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A hoya plant is an elegant, easy-to-grow trailing plant that will bring joy throughout the year and complement your home decor beautifully.
Hoya plants, also commonly known as “wax plant” or “porcelain flowers” have been some of my favorite houseplants over the past few years. Their beautiful, dark green foliage works beautifully with any interior decor style and fits in well with current trends when other house plants are too vibrant green. Their trailing growth habit looks just right when styling shelves, countertops, and sink-sides. I’ve searched out a few different varieties of these ornamental indoor plants at my local garden center and have propagated new plants quite often so that I have quite a few different potted options in all shapes and sizes. The fact that they put out new delightful new leaves fairly frequently and are hardy enough to withstand frequent transport in different temperatures (when I take them to photoshoots) is a big bonus and something I find necessary in a house plant. If you’re looking for potted plants that will actually look good with your decor, will survive and thrive with minimal care, and will continue to put out new plant growth to keep you entertained, I highly recommend a hoya plant.
The average indoor gardener will grow hoyas as ornamental foliage plants, but they are technically a flowering plant and do have the ability to bloom with the right care and conditions.
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Light Requirements for Hoyas
Hoya plants have fairly average light requirements for a houseplant. They prefer bright, indirect light and don’t enjoy being directly in the bright light of the sun for an extended period of time. If you start to see brown or yellow spots forming on the leaves of your hoya plant, it’s probably getting a bit too much sunlight. The nice thing about hoyas is that they do tolerate low light conditions quite well, so you can use them around the house to decorate quite freely without worrying about finding the best sunny window to place them in.
In my personal experience, my hoya plants always seem to thrive best in a spot where they’ll get most of their light later in the day. When I place them in a west-facing window instead of an east-facing one, they seem to put out quite a lot of new growth, and this is the time when I see the most new leaves.
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Hoya Plant Care: Watering and Feeding
Hoyas are very flexible when it comes to how they are watered and adapt well to a regular weekly watering schedule. They prefer to dry out quite a bit between waterings, and some varieties, like the popular Hoya Carnosa, are used to a period of drought that can last weeks in their natural environment. That being said, hoyas don’t mind a little accidental overwatering every now and then and will do just fine if they’re planted in a well-draining potting mix to prevent root-rot. This makes them perfect for beginner indoor gardeners.
Although hoyas grow naturally in tropical regions with high humidity, I do find them to be very tolerant of dry indoor winter air. In our temperate climate, the furnace is running all winter long, but my hoya plants continue to do very well.
When it comes to feeding, hoya plants aren’t heavy feeders in any particular way, but a good, balanced plant food or fertilizer once a month can help them along. I also transplant my hoyas about once a year, and they seem to really appreciate the added nutrients in the fresh potting soil.
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Propagating Hoya Plants
Pictured above: Rechargeable Cordless Lamp
Hoyas can easily be propagated to create more new plants using a simple water propagation method. Make two to three cuttings, each with at least three leaves, and place them in a little vase of water on a windowsill with bright, indirect light to propagate new plants. Ensure that no leaves are below the surface of the water and that only the bare stem is submerged. Within about a month or so, you’ll start to see a few tiny roots starting to form, and after a few more weeks, you can plant your cuttings into a pot or planter with fresh potting mix. I like to use two to three rooted stems per flower pot for a nice-looking little plant right away.
I usually start with smaller indoor gardening pots and planters of about 3.5 to 5 inches and then transplant the seedlings into something a bit bigger later on down the road. Hoya plants don’t mind being a little bit root-bound and will continue to reward you with new leaves regardless of their accommodations, so there’s no rush to move up to a larger container.
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.