago and I never knew what it was until a week ago when I found one of your videos and showed me I have a hoya it has always been in good health and blooms for me once a year so now I find myself looking for your videos to learn more about hoyas but also because I really enjoy your videos and your style really keeps my attention love how you explain everything and your sense of humor your accent also hope you don't mind if I ask where your from or grew up I will finish watching one of your videos and if I have time I look for another one to watch so do you think I'm hooked now? Lol love love love your videos your an absolute sweetie thank you for your sharing your knowledge and I am working on catching up on all your videos I can find I am now a loyal fan Thank you Miro
Miro! Where can I find those pots you glue the IKEA clip on?? You and betsey both use them! I would love to get some for my cabinet!! And Thanks for sharing all your knowledge with us! I have learned sooo much about houseplants from you❤️ love you so much!!
Hi! I just found your channel and subscribed! 😁 I am fairly new to houseplants but quickly learning I LOVE Hoya! I don't have many yet but the heuschkeliana variegata is on the top of my wish list! Yours is absolutely gorgeous! Have you ever grown hoya in only orchid bark and what are your thoughts about that?
I'm jus starting to use pon, and I started on hoya bc it was so easy for me to over water them in soil...I need a video on,,how to tell wen ur hoya is thirsty,,an especially in dirt..
@@epasuxelar4473 yeah,I need to learn wen the leaves feel soft is wen u water I guess...Wen I would water jus bc the soil was dry,,i usally would end up w root rot.
@@leahwatkins9911 It definitely depends on the Hoya though, some can't handle drying out too much and others need it to live lol. Takes some experimenting especially if you don't have consistent conditions year-round. If you use a chunky enough mix it's honestly so much easier to avoid over watering in my experience. As long as the roots are getting enough oxygen, they can fight off rot pretty well.
Ah can you come and water my plants? 😂 It would be great not to underwatered them so much 😂 There are some signs as leaves becoming more pliable but as it goes on, they will become wrinkly. At this point you risk dry rot so it is best to water before. As some people suggested, weight of the pot is a good indicator, or if the several cm from the top are dry (provided it is in a good-draining mix).
I think I mention it in some video :) I use 2 parts lava rock, 2 parts pumice, 1 part zeolite :) and I fertilize with every watering as I don't add osmocote.
Semi hydro always felt like a fad to me, so much extra work just to achieve the same results of soil. Like making a cake from scratch vs from box mix, you can get great cake from both but save so much work and preparation.
@@evlynealeshire5850 Doesn't always beat box mix is what I'm saying. It takes a lot more experience and precision to bake a cake from scratch just to get the same result as a box mix, and if you're baking a lot of cakes, convenience becomes pretty valuable.
Oh I disagree with cake from scratch! I have never tried cake from the box that tasted better than my cake from scratch :P But that's because I was also obsessed with making cakes at one point. 😂
@@kevinator41 Maybe good for rooting, but idk why you'd want to take away all the beneficial bioactivity, structure, and nutrients found in organic mixes only to have to add each back in separately and often out of balance. We are in this hobby to appreciate nature; using inorganic media really feels like the most artificial way to enjoy growing plants.
Thanks for the video. I haven’t been growing Hoyas for very long. I have never tried any substrate different than what I originally started using. Which is coco pete, perlite and some of them have coco chips in them. So far no problems. 💚🪴🌱🌿💚
The El Choco abuse is real. 🙈
it will outgrow you and than you're in big trouble...
He is definitely el choco goals . I’m just now getting mine rooted.
:D
I actually never jumped on the leca bandwagon. Adjusting ph and roots growing outside the pot just didn't attract me. It was always organic mix with store bought soil and perlite, but now that I live in hot and humid environment, where I control the water, my mix has moss, bark, coco chunks, perlite and very little coco peat.
No one but you imparts so much information while keeping me stitches lol I love your channel!!!
Thank you Verna 💚
Can you talk more about how to recognize scaring on a node and when to chop it off to promote more growth? Love ur videos
yes!!
Yes this is very interesting topic
I keep all my Hoyas in terracotta pots and use a mix of coco coir, coco husk, pine bark, perlite, worm castings, a little leca and charcoal.
This combination suits my watering habits perfectly and the Hoyas love it.
Great! I think no matter what anyone says it is most important to find a mix that works both for you and the plants :)
@@BasiePlants That's exactly what I think too. I would be hopelessly lost trying to keep a hoya in a plastic pot or even PON, but as mentioned above we (my hoyas and I) get along very well.
It's great that there are so many different options!
@@BasiePlants By the way, I only use leca in my substrate mix because my mom still had it lying around. Now I always mix a little under my substrate and have not noticed any difference to the mix without leca so far. At some point I will have used up the huge sack 😀
I grow all my plants in cocopeat with pumice. (Some plants including bark) I stop using perlite in my mix, because it’s much lighter then soil. After a few months a lot of perlite is on top of the pot. And pumice stays nicely mixed in the soil mix.
I also like pumice and coco peat a lot! I just have to do a bit less pumice :D But I agree, it is much better than perlite, doesn't go to the top and it is very light!
This is me too, I just finished my last bag of perlite and don’t want to go back. Having it all rise to the top was driving me insane 😂. Soil, orchid bark, pumice, now minus the perlite
Top two things(there are several) that have deterred me from semi hydro: the mixing and balancing of nutrients and the flushing/algae growth
I love hearing everyones’ ideas and filtering out what I think might work for me. Right now most of mine are in homemade PON in self watering pots. They are drying out pretty rapidly in this very hot summer, but during cooler weather I find they are very easy to keep up with.
I am reading them too and I am loving it! So proud of everyone commenting 😂 I also think pon works better in winter for me but in summer it is so much work :D We need a magic mix, I am convinced of this 😂
Usually make my own with orchid bark potting soil and perlite. Now using stratum for rooting cuttings
I'm moving my hoya to pon substitute with self watering because I just can't keep on top of watering no matter the season because my house is so bloody dry. So far so good. My strategy has been to root cuttings in pon with a stratum middle layer with a view to selling the bottom cuts that are in a soil mix. The standing water has worked to raise the surrounding humidity by 10% which is a bonus.
My humidity is mostly okay but the temperatures are insane. We had 43 the other day and I had to have AC on all day to 27 which drastically dries out the mixes. Winters are not as bad. It would be great to have a magic mix where I water the same, but in summer it holds on to moisture more, and in winter not. still trying to work it out but I am no witch :(
Ermergerd I had to jump in here because I agree - vehemently - that semi-hydro is a LOT of work to set-up and maintain. I use a "chunky" mix for my hoyas now and they love it. I still have some plants in leca/pon and they're doing well, but nowadays I stay away from semi-hydro if I can.
I still definitely like pon for my tents and cabinets but for plants in my room environment it is too much work. Even overdoing bark can be a hassle. In reality, I just want a self-maintaning hoya jungle, is that too much to ask for?! 😂
@@BasiePlants why can't these plants take care of themselves and leave us alone?? 🤣 I guess its our own fault considering mother nature was already taking care of them 😄
I now have most of my hoyas grown in 100% diatomite, few are in the pon (pebbles+zeolite+diatomite) and few are in a peat mix. They all doin great so far. I like how I can make pon more/less moisture - retaining by adding less/more pebbles (same with pumice) and It still will be very airy. I aslo water them in one day :)) but they are almost same-sized.
Thank you for sharing your expirience, this is helpful!
diatomite?
@@mwoods4608 baked clay stones. They hold moisture and look nice. It's like Japanese acadama mostly
Thank you for making me laugh and learn at the same time!
Glad to help with the laughs!
Hello Mero from Puerto Rico!! 95% of my 45 Hoyas are in a reservoir of lecca and then Pon. My plants are truly enjoying the mix except for very few that don’t. I will suggest the pots with the indicators to make your life easier with watering.
I learned from you to use cocopeat, perlite and orchid bark. I have had nothing but success🙂
That is excellent! :D That is indeed a great mix :)
I have a couple different substrates in use but I'm finding sphagnum/perlite and/or bark or a more chunky aroid mix with some extra sphagnum to work for me. I only just started my hoya journey last year so I really don't have that much e experience with other types. My 19 Hoyas seem happy though.
Hey Miro! I’ve had very similar experiences with semi hydro and LECA. I found that Hoyas don’t take up water as quickly as my anthuriums or philos do, so I when I would refill the reservoir for all my plants, I was overwatering my Hoyas and got some root rot.
I transferred a lot of them to a Coco Husk/ perlite mix, and they transitioned so well. I still have a few in Semi Hydro but those are watered at a different schedule.
I’ve used a Pon/LECA mix and it works quite well to be honest.
I moved my whole hoya collection to diy pon this spring and my plants and I have both been loving it! I had a horrible time with soil mealybugs and with pon I can keep a close eye on those roots 👀☺️
I use a combo of leca and perlite for my Hoyas since their roots are smaller. I find the perlite helps fill in the holes
I have transferred about half my Hoyas into Pon with self watering pots, they are thriving
They surely thrive for me too when they are in self watering pots :D it is when they are not that we have some issues 😅
@@BasiePlants yes true but it’s helped me so much cut down on my watering time, I have a lot of hoyas
Thanks Miro, was just about to jump on Leca band wagon. Excellent point on water temps during winter.,💚
I just transferred all my Hoya to Semi-Hydro, basically because I just can't keep Hoya roots healthy in organic mixes. I just can't get the watering right. Now I just have to keep the reservoir filled and that's a huge game changer for me.
Also it was a nice birthday present waking up and seeing a new Miro Video 😊
All my hoyas are in organix soiless mix. I use cocopeat crh lots of perlite orchid bark coco cubes pumice and leca. Its really airy! My newly potted hoyas are growing well. Even used the same mix with my anthuriums and they love it too!!
Used to grow succulents/cacti so had a lot of leftover leca. Tried semi hydro in leca with not much success. Now using up the leca in a chunky aroid mix with bark, perlite, charcoal, worm castings, bit of cactus mix. Also trying pumice/zeolite and having some success with dracaena, Hoya kentiana, monstera adasonii, heart leaf philodendron and just started a monstera Peru. The Peru in soil has kept putting out runners after runners and wet sticks in sphagnum moss have done nothing for 6 months. Sigh. Want to try more hoyas in pumice/zeolite. Have not put in any lava rock or ceramis in the pumice/zeolite yet.
Have to watch this right now 🤩even on vacation with weak signals at the beach 🏖!
Ooooh! Enjoy the beach! 💚 How fun! 🏖
Love you. Love the channel. Love LECA. You’ll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands! LECA has made my watering so much easier, and allows me to travel without stressing about my plants. I’m glad you found an approach that works for you!
I can not tell you how glad I am to have found your channel.. 🎉
Great video - thank you. I too have tried leca in the past but moved away from it as well. It just took too much work as opposed to an airy soil mix. My plants seem to like the soil mix better too. I think it's more beneficial to the roots, which in turn adds to the vigor of the plant.
I also prefer organic mix or the mix of inorganic/ organic. I am really liking coco peat, pumice and bark, perhaps perlite is not as necessary and it flows to the top. I do use it however since it is easy to come by here, unlike pumice which I have to import. Sady, I don't have much use for leca and I have about 40 liters of it left.
Thank you for your realness about watering on a schedule! 🎉🎉🎉
Coco peat, coco coir, coconut fibre...it is so confusing and I still don't know the difference and what I am acutally using but my plants are OK. Maybe you could explain that with some examples 😂
I use leca in my pond and soil mixes. I like it a lot and it works for my environment and care style.🤗💚
Ok, handsome, I completely agree with you! My experience with Leca has not been great. The maintenance was too much for the return. My plants did not always thrive in Leca.
The only plants that thrive in Leca, for me, are the syngoniums. That is probably because they like to be moist. (Eww, “moist”!)
I am happy with the organic mixes, such as you have used, for most of my plants including Hoyas. Most of my success has been with that mix.
So what do I do with the 25 lb bag of Leca? Do you have any ideas? 🤷🏼♀️ We look up to you, my man.
By the way, handsome, I love the Hoyas you are repotting. 💕🪴
I agree there were some that simply didn't love it for me either :) But same goes for pon... There are ways to try to fix this, but honestly who can bother? 😂 Syngoniums did well for me in leca! They however hated pon. Oh I am not sure what to use the leca for 😂 I think I will ask around to see if someone needs it :D
i never learned how to water in soil, constantly overwatering. pretty early on i transplanted everything into leca/pon and have been successful 2+ years in. especially since i travel so much it works extremely well to be left alone anywhere from 2 weeks - 2 months (dependent on weather, season, where i'm living) and most of my plants live in self watering pots
What is the ratio of your pon/leca mix?
@@maryamgoze5137 i grow mine is pure leca. have incorporated mini leca for my smaller hoyas/cuttings or fine roots that tend to have more breakage
Thank you for your constant uploads, I love your videos!
Most plants (some hoyas, mostly orchids, some Philos) are sitting in an anorganic substrate called Luwasa over a semihydro footing of leca. Some like it well, some less so, and those who want to go, go, and never return to my place :P The Luwasa and Leca is flushed before use, and I filter the quite hard water with a common Brita Filter. Also I am using longtime fertiliser for everyone. I have a few terrestrial plants in soil, but I keep their count little. Mostly I do not have any problems, I tend to avoid or purge the divas (often the ones sold as easy plants!). Actually, as soon as my plants got the right amount of light (summer, or like in this winter, finally with some lights), they got healthy no matter in which substrate, and most can stand a few dry or wet stretches. All plants are in plastic pots, summer is hot, but winter can be long, cold and quite dim. Therefore, stemrot is a threat in my case.
Could you do a video on Hoyas that like lower humidity 🤔?
Just commenting before I forget: semi hydro (PON/ mineral substrate and not LECA) and stinks water reservoir is due to organic fertilizer. Once I moved away from the fertilizer I was using (Liquid gold leaf) and started using inorganic( semi hydro) fertilizer the stink issue went away.
I use inorganic fertilizer and I did get the stink still xD But perhaps it could because I also use rained water.
I totally understand. I have mine in a chunky mix of soil and very few in pon with leca. Love your videos. Informational and always very funny. Stop with the choco abuse🤣🤣
love semi hydro for rooting but i do transition my mother plants into cocopeat and perlite as well :)
I love the wild look!!
Wild man 😎
Great video Miro as usual
Thanks
Thank you Wendy 💚 You are so kind!
Обожаю ваш канал. Вы вдохновляете на эксперименты!
Could you please talk more about trimming the dry vines and node scarring in Hoya? I have a plant I think damaged by mites of some kind. Those vines are not dry/dead but the knobby ends I can see where nodes tried to activate several times but failed. Probably from mites before I recognized it. If I trim to a lower set of nodes will they grow again? Thank you as always for your humor and sharing your experience with us!
Excellent idea! I will have to make a video on this :) I typically trim away long vines where leaves have dropped before developing as I don't want a vine with no leaves, and then leaves again at the top. How far I will trim depends. If I grew it from a one node, one leaf cutting, and the new vine has no leaves but is long, I may trim it back leaving 2 nodes so it can still grow again :) I hope this makes sense!
@@BasiePlants great video idea!
I am using one of my hoyas which is an Epiphytic plant as a guinea pig experiment. I am trying to grow in a net pot with only bark. Biweekly I will fertilize using 2-2-2. I am hoping this will work if it does then I will gradually transition 1 plant at a time. I feel it is a doable plan due to I do not have 100 hoyas😂 currently I have 12 hoyas. I feel comfortable with a small number of hoyas and non-hoya plants.
Did it work for you?
Yes im a beginner and Switched soon on the pon train because I got big problems with fungus flies this summer. But there arent that much positive points to stay by it. Like you said in the Winter it smells and the damn cleaning of the stones before a first use makes me sick. Think for the hoyas im going back to coco, Bark and perlite
I use organic media - potting mix, with extra perlite & bark. Lately, I’ve been using Fluval stratum to root/propagate cuttings which works really well. Thanks for the video!
also we need a video on treating mites and stuff xD
Pray them away 🤣 I don't have access to predatory mites but I hear those work great. I have to either use sulphur treatment or some miticide like abamectin.
I love making a mix, it's like making a cake. A little if this, little of that. I use: bark, lava rocks, activated charcoal, pumice or perlite and worm castings. I toss in a little Epsom salt and maybe some sand or random leca I have laying around. Oh and don't forget the pest control!
i really love pon and semi hydro with alocasias and plants that love to stay moist and are naturally growing near water! but for me its just easier to grow the rest in soil. also pon gets freakin heavy when youre getting to larger pots!👀😂
My alocasias did best in coco peat with perlite in self-watering. I tried semihydro with them and pon afterwards and it did not go so well 🙈 I love pon too but only if I had access to more selfwatering planters with indicators. I have Hoya 'Jeniffer' in 15cm selfwatering planter with pon and it is doing amazingly! But I agree, the bigger the pot, the heavier it gets 😂 Good for stability, not so great when you want to hang something or when you need to move lots of big plants around.
@@BasiePlants sounds like a good mix aswell! Ah and what I forgot to mention: I dont use pon by itself. I mix it with vulcaponic which is bigger in size and also loads of perlit and some leca to make it have more air-pockets and lighter so that the roots dont compact since they are so fine with alocasias. Some also mix fine pinebark into it but im fine with pon perlit and leca😮💨😂 Lets hope they stay happy in pon then haha. Had my frydek in it for a year so im pretty hopefull by now. I kinda see loads of people being happy with new substrates short term but when we get to longer term growing a lot of people start to run into trouble or they just prefer different growing mediums by then🤷🏻♀️
I love these videos… I’ve been struggling with my Hoya mix (lots of dry rot). I think I’m entering the pon world.
I think if you use pon with selfwatering, you will have great success :)
Stream of consciousness on plants makes this seem more like a conversation. I need to repot 2 hoyas that are not growing and they look very root bound. I live in Arizona where the humidity indoors is non-existent. I just started with Hoyas last spring, and the 2 in the larger pots are putting out vines everywhere, whereas the ones in the 4" just are not growing. In part that may be the water evaporates so fast (even inside my house it is 80F). So a bigger pot may help.
Thanks miro. Great video.
Thank you Sheila 💚
I use Lechuza pon for all my Hoyas, I put them in a 17 cm elho selfwatering pot, I also rot all my cuttings directly in Lechuza and the elho pots :) /soplanthia 😊
A big 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 for you. Thanks for this video and helping me not feel guilty about hating Leca 😂😂😂
I feel you on the leca thing…… I’ve got about 70 of my Hoyas in leca, and it’s been a bit much on upkeep since most of them are 2-4 inch pots. I’ve been putting new Hoyas I get in pon in self watering pots, and it’s so much less upkeep. I’m going to start the mass move over from leca soon. I do have one plant in leca pon mix, it’s not one of my Hoyas though, it’s my Thai constellation. I did roughly 50-60% lechuza pon, 10-20% 1/4 inch chunky pumice, and the rest presoaked leca. I figured since monsteras love chunky I’d customize and try to make it what it wants. I also added the leca to mix to make it chunkier since I was nervous moving this one from moss to pon…. I like to call this one extra chunky pon. For some of my other plants I have mixed a bit of the 1/4th inch pumice in to my pon to chunk it up just a tiny bit. …… I’m also making my own pon mix as well that I like that has roughly 1/4 inch particle size except the zeolite is a tiny bit smaller, but close enough. 4 parts pumice, 2 parts lava rock, 1part zeolite. Someone was super awesome in one of the diy pon groups and Facebook and they sorted out their lechuza pon piece by piece and that’s the ratio it was. ….. basically, I think I’ve gone from a deep dive in to leca, to taking a journey to converting most of my Hoyas over to pon. I’m nervous, but honestly just so tired from trying to keep my leca plants reservoirs from going dry so quick, dealing with algae, and all that mess. My Hoyas loved it for sure, but gooodnesssss 😂 anyways, I guess that’s my life right now. I do have Hoya undulata, clemensorium, suzie q, and brevialata coming in the mail and I’m going to hopefully transition those to pon asap since I like to check the roots anyways. ….. oh and my variegated heuschkeliana is in leca, but she’s thriving. I want to move her to pon with a self watering pot, but I’m afraid of that transition in particular because …. That would be a sad day if it went poorly. ….. should I just say screw it and move her over?
LOL I will remember your comment to hoyato be careful with the room you gave it. For sure going to try that on my plants during repotting. The Meritithii is gorgeous.
Um , are those flat mites ? And you treat them individually , and put them back with their friends ? Could you explain how you are treating these mites ?
Thank you so much for posting this information today! And for the laughs 😂- I’ve studied this before but like you(without trying it) thought, I’ve got a lot of plants to move over to that if I do it- in the future I may try it for one or maybe two plants, for now, I’ll stay in dirt.
I tend to go all in on something (which no one could guess lol) but I think trying it out with some pots is a good idea to see if it's something that'd work for you or not.
I enjoy your videos regardless of what you look like and the chaos of things falling apart is so me. 🤣 I’ve tried all the different substrates and still use all the different kind still 😁
I also think when I tried cocoa chips it gave my hoya the mealys that eventually ended in burning them in a sous vide bath 😞 but I live and learn
Maybe they were not sterile? That is so odd!
I definitely use different mixes and intend to keep using pon, it's just that for my plants in the room environment, pon is too much work. In the tents and cabinets it is great :)
I have a few in soil mix but lots in leca. I want to get away from leca , but I don't know how to transition. I don't want to lose any...
Sterilizing LECA is only possible in the oven. Not all viruses 🦠 die at 220°F. Baking it at 300°F for 30 minutes will kill viruses. You can’t ever get higher than 220° in water. It’s also much, MUCH easier and safer. Hugs to you, Miro!
Really enjoyed your video, but your trellising is just fine and looks good.
Thank you Pam 💚
I think you’re great at this TH-cam thing!
I think it’s great to be able to experiment and seem what works for you! I went down the same route as you (not as hardcore tho) and ended up loving soil at the end. Definitely mixed the leftover leca and pon in all my soil 🤣
I love ❤your videos even though you talk a.little too.much sometimes😉i am trying to learn how better to grow my hoyas & orchiss. I will definately try using you type of mixture. Thanks for sharing🌱
I looked up and saw the Hoya meridithie (probably spelled wrong) and went damn that’s a huge Hoya. A must i have been hooked ever since I received the Hoya ah 006.
This repotting videos are always the best and so fun 😅😅😅 Add one big dog rolling in perlit and me spraying it with water in panic that dog will inhale it to get picture of mine recent repotting day 😅
I was using leca just as saving medium for some hoyas and somehow I will have to transfer them 💀 or to totally reroot them 🤔
Also the mix I was making it was always too barky and with too much perlite from my beginerhoyagrower fear that I will get root rot -when in reality I dont water them as much as I should 🤣 So some that need more water didnt grow as fast as now when they are in mix that is keeping them more moist...
And for some I tryed pon, but from now that is just for plants that Im scared I would kill by rooting in organic mix... Drying too fast in my conditions, but its really great for terarium or any closed space...
I use organic mix, because I make organic fertilizers ... and... living in Florida any moisture is a mosquito breeding site. Not to mention the potential smells from standing water.
I watched in HORROR as you put the mix from the mites plant into the new mix! 😮 🥺🥴 The Hoya angels spilled your perlite.
Love watching, I especially love the research you provide with your videos, the places of origin ,the growing conditions, and temperatures too. Last fall, when you mentioned Hoya don't like temps below 50 farenhdit prompted a reassessment of my placement of my collection. speaking of collection: I'm up to 80 species. taking a pause as I renovate and make a dedicated plant and pet birds room.
Hi Miro I have a plant that was given to me as a cutting 35 years ago and I never knew what it was until a week ago when I found one of your videos and showed me I have a hoya it has always been in good health and blooms for me once a year so now I find myself looking for your videos to learn more about hoyas but also because I really enjoy your videos and your style really keeps my attention love how you explain everything and your sense of humor your accent also hope you don't mind if I ask where your from or grew up I will finish watching one of your videos and if I have time I look for another one to watch so do you think I'm hooked now? Lol love love love your videos your an absolute sweetie thank you for your sharing your knowledge and I am working on catching up on all your videos I can find I am now a loyal fan Thank you Miro
I’m trying leca, I just got a monstera Albion and it’s sitting on leca so will continue will that for a little bit.
Miro! Where can I find those pots you glue the IKEA clip on?? You and betsey both use them! I would love to get some for my cabinet!! And Thanks for sharing all your knowledge with us! I have learned sooo much about houseplants from you❤️ love you so much!!
Miro I was wondering about your peat and perlite mix would it be ok to add worm castings to the mix?
✌️
Miro, have you tried sulfur for mites? Doug Chamberlain used bonide sulfur plant fungicide, and the results were crazy.
Yes, I have talked about sulphur long time ago :) I think in one of my earlu 2020s videos :)
@@BasiePlants I'm trying to remember if you have tried it or not.
Hi! I just found your channel and subscribed! 😁 I am fairly new to houseplants but quickly learning I LOVE Hoya! I don't have many yet but the heuschkeliana variegata is on the top of my wish list! Yours is absolutely gorgeous! Have you ever grown hoya in only orchid bark and what are your thoughts about that?
I thought the hanging hoyas at the ens of the video looked very sculptural in the way they were trellised.
I only been using soil for my Hoyas, and I’ve been repotting them often because I’m struggling to get rid of root mealy bugs!!!😡😡😡
OMG😮
I'm jus starting to use pon, and I started on hoya bc it was so easy for me to over water them in soil...I need a video on,,how to tell wen ur hoya is thirsty,,an especially in dirt..
I usually go by weight of the pot or pinching the leaves. Hasn't done me wrong yet!
@@epasuxelar4473 yeah,I need to learn wen the leaves feel soft is wen u water I guess...Wen I would water jus bc the soil was dry,,i usally would end up w root rot.
@@leahwatkins9911 It definitely depends on the Hoya though, some can't handle drying out too much and others need it to live lol. Takes some experimenting especially if you don't have consistent conditions year-round. If you use a chunky enough mix it's honestly so much easier to avoid over watering in my experience. As long as the roots are getting enough oxygen, they can fight off rot pretty well.
Ah can you come and water my plants? 😂 It would be great not to underwatered them so much 😂 There are some signs as leaves becoming more pliable but as it goes on, they will become wrinkly. At this point you risk dry rot so it is best to water before. As some people suggested, weight of the pot is a good indicator, or if the several cm from the top are dry (provided it is in a good-draining mix).
Great tip! :)
I have 95% collection in pon.
Nice! Do you use self-watering planters?
@@BasiePlants yes and plastic cups with holes 💪
What is your ratio of coco Pete and perlite?
Do you ever sell any hoya cuttings or plants?
Do you have a DIY pawn recipe video?!?!?
I think I mention it in some video :) I use 2 parts lava rock, 2 parts pumice, 1 part zeolite :) and I fertilize with every watering as I don't add osmocote.
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I use small amount of charcoal chips and never get smelly plants.
Do you put them in the reservoir or in the pot with LECA?
I do not use Leca.
The poor El Choco 😂
I am so sorry 🙈
Semi hydro always felt like a fad to me, so much extra work just to achieve the same results of soil. Like making a cake from scratch vs from box mix, you can get great cake from both but save so much work and preparation.
Yes, but cakes from scratch are really nice, plus you know what’s in them. Lol 😂
@@evlynealeshire5850 Doesn't always beat box mix is what I'm saying. It takes a lot more experience and precision to bake a cake from scratch just to get the same result as a box mix, and if you're baking a lot of cakes, convenience becomes pretty valuable.
Oh I disagree with cake from scratch! I have never tried cake from the box that tasted better than my cake from scratch :P But that's because I was also obsessed with making cakes at one point. 😂
Cakes from scratch are the best!
I think this means I need to make a baking video? 😂
You so funny🤣🤣
Can you sell me cutting also ?
Sadly I cannot ship outside of Serbia 😭
Airy then Miro Airy 😂😂
Semihydro is jus not for me...
😅 That was just one bad experience.
@@BasiePlants for me it was. Too much work with sketchy results. 🤦🏼♀️
Are you trying to justify your decision to us or yourself?😁
Semi hydro his highly overrated !
Like most houseplant trends it's for people who want to feel special
@@epasuxelar4473 exactly it is just a rediculas trend
@@kevinator41 Maybe good for rooting, but idk why you'd want to take away all the beneficial bioactivity, structure, and nutrients found in organic mixes only to have to add each back in separately and often out of balance. We are in this hobby to appreciate nature; using inorganic media really feels like the most artificial way to enjoy growing plants.
@@epasuxelar4473 I couldn't agree more
Thanks for the video. I haven’t been growing Hoyas for very long. I have never tried any substrate different than what I originally started using. Which is coco pete, perlite and some of them have coco chips in them. So far no problems. 💚🪴🌱🌿💚
I like to experiement so I naturally had to try. It was nice, and it worked for some but there are easier things for me :)
If it ain't broke, don't fix it I say 😆