Sweetheart Hoya
Hoya kerrii
Through the year 🗓️
🍂 Fall now
Stretch the gaps between waterings and give the last feed of the year.
❄️ Winter
Water sparingly, keep it above 55 °F, and give it as much light as you can.
🌱 Spring
Growth picks up: resume monthly feeding, and repot only if the roots are circling badly.
☀️ Summer
Water when nearly dry and give it bright light so it sets flower spurs.
The details
Light & placement
- Light
- Bright indirect with some gentle direct sun; more light, more flowers
- Ideal PPFD
- 150–400 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹
- Grow-light distance
- 12–18 in below LED
Water & feed
- Watering method
- Let the mix dry out almost completely, then water thoroughly. The thick heart-shaped leaves store water, and they soften and pucker slightly when it's time.
- Fertilizer
- Balanced feed at ½ strength monthly in spring–summer.
Home & habit
- Soil
- Chunky, airy mix: orchid bark, perlite and potting soil in equal parts; pH 6.0–7.0
- Humidity
- Average (40–60%)
- Temperature
- 60–85 °F; keep above 55 °F
- Mature size
- Vines 4–13 ft over many years
- Repotting
- Every 2–3 yrs; it flowers better a little root-bound
- Propagation
- Stem cuttings with at least one node and a leaf root easily in water or moss. A single leaf with no node will root but never grow.
When something looks wrong
- Overwatering signs
- Yellow, soft leaves; black, mushy stems
- Underwatering signs
- Wrinkled, deflated leaves that bend instead of feeling firm
- Common pests
- Mealybugs, aphids, spider mites
Common problems 🩺
The usual suspects when Sweetheart Hoya looks unhappy. Most houseplant trouble is watering or light, not disease — see all plant problems if you are not sure which plant is the culprit.
A big vine that never flowers
Likely cause
Too little light, or the old flower spurs were cut off.
What to do
Move it to brighter light with some gentle sun, and leave the spurs on the vine.
Wrinkled, soft leaves
Likely cause
Thirst: the leaves have used up their stored water.
What to do
Water thoroughly. They firm up again within a day or two.
Yellow, mushy leaves and a black stem
Likely cause
Overwatering in a dense mix.
What to do
Cut away soft tissue, repot in a chunky bark mix, and let it dry almost completely between waterings.
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