Hello!
Recently I received this Hoya vine cutting, and I'm not sure how to propagate/pot it. There are six leaves on it, I have a pic of my hand next to it for reference. Thank you in advance!

Hi PlantyofPlants,

For long Hoya stems like that I always use a shallow pot with lots of drainage holes, or if I don't have shallow pots on hand, I use a plastic saucer/catch tray and drill lots of drain holes in the bottom.

Hoyas require really good air circulation around their roots so I've always used the mix I learned about from a Hoya nursery grower years ago; a combination of a small amount of potting soil with lots of orchid bark or coconut husk chips added in. I fill the pot almost full and lay the stem atop the soil, coiling it around in a circle to fit inside the pot or tray. I then weigh the stem down in a couple of places with small rocks to keep it in contact with the soil. Roots will form at each node and eventually new stems and vines will emerge.

I'm sure others will be along with advice on how they propagate and grow their Hoyas. Please keep us updated on how your plant does for you!

Here's our database entry with information for your Hoya and member photos: Sweetheart Hoya (Hoya kerrii)

"I fill the pot almost full and lay the stem atop the soil, coiling it around in a circle to fit inside the pot or tray."

Thank you so much for the reply! The stem on my Hoya is quite thick and woody, and I'm afraid that if I try to coil/bend it, it will snap. Should I cut it in half? Try to train it slowly? Thank you!

New plants will form at the nodes, the juncture of the stem and leaves. I cut large Hoyas like this into sections, each containing a set of leaf nodes. Leave a little tail of stem on either side of the node to anchor the cutting into the potting medium. Make sure the nodes are under the soil.

I would cut your stem into 4 pieces.


Lin's potting soil is good. Give them lots of water - it may take months but they will root.

It's chancy to leave just 1 leaf on one node. I would cut in 2 sections instead (only 1 center cut above). They are very slow to grow. I have rooted a small vine with 2 or 3 leaves and it's just sitting for a year doing nothing , but I see roots are ok.
I hear it's normal.

skylark said:It's chancy to leave just 1 leaf on one node. I would cut in 2 sections instead (only 1 center cut above). They are very slow to grow. I have rooted a small vine with 2 or 3 leaves and it's just sitting for a year doing nothing , but I see roots are ok.
I hear it's normal.

Agreed, but I've done a few tests with pothos and marantas and scindaptus pictus and been pleasantly surprised.
Almost scared to to try it but one leaf and node worked fine for them. Before I'd always do 2 nodes, 2 leaves, and I'd snip the bottom one so it'd end up being a 2 node and 1 leaf cutting.

Never done Hoya before, so not speaking from experience with them.

Hoya kerii is much much slower compared to pothos, etc that you mentioned.
I have seen posts from people planting 1leaf and a lot of them give up after a year or so: it just sits there doing nothing and might wither.
Not that it can't be done .. but several leaves will get you there faster and surer.

A cutting doesn't photosynthesize until it grows roots. It lives off stored energy and moisture in the stems and leaves. In my mind, multiple leaves is just another burden for the cutting to support. Of course, it could also be argued that more leaves = more stored energy so gives the cutting a better chance. On the other hand, more leaves to support means more roots have to grow to support the more leaves. It could slow the process way down.

When rooting other types of cuttings, I leave two leaves but cut them in half to limit moisture loss until the cutting can grow roots.

Those single rooted leaves aren't supposed to grow a vine, just root and sit forever. If there is a little bit of node left on the petiole, sometimes eventually the leaf will grow a vine.

I should clarify that When I mentioned posts about 1 leaf sitting and doing nothing it was a leaf or two on the vine , not those funny hearts (just 1 rooted leaf no vine ) that root and never grow a vine (plenty of posts about them too)…and they never will unless there is a tiny leaf node with vine, just like Daisy said.
However, I rootinely root multi leaf cuttings and preserve most leaves by enclosing it in plastic tent a la terrarium.
I just rooted 2 crotons with a dozen huge leaves each and 3 huge branches of Dipladenia with18" branches at least.
So it depends on which plant we are talking about, of course, and how you root.
But I Never cut my leaves to just 2-3 at the top and they root perfectly fine and growth is much faster when you have a good amount of leaves right away.
The exception are woody shrubs with semi-hardwood stems: since those might take 2-3 months to root they say cut off the leaves. I don't do that either 😏: and they root , but drop some leaves eventually. But that's ok with me, I am still ahead of the game by having a decent looking small plant from the beginning.
But …Hoya kerii is what this thread is about, not other plants. And that is quite specific: it is a very slow grower when starting from a small cutting . It roots quite fast, that is not a problem , but the new vine will take a long time, so I think it is much better to have 3 leaves vs 1.

I doubt it matters how many or few leaves you start with but as I seem to be causing you stress I will sign off this discussion.

I've read that the longer the vine, the more difficult to root (not 100% sure on that), but my two cents is to make three vines, two leaves each.

DaisyI said:I doubt it matters how many or few leaves you start with but as I seem to be causing you stress I will sign off this discussion.

I think it's a great discussion, honestly.

We all have different experience levels, live in different environments, have different and similar approaches.

I think dialog like this is very helpful.

You might not make me change my mind with a given statement but it'll make me think about what I'm basing my opinions on and maybe open new ideas for both of us. Not you per se Daisyl, just saying.

You and skylark both posted good stuff about something that fascinates me, so thank you.