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Hoya Ilagiorum – 6 Things To Keep In Mind For Better Caring!

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Hoya Ilagiorum isn’t a picky houseplant, but planting this plant might still be challenging if you don’t know how to take care of it. Read today’s post to learn more about it and how to care for it. In addition, we included some helpful tips and advice. 

Hoya Ilagiorum: What Are They?

Hoya Ilagiorum
Plant TypeTropical flowering plant
Mature Size12-20 ft.
Sun ExposureBright, natural light
Soil TypeWell-draining
Soil pH6.1-7.5
Bloom Time  Spring or summer
Hardiness Zones8-11 (USDA)
Native AreaPhilippines

Hoya Ilagiorum is an aromatic, undemanding tropical Philippines indigenous flowering plant. These plants bloom gradually to moderately and should be placed outdoors in the springtime or early summertime.

Similar to their fellow flowering species of the group Hoya, they are members of the Asclepiadaceae class, also referred to as the milkweed genus. However, this genus is now classified as part of the Apocynaceae (dogbane) class.

Hoya Ilagiorum
Hoya Ilagiorum via Reddit

Hoya blooms, like mophead hydrangeas, bloom into a spherical cluster. Each might have up to 40 individual blooms that are densely crowded around. 

These tiny blossoms are stunning. They resemble beeswax or porcelain, hence their widespread nicknames. The blooms are red, with lighter cores. They have a bright eye in the middle of the crown.

These plants have sturdy stalks having waxy evergreen leaflets. A hoya could be trained as a vine or let to drape over the sides of a pot. The plant’s entire length or height will grow about 2 to 4 feet in both cases.

6 Essential Things For Better Hoya Ilagiorum Caring

Although hoya ilagiorum is a trouble-free plant, it does require some essential criteria to thrive. Below are our 6 most important factors to keep in mind when planting and taking care of this flowering plant.

1. Lighting Condition

Hoya Ilagiorum loves indirect daylight that is medium to strong. These beautiful plants thrive with around 2 hours of direct sunshine in the daytime or afternoon. 

Hoya Ilagiorum 2
Hoya Ilagiorum via Reddit

Good lighting will provide them with sufficient energy to produce flowers. However, too much sunlight contact can damage or discolor their foliage. That being said, if they do not receive enough sunshine, they may not blossom at all. 

Indeed, although these plants could endure dim light, in that case, they might concentrate their energies on developing additional leaves rather than yielding flowers. Yet, that’s not always a bad thing because the large leaves themselves are already lovely enough.

2. Soil

Hoyas dislike soggy bottoms and thick soils, and most of them develop as epiphytes naturally. Therefore, a 1-1 proportion of conventional potting soil to the orchid gardening mixture will give an optimal growth environment for your hoya plants.

Furthermore, while repotting, utilize pasteurized soils or a developing mixture in new containers or pots that have been treated with chlorine bleach plus distilled water.

3. Pot 

Hoya is popularly planted as an inhouse plant. Still, it may also be planted in the yard and climbed up surrounding branches in tropical climates where weather is usually sunny throughout the year.

In any different climates, it is best cultivated in pots in enclosed settings, whether outside or, in cooler environments, inside or in a controlled greenhouse.

Different from many other species, hoya enjoys being kept inside a pot! Indeed, the plant doesn’t feel good when its roots are disrupted by repotting every 2 or 3 years and will show its unhappiness by not blooming you any flower.

Hoyas flourish in glass, porcelain, or ceramic pots. A hanging container is also a lovely alternative to observe their dangling vines. Because they prefer to be in pots, only re-pot them after the roots have absorbed almost all of the soil.

Select a pot that is only a bit bigger than the current root system while planting hoya.

Move the shrub from its previous container to the new one, leaving no soil or mixture on the stems, and reseed using high-quality African violet terracotta and tub mixture. As mentioned above, ensure that it’s a well-draining open mix.

Young seedlings could be braided using a tiny planting trainer securely put into the container. Bigger plants may thrive well if trained on a trellis or netting linked to a surrounding pergola, tree stump, or barrier.

4. Water

Like other houseplants, hoya seedlings prefer their soil to dry thoroughly before rewatering. Many house owners even wait till plant greens crinkle or curl a little before rewatering them.

Allow them to soak all the water before heading to other tasks. Furthermore, ensure that the container is well-drained and that any leftover water is removed from the pot. 

Although this plant isn’t picky, it does have some criteria for watering. If the shrub becomes too dry (uncommon), the vine’s bottom foliage will begin to discolor.

If the pot becomes too soggy, the plant will expel water by losing leaves and decaying bases. Throughout their resting period in the wintertime, they will require even less regular irrigation.

5. Fertilizer

The optimum hoya fertilizer is a controlled-release fertilizer, which you should use every two months. To help your flowers be happy and strong, use this fertilizer at the beginning of springtime annually and reinforce it with a wet or water-diluted plant food monthly.

Feed your plants throughout the growing seasons of springtime, summertime, and autumn. On the other hand, during their wintertime hibernation, keep the fertilizer away.

6. Environment Factors

Hoya seedlings don’t require a lot, other than well-draining soil plus the sunny, steamy environments that most tropical blooms love. If you reside in USDA planting regions 10-12, you could grow your hoya outdoors. If not, however, you must grow it as a tropical pot shrub or greenhouse one.

How Do I Get My Hoya Plant to Bloom?

Once a Hoya shrub hits maturation, it begins to blossom. There are a few things you may do to stimulate flowers to blossom.

As previously said, firstly, guarantee that it receives the proper lighting and watering needs. If possible, test with extra light to find an optimal setting. Then, when the inflorescences appear, maintain the shrub in one spot since changing it might make the blooms fall off.

Hoya Ilagiorum 4
Hoya Ilagiorum via Reddit

It’s also critical to preserve the root systems within the same pot and not transfer it too early into a bigger container. Allow it 4-5 weeks of dryness over the wintertime to stimulate it to blossom in the coming season.

Lastly, try not to pinch or cut off the flower stalks as they bloom. Instead, keep them exactly where they are since here is the place your hoya flower will blossom the following time.

What Are Some Common Pests and Diseases?

Check for common potted plant enemies such as mealybugs, fungus gnats, aphids, or spider mites. Fungus gnats may be controlled by not waterlogging and utilizing adhesive pegs. 

Mealybugs, for some reason, have an addiction to hoyas. As a preventive measure, apply Bonide houseplant pesticide, structural granules. If you add these particles to the planting mix before planting the hoyas, you should be able to keep the mealybugs at bay.

If mealybugs have already hooked themselves to the shrub, soak a Q-tip in isopropyl solution, sweep the mealybugs away, and afterward apply the pesticide. If you can’t find any isopropyl, neem oil is also an excellent alternative.

On the other hand, spider mites may cause a lot of damage to houseplants. There are several methods for removing spider mites from plants, but the concern is that these insects could cause substantial harm rapidly. Thus, as soon as you discover spider mite webs, you must take action!

To start, spritz your shrub using clean water frequently to minimize spider mite invasions. Spider mites detest cold, damp environments and flourish in warm, dry settings. And that is why they prefer houseplants, particularly in the wintertime!

Fungal pathogens are very prevalent in hoya. For example, Botrytis blight, which appears as gray areas on the leaves, could trigger decay and thus, destroy your hoya. Therefore, you should use a fungicide before repotting in sanitized planting material.

How To Prune Your Hoya

Keep the flower stem in place after your hoya shrub has finished blooming since it could derive new blossoms. Cutting the stalks, in any case, forces the plant to develop a new stem, delaying flowering and wasting energy.

How To Propagate Your Flower

You can quickly propagate your flower using stem cuttings. The steps are as follows:

  • First, only choose 2-year-old stem cuttings in the spring or early summertime, when they are mature yet still bendable. Don’t utilize vines.
  • Then, put these cuttings in a cup of water or a container full of African violet potting medium, blended with some perlite, and keep them hydrated.
  • After the roots have formed, plant your cuttings.
  • Treat them using a wet fertilizer once a month until it fully develops

Wrapping Up

There you have it – everything you need to know about Hoya Ilagiorum and how to take care of this flowering plant. Hopefully, our post has given you enough tips and advice for better caring for your hoya. Good luck!