Another rescue from Lowe’s with the dreaded “assorted foliage” tag. I know she’s a Hoya, but I’d love a Hoya expert to help me identify specifically what species or cultivar of Hoya she is. My best guess would be a H. lacunosa ‘mint coin’. Thoughts? TIA! 🌱
How do you rescue plants from Lowe’s? Is there a section I need to be looking in? Are they discounted? (I’m kinda new to being a plant mom)
1 like
"rescuing" plants from stores usually means taking the ones from clearance. plants on the clearance rack are sick or dying to some degree, which is why they're being sold cheaper. sometimes the plants aren't on clearance but are still in need of assistance, which is also rescuing.
2 likes @plantgeek for a perfect explanation of my rescue operation. I do also check the regular sections out for regularly priced plants that might need a little TLC, but are actually quite expensive or hard to find even at a higher end plant store or nursery. For example, I found a Thai Pink Passion Lipstick Plant there for $20, and I’ve seen CUTTINGS of those run for $20-$40 a piece on Etsy. Nurseries that grow them sell them for $20 a plant, but it’s hard to find nurseries and shops that sell them where I live. A lot of folks go there to find surprisingly rare plants for surprisingly reasonable prices. I was actually there to see if they had another one my that lipstick plant (they’re one of my favorites) but found this Hoya instead in a glass bowl with no drainage holes, or wick system/semi-hydro setup to excuse it. Box stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot don’t have staff that’re trained to really take of the plants, and the indoor ones have no grow lights to keep them alive indoors. Theyre very often in poorly draining soil, pots without drainage holes, have root cages that restrict root development, or are given wick systems when they’re plants that do not need constant moisture. They’re at the same threat of pests as the garden center’s stuff from always being right next to the garden center doors, so because of all of that, plants that were in perfect shape when they arrived at the store can start to look pretty awful within a week or two. I have two that I live near that I make my personal mission to check out from time to time for new stock (before they’ve been there too long and become the clearance section plants), and see if there’s something I’ve been hunting for, something I take pity upon, or a bunch of clearance plants that I can bring back to life and gift to friends and family. If you don’t mind some rehab, the regularly priced and clearance section plants are great practices for beginners to get used to repotting and treating distressed plants, and a very cost-friendly way to get a bunch of plants to repot and gift to your friends. I like to donate a dozen of small succulents to the nursing home my great-aunt lives in at a time, and they’re usually from the clearance rack’s mixed succulent planters in the garden center. I usually get 7-12 salvageable plants from one planter for $5-11 dollars, and they ALWAYS have some of their mixed succulent planters wind up on the clearance rack. Many of the residents there miss gardening or having plants to care for in their previous home, so it’s like a bit of a homesickness and housewarming gift for new residents when they move in.
1 like If you want to try your hand at rescuing the clearance plants, or rehabbing any plants from Lowe’s/Home Depot/Walmart, here’s what I’d recommend having on hand or keeping in mind when buying anything there - Bonide’s Rooting Hormone Powder to help plants grow new roots if they were distressed or rotted, as well as reduce risk of transplant shock from repotting. - keep as many pots that you get from buying other plants as possible so you have a variety of pot sizes to choose from. Lots of nurseries will give theirs away for free if you ask for some too, especially tiny ones for young/smaller plants. - Hydrogen peroxide, a small pair of shears, isopropyl alcohol, mosquito bits, systemic granules, and sticky traps. Soaking any rotted roots in hydrogen peroxide for 20-30 min after trimming as much rot off as possible helps kill any lingering bacteria. My shears are small craft scissors for cutting paper for prediction, and they’re great for trimming roots and leaves. The rest is everything I use to treat pests when they show up and preventively BEFORE they show up. - you WILL deal with fungus gnats at least once, or run the risk of pests with any new plant, especially ones from box stores, so quarantining any new plants, especially rescued, from the rest of your collection will lower the risk of spread. I spray the leaves down with insecticidal soap, add systemic granules to the top of the soil and water it in, and add sticky traps, then put any rescues or new plants into a specific room’s windowsill to keep them healthy while in quarantine. After 2-4 weeks, if there’s no pests, I move them in with the rest of my collection. - if a pest pops up, insecticidal soap, mosquito bits, and isopropyl alcohol have been the most effective treatments for me. My quarantine method keeps most pests from popping up, so I only run a real risk of bringing a pest in from my rescues - having cheap, but quality soil on hand is helpful. I swear by Espoma’s Organic soil mixes cause they tend to run for $7-9, they’re a local brand from NJ, and their soil is much higher quality and better draining than Miracle Grow’s stuff for the same/better price. Avoid Miracle Grow’s soil in general. It’s poor quality and not well draining, and will lead to overwatering and rot in warm or humid climates. All my local nurseries swear by Espoma and sell it, and refuse to sell Miracle Grow soil. - repot plants that need immediate rescue, but give the other plants that can wait at least 1-2 weeks to adjust to being brought home before repotting. Reduces the risk of repot shock. - Last thing. Osmocote Slow-Release Fertilizer Pellets. Great for beginners that don’t want to stick to a strict schedule for fertilizing, and great for a large variety of plants. You just put them in the soil when repotting them and they’ll release fertilizer every time you water them. Replace them every 6 months or so, or the next time you repot that plant.
0 likes looks like mint coin to me!
1 like Thank you! 🙏
0 likes
Hoya krohniana super silver?
0 likes I don’t think so, only because I have a H. Krohniana ‘Super Silver’. The leaves are a little shorter and wider, and there’s a little more green speckling on that one.
