The Hoya carnosa, also known as the wax plant, is a tropical plant that is easy to care for and has beautiful waxy foliage and fragrant flowers. It thrives in temperatures between 60 and 80°F (16–27°C) and needs high humidity. To care for a Hoya plant, it is essential to place it in a bright location away from direct sunlight, providing high humidity. The plant prefers bright, indirect light, so it should be placed near a window that receives filtered sunlight. Direct sunlight can scorch the leaves, so it’s important to provide some shade.
Hoya carnosa prefers to dry out between waterings, and a well-draining soil that does not retain moisture is recommended. A recommended mix of perlite, peat moss, and other organic materials is recommended. Before watering, ensure the soil is dried before watering to ensure its health.
Hoya carnosa grows best in temperatures between 60–85°F (16–29°C). Withholding water for 4-5 weeks in spring is an easy way to help the plant bloom. Hoyas feature waxy, porcelain-like flower clusters, and when repotting, allow room for roots to spread without being too shallow.
In summary, the Hoya carnosa is a beautiful, easy-to-care plant with beautiful waxy foliage and fragrant flowers. It requires bright, indirect light, well-draining soil, and proper soil depth for optimal growth.
📹 How To Care For Hoya carnosa (Wax Plant) | Plant Of The Week Ep. 51
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Do hoyas prefer to climb or hang?
The end of a hoya vine may dry out due to gravity, as hoyas are known to climb and thrive without support. A trellis can help signal the plant’s climbing and encourage it to continue growing. If a vine is dangling or attached to a growth-tip-down trellis, it may respond by killing off the growth tip, causing a new growth tip to activate higher up on the plant. To prevent this, give long vines something to climb, but keep the tip pointing up.
If looping a vine around a trellis, wait until it is long enough to loop and let the top point up, keeping the tip above the middle of the plant. Attach the growth tip loosely to the trellis for freedom of movement.
How do I encourage my Hoya to bloom?
Hoya flowering is influenced by the amount of light they receive. Different hoya species have varying light requirements, so understanding their specific needs is crucial. Hoyas prefer bright, indirect light to encourage blooming, and many can tolerate low light but may not bloom as profusely. Striking a balance is essential for healthy growth and flowering. Some hoyas, like Hoya carnosa ‘Nova Ghost’, can tolerate lower light conditions and grow well as houseplants, but may struggle to produce flowers in lower light. On the other hand, some hoyas, like Hoya walliniana, prefer brighter light conditions and may require more direct sunlight, provided it’s not intense or during the hottest parts of the day.
How to tell if Hoya needs water?
To determine if your Hoya needs water, use the soil test, weight test, and leaf test. If the soil feels dry, water your pot. If the pot feels lighter, it’s ready for watering. Hoyas with wrinkled or floppy leaves are likely thirsty, while severe wilting may indicate a more serious issue. Watering techniques should be followed thoroughly after determining the plant’s need for water. Remember to consider underwatering and other factors when determining watering methods.
How do you tell if an Hoya is overwatered?
Overwatering can cause a variety of signs in a Hoya plant, including droopy leaves, yellowing or browning leaves, premature leaf drop, mushy stems, and stunted growth. Droopy leaves lose turgor and hang limply, while yellowing or browning leaves start from the base and move outwards to the tip. Overwatering can cause mushy stems, which are firm and slightly flexible, and slow down growth with minimal new leaf production.
To confirm the problem, check the soil moisture by sticking a finger into the potting mix and examine the roots. Healthy roots are white or cream-colored and firm, while brown, mushy, or smelly roots indicate root rot, a consequence of chronic overwatering.
How do you keep a Hoya plant happy?
To grow a Hoya plant, give it time to grow into its pot, avoid planting it in too large a pot, and provide bright, indirect light. Water when the substrate is dry, as soon as the leaves start to “pucker”. Regularly water in spring and summer during active growth periods, withholding water in winter to prevent rot. Fertilize weakly and often during the growing season, using an organic fertilizer low in salts to protect sensitive roots.
Follow these steps to ensure your Hoya plants produce blooms. The Stress Method is recommended for Hoyas with thick, succulent leaves, but be cautious with thin-leaved varieties without proper research.
How often should I water my Hoya carnosa?
Water your hoya once every 14 days in spring and summer, ensuring the soil is dried before watering. Allow the hoya to dry out before watering again. Use a balanced potting mix with good air circulation and well-draining soil. Add perlite or grit for improved drainage. If growing in containers, re-pot them every three years to refresh the soil and allow roots to grow. Watering the plant in the spring and summer is crucial for its health.
Does Hoya need sunlight?
Hoya plants flourish in environments with bright, indirect light, avoiding direct sunlight and providing shade when necessary. It is imperative that the plants be subjected to consistent, low-light conditions. In the event that the quantity of natural light is insufficient, the utilisation of grow lights can serve to supplement it. Optimal illumination is vital for the healthy growth and production of fragrant flowers.
Do Hoyas like bathrooms?
Hoya carnosa thrives in high humidity conditions, mimicking their natural habitat. They make excellent bathroom plants with the right lighting and humidity. However, increased humidity can lead to a dramatic increase in growth. Misting the plant during flowering is not recommended.
Soil and fertilizer are crucial for Hoyas, as they dislike “wet feet”. A good mix is African Violet potting soil cut with perlite and orchid bark, which keeps the soil moist but not soggy. Perlite and orchid bark prevent soil compacting and increase drainage. Hoyas are light feeders and don’t require a lot of fertilizer to bloom. It’s best not to fertilize when the plant is in flower, as over-feeding can discourage flowering. Overall, well-draining soil and proper lighting are essential for Hoya carnosa growth and flowering.
How to encourage Hoya to bloom?
To encourage your hoya to produce fragrant blooms, ensure it is placed in bright, indirect sunlight, the pot is not too big, and it is not over-fertilized. The hoya, also known as the “wax plant”, is a retro beauty with glossy, waxy leaves that grow along trailing vines. To encourage flowering, understand its stages of growth and the necessary resources. When the hoya is about to bloom, a spur produces a cluster of buds that dangle downward, starting as tiny reddish buds that gradually lighten and take on a pentagonal shape. These buds develop bumps and burst open, revealing pale pink flowers with red centers and a sweet scent.
How can you tell if a Hoya is going to bloom?
The spur, or “peduncle,” produces a cluster of buds that hang downward in anticipation of the hoya’s blooming process.
📹 5 Quick tips Hoya
In this video we give you 5 quick tips for your Hoya also know as Wax Flower. Enjoy! And thank you for watching! Please feel fre …
My grandmother grew many plants, including hoya. My mom got one from grandma before 1950. I’ve had mine cut from mom’s plant sometime after that. These are highly adaptable, highly forgiving, extremely easy care plants. Mine all bloom like mad several times a year – which releases the scent at night – because night moths would normally be their outdoor (in the wild) pollinators. The scent is exceptionally POTENT. Took me a few years to go from being overwhelmed by the perfume to now being able to sleep under about 5 flower sections over my bed. HINT: Never cut off the flowering section, even after the current crop of flowers drop off … it re-blooms from the same spot every time. (Well, you can cut it if you want to – the waxy flowers do drip an occasional clear liquid – but I don’t want to cut mine off.) 🙂 Oh – and too much sun will make the leaves really really pale – you’ll know if it is too much easily. Mine do well as hanging plants – they will try to grab onto something or poke through a hole somewhere to hold their branches up – so to avoid their unwanted grabbing I use yarn (soft) (no fishing line – fish line might cut into the branch – but would otherwise be nice for invisibility) to loop around a stem and hold it up instead. They seems content with that. Enjoy!
I love my Hoya carnosa. Took a cutting (2 leaf) that someone was keeping in a corridor of an apartment building. Took forever to root but I was patientl since the leaves looked fine and was rewarded with a beautiful plant. Is it still a carnosa if it has silvery spots (like paint spatters) on the leaves? Beautiful succulent leaves, it loves the east window spot and grows like crazy come summer time. Hope it flowers some day!
Does this plant ever boom, or is it strictly non blooming? I found my beauty at the 99 cent store, of all places!, and I was thrilled! It was a potful of plants and very healthy. I quickly grabbed it up because I had been looking for one for a long time. It is still beautiful and long tailg vines! Should I cut it back or just let it grow?
I have the Hoya my mother got as a cutting from a plant in our dental office (about 1965). As far as I can remember it has only bloomed twice. She had taken a picture of the bloom, and for YEARS she had that photo stuck in the plant! I have had it near a west facing window since November 2023. I have seen just a few new leaves, and still no blooms. I am impatiently waiting!
My hoya (which flowers a LOT—has maroon-coloured flowers, and has already flowered three times this year since January) has one stem with all yellow leaves. I think it was a variegated hoya when I got it …I’ve had it for years, and can’t remember its origin story. However, all the other leaves are now pure green. That one yellow-leaved stem is very weird. While the leaves are solid and filled-out, just like the green ones, the yellow ones do occasionally drop off the plant—while the green ones don’t. I don’t know if there is something wrong with that stem or not. (There are no visible pests on the plant.) I keep the plant hung in a south-facing window, but the window is blocked in shade for most of the day by a building next door, so it only gets full light for an hour or so every day. (I live in Scotland, by the way.) Any ideas?
I have a giant carnosa loving life in my bathroom. My australis and publicalyx are doing well in other rooms. I have the hardest time with compacta (rope), though. Are those more finicky than the standard carnosa? The leaves are wrinkling and dying off despite my regular hoya mix and my small pot. What am I doing wrong?
I picked up a cutting someone left in the laudryroom in our apartmentcomplex. I didnt know what it was, but Iam preatty sure its a carnosa. But it looks more compact than yours, I have had it for a year, and it has come new leafes but all in one place, so its getteing wheary compact. I tryed to make it climbe, but its not getting any longer. Iam confused…
I adore my carnosa, I took a sneaky cutting from a several decades old office plant a few years ago and it just keeps getting bigger! It’s such a vigorous grower and blooms all the time too, no matter how much I neglect it. Honestly my biggest problem with it is that I’m not sure what to do if it gets even bigger, it already takes away so much sun from my other plants… it just won’t stop! (Edit: grammar)