How to Propagate Hoya

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By eHow Contributing Writer

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There are a large variety of Hoya plants, but they all belong to the cattail family. Hoyas have beautiful waxy flowers. If you have one that you particularly like, there are several ways of propagating the plant. Some of the ways are more difficult than others and some take a long time.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Nylon stockings

Understand Methods of Propagation

Step 1

Use leaf cuttings. This method is a difficult way to grow a plant, but can still yield good results.
Step 2

Grow new plants with seed pods. Since the hoya is a member of the cattail family, once the seed pod splits they go everywhere. This method takes a long time, though it gives you a large number of plants.
Step 3

Root a stem cutting, which is the easiest and most fruitful way for beginning a new hoya.

Propagate Hoya Through Stem Cuttings

Step 1

Cut a stem off the old plant. Make certain that the stem has at least two leaf nodes.
Step 2

Prepare the leaf for planting by removing the lowest leaves from the node. Leave at least one leaf on.
Step 3

Dust the stem where you removed the leaf with a hormone mixture for rooting.
Step 4

Prepare a mixture that is between 30 and 40 percent perilite. Use orchid bark, coconut husk and even some Styrofoam peanuts in the mix.
Step 5

Make a hole in the mixture and put the stem cutting in the hole.

Propagate Hoya Through Leaf Cuttings

Step 1

Remove a leaf and its stem from the old plant.
Step 2

Put some rooting hormone on the leaf.
Step 3

Place the leaf and its stem in a container of soil with the stem buried and the leaf angling at about 45 degrees. The soil should be up to the base of the leaf.
Step 4

Wait for roots to develop, then transplant.

Propagate Hoya Through Seeds

Step 1

Wait until a seed pod forms on an older plant.
Step 2

Gently put a nylon stocking over the seed pod and close it off lightly.
Step 3

Wait until the pod bursts to remove the seeds. The stocking prevents them from flying away.
Step 4

Remove the floss off the seeds before planting.
Step 5

Plant the seeds immediately in potting soil with at least 30 percent perilite.

Comments

beep said

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on 12/23/2007 Hoyas are members of the former Asclepiadaceae family (now Apocynaceae ). Cattails are genus Typha, in the Typhaceae family. They are not even in the same class or order. Hoya and Typha have very little in common, other than belonging to the Magnoliophyta division of the Plantae kingdom.