Hoya Kerrii
Hoya kerrii
📖 About this plant
Famous as the ‘Sweetheart Plant’ for its thick, heart-shaped, succulent-like leaves that are often sold as individual rooted leaves in small pots. When grown from a full stem cutting, it develops into a vigorous trailing or climbing vine with clusters of porcelain-like, star-shaped flowers that are often fragrant. The flowers produce a sweet nectar. Extremely drought-tolerant and long-lived, thriving in bright, indirect light.
🧑🌾 Care requirements
Bright indirect (4-6 hrs)
Every 2-3 weeks
Moderate (40-60%)
18-28°C
Lightweight, well-draining potting mix with orchid bark, perlite, and peat; coarse, airy mix essential
Balanced liquid fertilizer (10-10-10) diluted to half strength every 4-6 weeks during growing season; avoid high-nitrogen fertilizers
🌐 Common Names
📋 Plant facts
- 🌍 Origin
- Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia
- 📏 Max height
- Trailing 1-3 m with support
- 📐 Spread
- 60-120 cm
- 🕰️ Bloom time
- Spring - Summer
- 🎨 Bloom color
- Pink, White, Star-shaped
- 🍃 Foliage color
- Bright Green, Heart-shaped
- ⏳ Lifespan
- Perennial
- 📈 Growth rate
- Slow
- ☠️ Toxicity
- Non-toxic to cats, dogs, and humans — completely safe for all households; sap may cause mild skin irritation in sensitive individuals
- 🌱 Propagation
- Stem cuttings (single-leaf cuttings may root but rarely produce new growth); need a node with stem tissue for viable plants
🛡️ Health & Safety
Non-toxic to cats, dogs, and humans — completely safe for all households; sap may cause mild skin irritation in sensitive individuals
Common issues
- Root rot from overwatering
- No growth or leaf drop from insufficient light
- Mealybugs
💡 Care tips
- Famous heart-shaped leaves make it a popular gift plant
- Single-leaf cuttings can survive for years but may not vine
- Allow soil to dry completely between waterings
- Produces clusters of star-shaped fragrant flowers when mature
