My Favorite Houseplant Variety: Hoya

This week, I'm away from home in NYC so I'm having a little break from gardening. Instead, I wanted to do a blog feature of my favorite houseplant variety: HOYAS! You'll see plenty of articles out there about the "easiest" houseplants, and somehow hoyas never make the list. Succulents? Jade plants? Spider plants? Aloe? All on the "easy" list but not always so easy in my experience. But hoyas? They just live and thrive and occasionally flower, they rarely have to be repotted, they have such touchable leaves, and they make houseplant ownership feel so beautifully simple and rewarding. Just give them lots of light, a chunky soil mix, a watering weekly or biweekly, and they'll grow and grow and turn your house into a little jungle paradise. 

There are over 500 varieties of hoya; they're like Pokemon and you've gotta catch 'em all! Currently, I have 23 different varieties, and I also have some duplicates that I propagated from the mother plants I already have in my collection. They tend to be very easy to propagate and share, which I love.

There are some hoya varieties that are a bit trickier to keep healthy because they need high humidity, but all of the varieties I have do well in the normal humidity in our home. I've included their scientific names beneath each picture below; most also have a common name that you may have heard before, but the scientific name makes it easier to look up a specific variety if one strikes your fancy. 

Hoya Heuschkeliana Variegata

Hoya Curtisii (propagated from mother plant)

Hoya Krohniana Silver
Hoya Mathilde

Hoya Heuschkeliana Variegata (propagated from mother plant) 

Hoya Polyneura

Hoya Coronaria

Close-up of Hoya Caronaria leaves (they're very fuzzy and fun to touch)

Left to right: Hoya Australis, Hoya Kerrii, Hoya Macrophylla Variegata, Scindapsus Pictus, Peperomia Prostrata, Hoya Linearis

Hoya Linearis

Hoya Linearis cont.(another hoya with fuzzy, touchable leaves)

Hoya Linearis bloom (it smells a little citrusy)

Hoya Macrophylla Variegata

Hoya Kerrii

Hoya Kerrii cont. 

Hoya Australis

Hoya Obovata

Hoya Carnosa

Hoya Carnosa Krimson Queen

Hoya Wayetii (propagated from mother plant)

Hoya Wayetii (mother plant)

Hoya Pachyclada

Hoya Hat Som Paen

Hoya Hat Som Paen cont.

From left to right: Aeschynanthus Radicans, Hoya Carnosa Chelsea, Hoya Pubicalyx, Hoya Callistophyla, Columnea Hirta

Hoya Callistophyla

Hoya Carnosa Chelsea

Hoya Pubicalyx Splash

Close-up of Hoya Pubicalyx Splash leaves

Hoya Wayettii Variegata

Hoya Carnosa Krimson Princess

Hoya Curtisii (mother plant)

From left to right: Hoya Australis Lisa, Hoya Gracilis, Hoya Curtisii, Hoya Carnosa Crimson Princess, Hoya Wayetii Variegata

Hoya Gracilis

Hoya Australis Lisa

Hoya Wayettii Variegata

Close-up of Hoya Carnosa Crimson Princess 

Close-up of Hoya Curtisii leaves

I've ordered hoyas online on Etsy, purchased them through trusted sellers on Facebook marketplace, and have also found some at local nurseries in Jacksonville (Ace Hardware in Neptune Beach and Plant Ranch Nursery are my favorite nurseries to look for them locally). I fertilize them, along with all of my other houseplants, with Liqui-dirt during every watering because it stretches a long way once diluted and is very cost-effective. For their soil mix, I usually mix my own with 1 part perlite, 1 part orchid bark, and 2 parts Happy Frog or Fox Farm potting soil, but I also have quite a few hoyas that are still living in their original soil from the nursery. Their roots are slow-growing and they like to be tight in their pot so they can go a long time without repotting. I've had the most luck with my hoyas in plastic pots with good drainage but I do have a couple in terracotta that also do well.  

A word of caution: Some hoya varieties, like Hoya Pubicalyx, want to take over your home and will climb and grab onto things with their vining tendrils. It can take a bit more work to keep the climbing varieties under control, but I like the wild look so I don't mind it. Some more well-behaved, tame varieties that will stay where they're put are Hoya Australis/Lisa, Linearis, Khroniana, Heuschkeliana, Wayetii, Curtisii, Gracilis, Polyneura, and Pachyclada.

Some hoya flowers are also not the most pleasantly scented and they can get a bit messy and sticky, so some growers choose to cut the blooms off. I personally love the scents of each variety that has bloomed for me, but cutting off the blooms is always an option if it becomes a nuisance. The best beginner varieties I've found that are virtually indestructible are Hoya Carnosa species and Hoya Pubicalyx.

Let me know if you have any favorite hoya varieties or if you might try your first hoya sometime soon!