For three years I tidied my hoya and wondered why it never flowered. It turns out I was cutting off the very thing it needed. Hoyas flower from short, leafless stubs called peduncles, or spurs, and they bloom from the same spurs again and again. Once I left those alone, gave the plant more light, let it dry out between waterings and fed it lightly in summer, the first star-shaped clusters appeared. Here is what I learned.
What you need
- about 1 cup (250 ml) for a 6-inch (15 cm) pot room-temperature water
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) in 4 cups (1 liter) of water, or half the label dose balanced liquid houseplant fertilizer
- enough to fill the pot chunky mix (houseplant soil with orchid bark and perlite)
- 1 small trellis or hoop
How to do it
- Leave the spurs alone. After a hoya flowers, the short woody stub that held the cluster stays on the stem, and next season's flowers come from it. Do not cut it off, and when you trim long vines, avoid removing the parts that carry spurs.
- Give it bright light. A hoya will grow leaves in shade but needs bright, indirect light, with a little gentle morning sun, to flower. An east window is ideal, or a spot just back from a south or west window. Mature plants flower much more readily than young cuttings.
- Let it dry out. Water only when the mix is dry most of the way down, then soak it thoroughly with about 1 cup (250 ml) for a 6-inch (15 cm) pot and let it drain. The thick, waxy leaves store water, and soggy roots are the quickest way to lose a hoya. In winter, water even less.
- Feed in the growing season. From spring to late summer, water with a weak fertilizer solution about once a month, roughly 1 teaspoon (5 ml) in 4 cups (1 liter), or half the bottle dose. Stop in autumn and winter.
- Keep it snug and supported. Hoyas bloom best when slightly root-bound, so do not rush to a bigger pot. Train the long vines around a hoop or trellis instead of letting them hang; many growers find a coiled plant puts out more spurs.
- Do not move it once buds appear. Turning or relocating a hoya with buds can make it drop them. Let the clusters open where they formed.
Good to know
- Hoya flowers can drip sticky nectar, so keep the plant away from wooden furniture when it blooms.
- Wrinkled leaves mean it is thirsty; yellow, soft leaves usually mean too much water.
- Many hoyas start flowering only once they are two or three years old, so a young plant may simply need time.
Mine now flowers every summer from the same spurs I used to snip away. Sometimes the best thing a gardener can do is less.
