Hoya always wrinkly – House Plant Journal

Hoya always wrinkly

Plant: Hoya (not sure of exact species)

How long have you had the plant? 1 to 6 months

Concerns:

I inherited this plant from someone who moved away. The leaves are yellow and wrinkly no matter how much water I soak it in.

One of the flower nodes fell off during the moving process. It just looks half dead.

Light Situation:

How do you determine WHEN to water? I follow the schedule I was told for this plant: everyday since it’s quite dry and windy on my balcony.

Describe HOW you water: I fully soak the plant, letting excess drain away.

What fertilizer (if any) do you use? I use slow-release fertilizer pellets

Soil situation: I recently re-wrapped the roots with moss

Darryl’s Analysis

Environment:
In terms of light, a balcony is an excellent spot for your Hoyas!

Effort:
From what I can see, this Hoya’s root system does not appear to be in good shape.  With such a tiny volume of water retaining media (in this case, moss), if the media gets too dry, the roots will get damaged, resulting in wrinkly leaves.  It’s possible that the current media is not conducive to new root growth so it would be best to get the plant to create new roots.

I’d recommend removing this plant from the little plank and seeing if you can make two or three cuttings from the main stem.  Get the cuttings to root in water or sphagnum moss (make sure it’s good quality sphagnum moss – not just decorative moss).

If you’d rather keep the plant in one piece, you might try to wrap MORE sphagnum moss around the base of the plant and keep it evenly moist at all times – which MAY encourage new roots to grow – but I’d recommend taking the cuttings since that would be more conducive to new root growth.

Expectations:

It will take some time (probably months) for the current leaves to become less wrinkly after new roots have grown – and it’s possible that these leaves may remain slightly wrinkly for the rest of their lives.  But I wouldn’t worry since you have a great space for plant growth (good light)!

Learn my long-term enjoyment approach to houseplant care – learn from my course.


Tired of your houseplants dying on you?

One response to “Hoya always wrinkly”

  1. Hi Darryl thanks for your reply.
    I took off the moss but the roots and stems are already grown into the plank so I can’t remove it. How do I make the cuttings from the main stem if I can’t remove it from the plant? I am not sure how to send you further photos here, pls let me know how I can show you. Thanks.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *