How to Grow a Hoya Plant From a Leaf
Hoya, also known as the wax plant, is grown by many gardeners for its unusual waxy flowers and thick, waxy foliage. Hoya is an unusual, if not somewhat temperamental, houseplant. It does not like being transplanted, but should be trained and trimmed frequently and those trimmings used to start new plants. Hoya plants root easily from leaf-petiole cuttings or by removing preformed plantlets from aerial shoots. Whether rooting cuttings or plantlets, though, the procedure is the same for the hoya. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Pot
- Peat moss
- Perlite
- Pruning shears
- Plastic bag
- Plastic cover
- Seed-starting mat
Instructions
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Mix a rooting medium by combining one part peat moss and one part perlite by volume. Fill a pot with the rooting medium and water until it is moist but not boggy.
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Cut a leaf from your hoya plant that includes a piece of the leaf's stem that is no more than 1 1/2 inches long. Push the stem end into the rooting medium and firm the medium around the stem so that it stands up. You can also sever a plantlet if your plant is old enough and push it into the medium in the same fashion.
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Place a small pot in a plastic zip top bag. Cover a larger pot with a plastic dome or cover. Protect the plant cutting from bright light or harsh conditions while it is forming roots. Hasten root development by placing the plant on a seed-starting mat set 10 to 15 degrees higher than the ambient air temperature.
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Watch for new plants to form at the base of the cutting. Remove the plastic covering once plantlets have formed. Cut the leaf-petiole cutting from the new plants and reuse it for starting more plants if you wish. Do not cut anything from plants started from plantlets.
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Tips & Warnings
Hoyas grow slowly -- new plants may take many years to bloom even under ideal conditions.
References
- University of Florida IFAS Extension: Hoya
- University of Florida IFAS Extension: Wax Plant (Hoya) Production Guide
- North Carolina State University: Plant Propagation by Leaf, Cane, and Root Cuttings: Instructions for the Home Gardener
- University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service: Plant Propagation for Home Gardeners
