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Hoya Heuschkeliana (5 Caring Tips & 3 Propagating Methods)

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Hoya Heuschkeliana belongs to the Apocynaceae family. This adorable species usually grow small green leaves on the cascading branches with numerous flower clusters during warmer months.

It is a resilient and fast grower plant. Hoya Heuschkeliana is a beautiful flowering evergreen vine. It grows up to a maximum of 5 – 6 meters at home.

Young leafless vine shoots are brown with pink, red, and yellow flowers. As Hoya Heuschkeliana grows older, the shoots turn green when young leaves and aerial roots begin to appear.

The leaves have different sizes and are colored in different shades. Also, they are shiny at a young age, gradually acquire a matte finish.

Hoya Heuschkeliana
Hoya Heuschkeliana via Reddit

5 Care Tips for Hoya Heuschkeliana

1. Lighting

Hoya Heuschkeliana likes a secluded place, where the sun seeps from somewhere from the corner. At home, it is also impossible for the Hoya Heuschkeliana to remain in an open space, where the sun is more than enough.

Choose the correct room with an east or west orientation. It doesn’t matter where you put the flower pot, may it be on the window or the opposite side. 

The main thing is at least a little bright light. Having lost the sun completely, the Hoya Heuschkeliana can stop blooming and stretch out unnecessarily in the stems, losing its decorative beauty.

2. Temperature

The most favorable place for growing Hoya Heuschkeliana is where it is warm. 25-30 degrees is the ideal limit. If the air temperature drops during the winter, it’s even better. 

However, the thermometer cannot fall below 16 degrees. In this situation, the plant will suffer stress, and there is a risk of its death. Frequent ventilation is highly recommended, but be careful not to create drafts.

Hoya Heuschkeliana 2
“thinking of upgrading Hoya Heuschkeliana’s living conditions” via Reddit

3. Watering

From the period of bud formation to the beginning of the dormant period, the Hoya Heuschkeliana should be watered moderately but systematically – approximately 1 time in 6 days with soft, settled, and not cold water. 

For greater confidence in the need for watering, evaluate the surface of the substrate. It should dry out to a depth of 2 cm.

After watering, you need to remove excess water from the pan; otherwise, you risk starting the process of decay in the roots. 

When the dormant period begins for the Hoya Heuschkeliana, from November, watering is reduced to two times a month. Also, this plant loves bathing procedures in the spring and after flowering, if its size allows. 

The plant very carefully needs to be placed in a bowl of water with a temperature of a maximum of 40 degrees for half an hour, but it is essential to remove the shoots from the liquid after 10 minutes.

After the procedure, place the flower in precisely the same place. Bathing promotes Hoya Heuschkeliana, hardens it, and gives strength before winter.

4. Humidity

The Hoya Heuschkeliana is located should be periodically sprayed with water from a spray bottle. Especially if the room is not often ventilated. In addition, the hoya will love the unique bathing experience. 

Pour warm water into a basin and just put a flower pot there and let the roots and foliage be saturated with moisture. 

After 10 minutes, the water needs to be drained a little so that the stems are outside and the roots remain in the water. Leave in this way for another 20 minutes. The bathing procedure must be carried out before flowering (in spring) and after (in autumn), i.e., twice a year.

6. Transfer

Young Hoya Heuschkeliana are transplanted annually in spring, and adults once every three years, if necessary. You don’t need a large hoya pot, but buy a new pot for transplanting each time, and the one leftover from any other plant is not good.

Even a unique pot must be thoroughly washed with ordinary soap before being transplanted into it, and the substrate must be sterilized.

Hoya Heuschkeliana soil needs a breathable, neutral, or slightly acidic reaction, preferably of this composition. You need one part of humus and leafy soil and two parts of clay-soddy earth, but many grow it in an orchid substrate and even just in garden soil.

This all depends on the approach to plant transplantation, having previously studied in what conditions and in what soil your Hoya Heuschkeliana grows. A drainage layer is laid at the bottom of the pot, and the plant is rolled into a new pot.

Hoya Heuschkeliana 3
Hoya Heuschkeliana via Reddit

Hoya Heuschkeliana Propagation

1. Propagation by seeds

In the year of their harvest, ripe and well-dried Hoya Heuschkeliana seeds are sown in a loose substrate consisting of an earthen mixture and chopped sphagnum moss.

Seeds germinate within a week, and as soon as shoots appear, you must ensure that the soil in the crops never dries out and, at the same time, is not wet. Keep the seedling dish in a warm, light place.

To prevent fungal diseases, spray the seedlings with a Bordeaux mixture or any other copper-containing preparation in strict accordance with the instructions.

After 90 days, when the seedlings release several leaves, they are planted in personal pots. However, growing Hoya Heuschkeliana from seeds is hampered by the fact that it is impossible to find seeds on sale, and it is almost impossible to get seeds from a growing at home.

2. Propagation by cuttings

This is the easiest and most reliable way to get a new plant since Hoya Heuschkeliana cuttings take root quickly. The stalk should be short but have at least two nodes and one or two pairs of leaves.

You can root cuttings in water or a substrate. For rooting in water, wrap the container with foil on all sides, making holes for the cuttings. Leave only the top pair of leaves on the cuttings.

Treat the bottom cuts with root hormone and push the cuttings through the holes in the foil so deep that the base node is in the water.

The temperature for rooting should be no higher than 22 °C, but high humidity is also essential for this process; otherwise, the cuttings will fade.

To increase the air humidity, put a transparent plastic bag on the container with the cuttings, but do not block the airflow under it. Hoya Heuschkeliana rooting occurs after two weeks.

It is essential to transplant the cutting to a permanent place at an early stage of root formation; otherwise, the cuttings become fragile and break.

3. Propagation by layering

This is a relatively simple and effective breeding method. The new Hoya Heuschkeliana will bloom in the first year. To do this, choose such a liana to be laid in another pot next door on loose nutrient soil, always with the addition of peat.

The shoot with a knot is fixed in the substrate using a hairpin. A small incision is made at the root of the node. This place is generously covered with moss, watered a little, and covered with plastic wrap.

Such a greenhouse will stand next to the mother’s pot in a warm, bright place until the formation of roots and the appearance of young leaves.

When you decide that the young sprout is strong enough, the shoot can be cut and separated from the mother bush.

Now you can plant the Hoya Heuschkeliana cut with roots in a suitable pot and put it in its permanent place. Sometimes, a branch with an incision is not placed on the soil in another pot, but wrapped first with wet moss, then with polyethylene, and tied well with twine.

The same greenhouse effect at the cut will result in roots. After a particular time, the branch is cut for planting from a separate pot.

Disease and other Growth Problems

Excessive dampness and low temperatures in the room can cause such Hoya Heuschkeliana fungal diseases as gray rot and powdery mildew. They can be easily identified by gray or whitish spots on the leaves.

Powdery mildew is treated with chemical preparations with fungicides quite successfully, but gray rot can destroy a plant in days.

If spots and thickenings appear on the leaves, Hoya Heuschkeliana may have contracted a viral infection. Isolate the plant from others urgently.

If there is no improvement, the plant will have to be destroyed since they have not yet learned how to fight the viral diseases of flowers. If the trunk and some plant shoot become soft, a sticky liquid with an unpleasant odor is released.

Then the plant may have contracted a bacterial infection. It is necessary to spray the plant with copper-containing preparations and remove the affected parts.

Spots on the leaves appear either from excess sunlight, or from the use of cold water for irrigation, or from overfeeding the flower with mineral fertilizers.

Leaves turn pale, curl and gradually dry out, either from excessive sunlight or too low air and water temperatures for irrigation.

Inhibition of growth and blanching of the color of greenery in Hoya Heuschkeliana can occur from a lack of nitrogen fertilizers in the soil. It is enough to feed the plant with urea.


Conclusion

Hoya Heuschkeliana is fleshy and shiny at a young age. The leaves gradually become dull, have an oval shape, and are pointed towards the top. The flowers are pink, red, and yellow.

The diameter of each flower is 0.5 cm and can reach 15 flowers. It can grow anywhere outdoor on the lawn or indoors in hanging baskets. Also, it can thrive in the hanging baskets or wrapping on the moist support.