The Wax Plant
Hoya are one of those plants that everyone knows – their grandmother grew one of these twining around the kitchen window, and everyone was amazed at the tiny little pot that it grew in, and the highly scented blooms every year.
Grow these classic houseplants in loose well drained soil, and to promote blooming, keep them rootbound.
The wax like flowers are borne on the ‘spurs’, little twiggy growths along the stem.
Don’t cut these off when you prune, as they will continue to produce flowers for many seasons out of these spurs. The flowers will last for several weeks, depending on the type or species.
You can root these plants easily in a glass of water on the kitchen windowsill. In fact, quite often, you’ll see a healthy thriving Hoya grown this way for years.
The roots emerge from the stem between the fleshy leaves, and are used by the vine to cling to supports like the wood of the window frame, a trellis or anything else that’s handy. If you look closely, they look like loose rows of bumps – this is where the roots emerge.
These plants thrive on benign neglect, and prefer to be left to just do their thing. If they’re in the right place, they will just keep growing happily, with little care from you.
One thing to watch out for is mealy bugs, as they are prone to this pest. See more on how to deal with those here.
See more about Hoya below:
Each link goes to another page with more about these succulent plants.
Please help me identify my plant! It has thick dark green leaves that are heart-shaped. two leaves branch out close to the stem at a time, one on opposite …
It is a trailing plant with beautiful clusters of pink flowers that are hard to the touch. Hi Maggie, this is one of the most interesting plants; …
Heart shaped, matte, without spines
I have no idea what the species is and we can’t find the scientific name online. Please help me! I need to know how it grows, and what conditions are safe …
Vine produces artificial looking flower. Some ‘buds’ bloom 2 and 3 times. The flowers are beautiful and almost look like plastic. Drought Smart Plants …
plant has little knob type spurs that bloom into a cluster of pretty star shaped flowers If these blooms are waxy and scented, it sounds like you …
Yes, I am a novice at this. Now you have the pictures. Drought Smart Plants reply: Hi Sue, that’s much better! Now I can tell you what your …
I was given this plant as a housewarming gift. It has curly “beans” that trail down the sides of the planter. The green and white-ish “bean curls” are …
I found this at my local grocery store, and i love it, but I don’t know what it is, so I don’t know how to care for it. Do you know what it is?
