Sweetheart Hoya Wax Plant

Beautiful piece of nature to give on the Valentine’s Day!

What more to give on a Valentine’s day than an original heart in form of nature! Because this piece of love in a pot won’t go away after the Valentine’s Day is over, it will last. Hoya Kerrii is a gorgeous plant and so easy to care for! I’ve been planning to get it for a while now so with the coming spring it may just be the time!

Indoor plants and gardening

Each year it’s a similar story – I get all kinds of plants and seeds, plant herbs and really get into the mood of growing my little oasis not just in the apartment but on our lovely balcony. It faces south and is actually a small conservatory so has plenty of direct sunlight as well as shade and gets beautifully warm. And each year all my efforts get destroyed by the same unwanted host – little Tetranychus spider mite! I know precisely the moment it turns up because the plants’ leaves will begin to have small yellow spots. Eventually, the end of each branch will be wrapped in tiny silky web with these visitors crawling around. I’ve tried different solutions – different natural remedies, different chemical solutions even different plants. Finally, since last year I’ve been able to keep three plants as well as homegrown edible fig trees! I’m sure this year is the year of success and the oasis will grow!

Did you like this project? Why not pin it to one of your Gardening or Indoor Plants Pinterest boards for later!

Hoya Kerrii Wax Plant

I’ve been researching different plants ideal for my indoor/balcony gardening projects and Hoya was an obvious choice. I am not a gardening expert so I usually begin with a few herbs and then look for plants which do great in shade or sunlight, need mid-mid humidity and have basic watering needs. And of course – they need to be both pet and child friendly!

Hoya Kerrii meets all these requirements. It’s a beautiful plant to look at and certainly one not too difficult to maintain which could do well with us! There are various kinds to choose from but for the Valentine’s Day I chose the heart-shaped leaf plant – happy Valentine to me! What a sweet way to start my gardening efforts this year!

How to care for Hoya

Hoya is an easy plant to care for, popular in Asia and Europe. It needs little shade to non-direct sunlight and needs watering about once a week. I was happy to learn that Hoyas are similar to Orchids when it comes to moisture. A while back I learned that the best way to water Orchids once a week was to run the pot under a running water and leave it to drain completely. I would never run the water over the blossoms or leaves but definitely over the roots. It’s because wild orchids in fact grow on trees and the main moisture they get is from the rain – ‘passing-by water’. I am not sure if this is correct but the orchid I had and tried this on was absolutely thriving! Unlike a few others I’ve also had before (a little ooops here!).

Seems to me that Hoya wax plant is quite similar and so it’s important to never overwater or leave the soil wet. The pot should have a good draining hole and the plant also likes occassional water mist over the leaves and blooms. The balcony we have can get very dry so it’s definitely something I’ll need to do. Plus – the little plant spider mites dislike moist environment so hopetully it will also help to keep them away! I can’t wait to grow this plant with my edible fig tree project. It grows slowly but that only means we can keep the plant longer!

A little recap:

Name: Hoya Kerrii (also called Valentine or Sweetheart Hoya)

Watering and Moisture: Water once a week during the productive season and about once a month in winter (for winter keep her in cool indoor place). Likes mid/high humidity and enjoys a gentle water mist once per week on the leaves and blooms.

Light: Does well in light areas avoiding direct sunlight.

Repotting: No need to repot frequently as the plant grows slowly and prefers the roots to grow tightly together.

Troubles: When you see the leaves of your plant turning yellow, there are two main possibilities of what’s gone wrong. Either the plant isn’t getting enough nitrogen or it is also possible that it has been overwatered. You can easily resolve this by giving a nitrogen-rich fertalizer and watering less often, making sure the plant never sits in water.