The hoya plant is an all-time gardener’s favorite.
Do you know why?
Growing plants is an art and it requires a lot of patience and sensibility. But the hoya plant makes it easier to care for it because of its strength.
Sometimes, we just want to find a plant that is beautiful, adaptable, and not too delicate to grow indoors or outdoors.
The hoya plant is the perfect answer for those times.
Getting to Know the Hoya Plant
It is also called the wax plant because of its appearance. There are over 500 different species of hoya plant, and it originally comes from India and Asia, where the waxy appearance of its leaves and the delicate smell of its flowers made it a very popular plant.
Plus, its resistance to high temperatures makes it a unique plant that can survive for long periods with little watering.
And this is all perfect for gardeners everywhere.
Even if you are only looking for a plant that will need minimum care and still have a strong and healthy appearance, the hoya plant is the perfect candidate.
But just because it doesn’t need special care doesn’t mean you can forget about it. You can help it blossom faster and grow stronger if you know a few special techniques.
Let’s see the basic tips for taking care of your hoya plant before moving to the secret techniques!
How to Take Care of Your Hoya Plant
As with any other plant, your hoya will have basic sunlight and water requirements. They are not demanding.
It is possible to care for it with a minimum amount of effort, but it is also important that you do it right. If you don’t, all the special tricks in the world will not help you make your plant even more beautiful.
With that in mind, let’s look at the basics:
Watering
The hoya plant does not need a lot of water, so all you should do is make sure the soil in their pot is not completely dry.
You should keep your plant in a pot with a good drainage system and water your plant a bit more while it blossoms, but other than that, it will do just fine on its own.
If you start seeing the leaves a bit dull or brown, it’s probably a good time to water your plant. But there is no need to do it every day.
Sunlight
This plant is one of the few indoor plants that can handle direct sunlight, so it will grow strong if you place it near a window.
Make sure it is getting enough sun, because if you put it in a place where there is a lot of shade and not enough light, it will grow slower and weaker, and it will also take a longer time to blossom.
But if you don’t have a pace with a lot of direct sunlight, the plant will still adapt and survive to the conditions just fine. You may miss the delicate scent of its flowers, but its green leaves are still as beautiful and will be equally healthy.
Temperature
Just as with sunlight, the hoya plant can adapt to any moderate temperature.
They must be in a medium temperature (around 50 degrees) during spring and summer because those are its growing seasons.
When the colder months arrive, the plant goes semi-dormant. And who can blame it? It comes from warmer climates after all.
But just being indoors will be enough for it to sleep comfortably during the winter and get back at growing once it’s over.
Soil
We know now that the hoya plant needs little water and humidity to thrive. So it’s only natural that you plant it on soil that is not too heavy and dries fast.
If yours looks a bit too heavy and it doesn’t dry out fast enough, try adding a bit of sand to the pot. This will absorb the excess humidity and balance the soil to prevent the plant from drowning.
If you follow all these rules, your hoya plant will grow and live for many years without needing any extra attention from you.
But it has some surprises for you if you know the right techniques. You could help your plant blossom faster and better, and even grow new ones from its branches.
Special Tips for Hoya Plant Care
If you grow it with certain techniques, you can make the most of one hoya plant. These tips are going to help you plant your hoya for better growth and get new plants from the ones you already have.
Rooting
The smaller the pot, the better the growth.
This is true because hoya plants tend to have clustered roots and usually don’t need a lot of ground space.
If you use a small pot, you will be limiting the space your plant has to extend its roots. And because of its nature, this will help it grow and blossom.
The ideal pot should not be extremely small, but the hoya plant has small roots, so anything medium-sized will do.
Propagation
Once you have a plant, you can grow as many more as you want.
The same is true for the hoya plant. The trick with propagation techniques is knowing where to cut the stems of your adult plant.
The hoya propagates from cuttings of top growth, which means you need to separate the outer stems at their joint.
After you do it, place the joint of the stem you cut in a moist medium, and it will form roots of its own. A moist medium means either soil or water.
A glass of water can be a perfect vase for growing a new hoya plant because you will get to see how the roots grow over time. This way, you will be able to calculate exactly how long it takes for your hoya plant to grow, so next time you want to plant a new one, you know exactly what to expect.
After your stem has grown roots, transfer it to a medium-sized pot with well-aired soil. Don’t wait until the roots get too big because the transfer may shock the plant and keep it from blossoming in the future.
These are general rules, but more unique types of hoya plants may have special needs. Knowing what every species needs to grow will also be extremely helpful if you decide to experiment with other varieties of the hoya plant.
Blooming
And finally, we got to the most exciting part of growing your hoya plants: blooming!
The hoya plant flowers are star-shaped and usually of lilac color, with a sweet and nice scent. However, hoya plants don’t always bloom as expected and this can be a frustration if you have been taking good care of your plant for a while now.
These final tips will help you understand your plant and its blooming patterns, but most importantly, tell you what you need to know to help your plant grow the most beautiful flowers.
Hoya Plant Blooming Tips
The flowers of the hoya plant usually grow between spring and summer, but for a lot of hoya owners, this is not always the case.
Even if you are taking care of your plant in all the right ways, it could be possible that you haven’t seen its flowers yet.
But there’s no need to question your abilities.
Here is a couple of not-so-obvious things you should not be doing while tending to your plant.
Don’t Cut the Flower Spurs
The hoya flowers blossom from knobby spurs left after the previous blossoms fade. If your plant did blossom but you cut the leftover knobs after they fell, you are stopping it from growing flowers again.
Just let them fall naturally and you will see new flower buds in the same place.
Don’t Move It Around Too Much
If you haven’t even seen the hoya flowers yet, it could be because you are moving the plant around too much.
Hoya plants like to be left alone most of the time, so it’s better if you pick a particular spot for your plant and leave it there. It will get used to it and give you flowers as a way of saying thanks.
Don’t Fertilize Too Much
Most plants need humidity and moisture to grow and blossom, but this is not the case with the hoya plant.
During the winter, you should keep it as dry as possible. If you fertilize your hoya constantly, it will grow bright and beautiful leaves but the flowers will not come out.
Becoming a Hoya Plant Expert
A beautiful and resistant indoor plant is the perfect opportunity to sharpen your gardening skills and techniques.
We have already given you all the information you need to become an expert in hoya plant care. Use these tips and your hoya plant will start giving back beautiful flowers and greener colors in no time.
