Hoya Carnosa (Wax Plant) Care Tips & Growing Guide

Written by lisa

Nov 02 2021

Hoya Carnosa (Wax Plant) Care Tips & Growing Guide

Hoya Carnosa, also called Wax Plant, is a common house plant special for its attractive foliage and sweetly scented flowers. Hoya Carnosa does not have strict requirements for light, so It can be kept in an environment with enough scattered light. It is grown well in pots and hanging baskets. Hoya Carnosa belongs to vine plant, which has very strong climbing ability and can climb on the balcony resembling a green curtain. Hoya Carnosa also has big balls of flowers, making it a really beautiful potted plant.
Hoya Carnosa grows in spring, summer and fall. So as long as the Hoya Carnosa care is properly carried out during these three seasons, it will grow very fast and well. Here are Hoya Carnosa basic info, how to grow and care for Hoya Carnosa, propagation and varieties with picture.

Hoya Carnosa Quick Info

Botanical Name	Hoya Carnosa
Common Name(s)	Porcelainflower, Porcelain Flower, Wax Plant, Honey Plant
Growth Rate	Rapid
Flower Color	Pink, White
Flower Bloom Time	Spring, Summer
Origin	Eastern Asia
Light Care	Bright Indirect light.
Soil Care	Well draining Soil/Mix
Temperture Care	Ideal temperatures 16°C - 21°C; Not lower than 5 °C
Humidty Care	Medium to high humidity is ideal.
Watering	Water before soil drying
Pests & Diseases	Diseases may happen: Anthracnose; Bacterial Soft Rot; Leaf Spot Disease; Powdery Mildew Pests may happen: Scale Insect; Aphid
Fertilizer Care	Diluted well balanced organic fertilizer once every 2 weeks. Decreace in winter
Propagation	Stem cuttings propagation in spring
Repotting	Repot once Hoya Carnosa has reached capacity in current container

Hoya Carnosa Care Tips

Hoya Carnosa Soil Care

Hoya Carnosa (Wax Plant) has a larger and more developed root system because it is a vine plant. Hoya Carnosa's vines can grow very long, so make sure you give them with loose, fertile, breathable soil. Use leaf mould with some granular soil with large particles of river sand and permeable coal slag, so that the soil is porous and permeable, which is best for caring of Hoya Carnosa.

Hoya Carnosa Watering

The soil in Hoya Carnosa basin should always be kept moist when taking care of Hoya Carnosa, but water should not be accumulated or excessive in the basin, so as to avoid Hoya Carnosa root rot. However, excessively dry environment will cause the luster loss of Hoya Carnosa leaves, which will affect the aesthetic feeling of leaves, and then affect the formation of flower buds. The hoya carnosa flower will unable to bloom or only bloom for shortened hours. Therefore, in summer and autumn, the weather is high temperature and dry, watering Hoya Carnosa should be sufficient. At the same time, we should pay attention to increase air humidity, often spray fog water on the leaf, cool down and moisturize, increase the humidity of the leaf and the surrounding environment to facilitate Hoya Carnosa growth. In autumn and winter, the growth of Hoya Carnosa is slow, to care Hoya Carnosa better, the water consumption of stems and leaves is less, the basin soil should be slightly dry, watering times can be reduced to 1 time every 2 weeks.

Hoya Carnosa Fertilizer Care

Hoya Carnosa is suitable for the humus soil with lasting fertilizer effect and good drainage. Due to the addition of appropriate compound fertilizer as the base fertilizer in the basin, the amount of fertilizer when caring of Hoya Carnosa is usually less, and the thin fertilizer water combined with nitrogen and phosphorus is applied 1~2 times a month in the growing season. The fertilizer water is better thin than thick. In the Hoya Carnosa growth period, it can be applied every 15~20 days 1 time decomposed organic fertilizer liquid. In Autumn the weather gradually get cool, gradually reduce the amount of watering and fertilizer when caring for Hoya Carnosa.

Hoya Carnosa Lighting Requirements

Hoya Carnosa likes astigmatism and semi-cloudy environment, avoiding direct sunlight. In summer, Hoya Carnosa needs to be moved to a shady place to prevent strong light from directly burning the leaves, causing the leaves to turn yellow. In serious cases, the leaves will fall off, affecting the ornamental effect. If Hoya Carnosa is kept in a dark place for a long time, the leaves will become pale and the flowers will be few and not bright.

Hoya Carnosa Temperature & Humidity Care

Hoya Carnosa is not hardy to cold and grows well under high temperature conditions with an optimum temperature of 15-28 ℃. In winter the temperature should remain above 10℃ for taking care of Hoya Carnosa. If the temperature is lower than 5℃, Hoya Carnosa is susceptible to cold damage, causing defoliation and even death of the whole plant.
Hoya Carnosa prefers high air humidity, so it is better to spray leaves and vines with water during the dry season.

Hoya Carnosa Pruning

Hoya Carnosa is pruned differently from other plants. Although it is a vine plant, it is pruned by thing out leaves for better caring of Hoya Carnosa. If the Hoya carnosa plant grows too vigorously, resulting in too dense branches and leaves, it should be properly thinned part of the Hoya Carnos branches, or remove too dense leaves, in order to improve the ventilation and light conditions, so that the plant growth is more robust, more conducive to flowering. Usually, Hoya Carnosa's old shoots bloom. After flowering, the flowers and pedicels drop off, leaving inflorescences and pedicels. After a period of time, the hoya carnosa flowers continue to bloom until mid-October. If the inflorescences and peels are cut, flowering will be affected.

Flowering Care

After summer, apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to Hoya Carnosa (Wax Plant), and apply some liquid fertilizer containing slightly more phosphorus before the pregnancy bud blossoms, such as 0.1% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution to promote the flower blooming. Hoya Carnosa needs three to four hours of sunlight a day to bloom. For Hoya Carnosa plants that already have buds and flowers in bloom, do not move the pot. Otherwise, the buds and flowers will fall off. When Hoya Carnosa flower bloom, 3~4 inflorescence racemose, umbels, each group of flowers can continue to bloom for more than 10 days. after wilting, flowers and pedicels will drop off, leaving the racemose and racemose, which will continue to smoke flowers after a period of time. Hoya Carnosa flowers can continue to bloom until mid-October.

Hoya Carnosa - Most Common House Plant

Hoya Carnosa Disease & Pest control

Hoya Carnosa sometimes suffers from leaf spot and powdery mildew hazards.

Hoya Carnosa Anthracnose

Hoya Carnosa anthracnose is usually infected through a wound and appears as black spots on the leaves. At the beginning, there were several pale yellow, dark brown or light gray cells on the leaf surface, and sometimes they clustered into several black bands. When the disease spots expanded, the surrounding tissues turned yellow or gray green and sank, which could lead to the death of the whole Hoya Carnosa plant.
Prevention & Care Treatment: Plant Hoya Carnosa not too dense, maintain good light ventilation, watering should be from the edge of the basin. If there are disease leaves, sick leaves should be timely cut off, and avoid sunburn, cold injury, fertilizer injury, drug injury, reducing the occurrence of anthrax.

Hoya Carnosa Soft Rot

Hoya Carnosa is prone to soft rot in high temperature and high humidity. It is easy to occur in rainy season in early summer and less in winter. In the early stage, the leaf surface and petiole appeared water-soaked spots, and then withered and drooped, losing ornamental value. Generally, it is the whole plant of Hoya Carnosa. The leaves are small dark green water-soaked spots, which rapidly expand into yellowish brown soft rot, with brown water droplets oozing out and special odor.
Prevention & Care Treatment: Once the Hoya Carnosa plant is infected, the diseased leaves should be cut off in time, and the wound should be coated with M-45 cornstarch to prevent re-infection. Agricultural streptomycin 5000 times or methyl polythiophos 100 1000 times spray control.

Scale Insects

Scale insects often parasitized on the leaf sheath and stem, especially in the dark areas such as the back of leaf sheath and so on. They penetrate into the stomata of Hoya Carnosa plant with stinging mouthparts to absorb nutrients, which greatly affected the growth of Hoya Carnosa, resulting in gradual decline and yelosis of seedlings, and susceptible to infection and death. In summer, high temperature and much rain, poor ventilation or insufficient sunlight can easily cause scale insect damage.
Prevention & Care Treatment: pay attention to ventilation, early detection of insect body, a small amount of hair brush to remove insect body, and then rinse with water. When insect pests occur in large areas of Hoya Carnosa plant, use chemical control methods.

Aphids

There are many kinds of aphids, which are small, soft and common insects. They often gather at the tender stems of Hoya Carnosa branches and leaves to absorb nutrients, which makes the growth of the victim plants stop and the leaves turn yellow. Its secretions often lead to the parasitism of various molds, especially to the occurrence of coal smudges.
Control method: Hoya Carnosa leaves can be washed with water or soapy water, or the affected parts can be removed. Chemical control can be used deltamethrin 1000~1500 times, 40% dimethoate oxide 2000 times or trichlorfon 1000 times liquid spraying prevention and control, every 5~7d1 times, continuous spraying 3 times, has a good control effect.

Hoya Carnosa Propagation

Hoya Carnosa (Wax Plant) is commonly propagated by cuttings and layering.

Hoya Carnosa Cuttings Propagation

At the end of summer take half Hoya Carnosa mature branches or take the top branches after flowering, 8 ~ 10 cm long, cuttings must take stem section, cleaning scissors emulsion, dry after the insertion of sand bed. Hoya Carnosa rooted at room temperature of 20-25 ℃ after 20-30 days.

Hoya Carnosa Layering Propagation

At the end of spring and the beginning of summer fill the stem and vine in the stem internode at a little bit of injury, water moss in the wound package, wrapped with external film, tie tight, to be rooted after Hoya Carnosa cutting potted, potted Hoya Carnosa can also be placed on the bed surface, the internode after the injury buried in the soil, rooting after cutting off the basin.

Hoya Carnosa Propagation Tips

Hoya Carnosa hanging pot should be 15-20 cm pot, each pot seedlings 3 to 5. Potted Hoya Carnosa plants use a mixture of leaf mould soil, garden soil and coarse sand with a small amount of bone meal. Hoya Carnosa plant grows more than 20℃ temperature and high air humidity in its growing period, and 3-5 hours of sunshine every day, which is conducive to the growth and flowering of fleshy leaves. Water Hoya Carnosa adequately, keep basin soil moist, avoid using calcium water. During Hoya Carnosa's growing period, fertilize once every two months. More potash is better. Spray water twice a week in summer, avoid inflorescence spray. Do not move the Hoya Carnosa plant after tinflorescences appear. The pot soil is kept slightly moist during winter dormancy. (Find more best indoor hanging plants here.)

Substrate Preparation

Hoya Carnosa likes fertile, breathable and well-drained soil, and does not like sticky basin soil, so the soil material should have good air permeability and drainage. Loose and fertile slightly acidic sapropelic soil is the best pot culture substrate. Peat soil, sand and vermiculite can be prepared as pot culture soil, and appropriate amount of superphosphate can be added as the base fertilizer, or 7 parts of sapropelic soil can be mixed with 3 parts of coarse sand as the substrate. Hoya Carnosa needs a small amount of fertilizer in the growth process, and appropriate amount of compound fertilizer can be added as the base fertilizer in the basin. The rich soil can make the root system developed, which is favorable for the growth of Hoya Carnosa.

Hoya Carnosa Care FAQs

Why Hoya Carnosa Flower Doesn't Bloom

Hoya Carnosa fail to bloom may due to lack of light. Hoya Carnosa only gets enough light to accumulate nutrients and encourage flowering. The fail of Hoya Carnosa blooming may also be caused by improper water and fertilizer. It is necessary to adjust the frequency of watering and fertilization in time, and add phosphate and potassium fertilizer before Carnosa fail flowering. In addition, if Hoya Carnosa does not flower, it may be due to improper pruning. It is necessary to cut off the over-dense branches and leaves in time to promote better ventilation, light and vigorous growth before flowering.
The Hoya Carnosa needs to have a temperature difference in order to accumulate enough nutrients to make it bloom faster. Conversely, if there is no change in the temperature of the environment provided, it will also affect flowering.

Can Hoya Carnosa Grow on the Balcony

Hoya Carnosa can grow on the balcony. Although it likes semi-shaded growing environment, it needs sunlight to satisfy the growth of Hoya Carnosa. Proper exposure to light can make Hoya Carnosa plants stronger and flower well. It does not like direct light.The light is too strong and the temperature is relatively high in summer, which may sunburn the leaves, so you need to put Hoya Carnosa plant in shade for better care. The water amount should be changed according to different seasons and do not water too much. Hoya Carnosa can be fertilized every 15 days during its growing period, and fertilization was stopped in winter. The appropriate temperature for hoya carnosa care is about 20~25℃. Spray water to cool down in summer and keep warm in winter.

Why Hoya Carnosa Leaves Turn Yellow

The yellow leaves of Hoya Carnosa are mostly caused by three reasons. One is that the sun is too strong. Hoya Carnosa will get sunburned if exposed to strong light for a long time, especially in summer. Second, improper watering. Water too much or water shortage will cause Hoya Carnosa yellow leaves. If water too much, then reduce the amount of water with more ventilation loose soil for Hoya Carnosa care. Water shortage then water as soon as possible, let the soil moist. Third, improper fertilization of Hoya Carnosa. Application of too much thick fertilizer will burn roots and cause yellow leaves. Then irrigate with clear water and let the fertilizer drain away.

Hoya Carnosa Root Rot

Hoya Carnosa root rot can be caused by a variety of reasons: if the soil is tight and impervious to air, loosen the soil appropriately or replace it with soil with good air permeability. If excessive watering, keep the soil half dry and half wet and do not overwater. If it is caused by excessive fertilization, change the pot or increase the amount of water to let the excess fertilizer flow out.