The hoya seems dried out. The leaves appear to be turning...
2ft to light, indirect
5” pot with drainage
Last watered 2 weeks ago
11
Do you mean beyond the normal twist of the leaves? How do you differentiate that? Aren't the leaves of the compacta supposed to twist and turn?
If not, the Greg schedule isn't the end all be all. If in doubt test the soil. E.g. take a bamboo stick and see if the soil is still wet or if it really is dried out.
Twisted leaves on a plant that isn't supposed to have them also can be a sign of mite damage. Broad mites - who supposedly loooove hoyas - inject the leaves with something that makes the edges turn downward. Do you see any damaged, aborted, or gnarly new growths? In any case getting a very very good magnifying glass and checking for mites can't hurt. Those meanies are very very small though
If not, the Greg schedule isn't the end all be all. If in doubt test the soil. E.g. take a bamboo stick and see if the soil is still wet or if it really is dried out.
Twisted leaves on a plant that isn't supposed to have them also can be a sign of mite damage. Broad mites - who supposedly loooove hoyas - inject the leaves with something that makes the edges turn downward. Do you see any damaged, aborted, or gnarly new growths? In any case getting a very very good magnifying glass and checking for mites can't hurt. Those meanies are very very small though
@MusicalRedmint I have discovered mites!! Magnifying glass is recent purchase. Treatment with neem oil ?
Not all hoyas like neem or other heavy oils. I got mine under control recently with beneficials. Worked like a dream and wasn't very expensive comparatively (I had to treat a lot of plants). Plus it was very satisfying seing the bad mites getting beat down by them after months of fighting them. 😅 I used amblyseius cucumeris, but they work best in relatively humid environments and in the meantime (and before) you cannot use any other measures against mites of course
First step is to isolate and check all other plants and most of all act fast. Those crawlers multiply fast under the right conditions and they can travel and in worst case scenarios (e.g. you have fungus gnats or other flying pests at the same time) they can even hitchhike and spread very very fast throughout all rooms.
I don't know. I've kept them in check with a 2% liquid paraffin based horticultural oil (orchids and hoyas) and the hoyas didn't mind, i think. However, when you put your beneficials on the plants and the neem or paraffin residue damages it's still there, it damages them as well. Maybe just spray them down? Cover the soil so that they do not drop into it and use a hard spray of water to dislodge them thoroughly. That will not get rid of everything, but it might control the population. Or just wait and put the affected plant(s) in a box in the meanwhile. I do not know how many mites you saw, but the downturned leaf is not the main problem with them. They can spread diseases in your collection and when the numbers are huge do real feeding damage, but since you haven't noticed major damage, the population seems to be not huge yet.
Also, of course, all of this only pertains to some beneficials and I do not know what you bought. Mine were amblyseius cucumeris.
As for the broad mites, they do not lay loads of eggs, but their life cycles are short. You do not b have to fear that one overlooked female will spawn 300 me ones, but that the exponential growth happens within a very short time frame. So containment methods that seem mediocre (like e.g. just wiping down the leaves with water) actually bring down the spread quite a lot until you've found your silver bullet
As for the broad mites, they do not lay loads of eggs, but their life cycles are short. You do not b have to fear that one overlooked female will spawn 300 me ones, but that the exponential growth happens within a very short time frame. So containment methods that seem mediocre (like e.g. just wiping down the leaves with water) actually bring down the spread quite a lot until you've found your silver bullet
Good luck. Hope whatever they are will be eaten quickly and disappear.