Hoyas
Are a Great Greenhouse Plant
Common Names: Wax Vine, Wax Plant, Honey
Plant, Indian Rope Plant & Porcelain Flower
Light Needs: High light. Plants that receive less than
half a day of sun may not produce fl owers.
Best Temperatures: Intermediate to warm and
humid conditions and not below 50º F.
Water and Humidity Needs: Never water
with cold water. Drench them and let the soil dry
out between watering, but water just enough to pre-
vent shriveling in winter.
Growing Guidelines: Grow in a peat-moss-based
mix. Wind stems counterclockwise if you want it to
vine around a support. Fertilize it once in the spring
and do not move the plant when it is fl owering.
Most plants are three feet long before blooming oc-
curs. Hoyas like the security of a snug pot and plants
that are a bit root bound will fl ower more than those
that are swimming around in a giant pot.
FUN FACTS ABOUT HOYA PLANT
Hoya is an Asian native plant introduced by Scot-
tish botanist Robert Brown and named in honor of
the 18th-century botanist Thomas Hoy. It is a fra-
grant, low-maintenance tropical fl ower.
Flowering plants in the genus Hoya are part of
the Asclepiadaceae family, otherwise known as the
milkweed family. Newer taxonomy places the genus
in the Apocynaceae (dogbane) family.
Hoya fl owers grow in a ball-shaped cluster and each
cluster may contain up to 40 individual fl owers,
packed tightly together. The individual fl owers ap-
pear to be molded from wax or porcelain, thus the
common names. Flowers often sport a colored eye in
the center of the corona.
The plants produce woody stems with waxy leaves,
which remain evergreen. You can train a hoya plant
as a vine, or allow it to trail over the side of the con-
tainer. The full length or height of the plant is nor-
mally two to four feet.
Common Problems: Mealybugs
Propagation: Cuttings of previous year’s growth in
spring.
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When a hoya fi nishes blooming, leave the fl ower
stalk, as it may produce new fl owers. Removing the
stalk forces the plant to produce a new stalk, which
wastes the plant’s energy and can delay blooming. GG
www.GardenandGreenhouse.net
July 2019