Hoya Care Guide
Hoya, not my favorite plant genus but they are really cool! There are Hoya varieties that grow quite slow, and others grow like weeds. Before i tell you how to take care of Hoya in general, i want to tell you about Hoya kerii first. Hoya kerii is a plant with thick heart-shaped that is usually sold at the garden center without a node. A node is a bump on the stem where leaves come out of. Those nodeless Hoya kerii are propagated by a single leaf and therefore can´t continue to grow. Instead of buying that, Buy one that already that has a node, but that is something you can´t just spot because the nodes are under the soil.
I reached out to PlantWithRoos
(@plantwithroos on YouTube, Instagram, Patreon and Tiktok. www.plantwithroos.com),
and asked for a golden Hoya tip. She responded! She said, and i quote : ¨Lots of light and lots of patience😅¨
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FLOWERS:
Hoya plants produce clusters of star-shaped flowers (that can leak nectar and that nectar can stain your floor/furniture, so put a paper towel under it) and are really fragrant, especially at night. The flowers can last for a few days, and if you are lucky even a few weeks depending on the species and growing conditions! Most Hoya flower around the warm summer months when the plant is mature, and if it doesn´t, consider giving it more light.
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WATERING:
Water once a week, and because they have quite succulentish leaves that hold more water than Monstera for example, water twice a month/once every 2 weeks in Winter because Hoya can go dormant in the colder months, so don´t fertilize or even propagate during that period.
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LIGHT REQUIREMENTS:
Light is extra important for Hoya. They can handle way more light than you think, but please try to avoid direct light to prevent leaves burning, If your Hoya barely grows, put it closer to a grow light or closer to a window. If you do give your Hoya direct light and it is not bright enough to burn the leaves, the plant can get sun stress which give the leaves a red/orange and even yellow color.
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PROPAGATION:
Take a small stem cutting and put it in some water. It usually takes Hoya cuttings anywhere from 2 weeks to a few months to root and they can grow quite slow, so paitience is key!
if the top of your Hoya starts looking dead, dry and breaks easily, you might want to consider restarting the plant.
Cut off the parts of the plant that still look normal and healthy, and put it in either water or moist soil that you´ll have to keep moist for the cuttings to root. If you are propagating Hoya with bigger leaves, take cuttings with only one node per cutting or atleast keeping it small.
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MEDIUMS:
Hoya do well in water, hydroponics and soil. I've seen people grow Hoya in moist perlite aswell, so it could be a fun experiment to test out multiple types of media to grow it in.
Credits to Plant With Roos for most of the Hoya care tips