Hi Friends, I'm new here.
I ordered a baby hoya pubicalyx Royal Hawaiian Purple plant and am hoping it arrives healthy with decent roots and a few good leaves. It may come 'potted' in a plastic cup, and is basically a rooted cutting I guess. It's my very first hoya.

I would like to start it out in a small indoor hanging pot (with drainage hole of course) in a window. I know not to put it in too large a pot. I'm good about watching the moisture levels and watering only when needed, then draining off excess. I will be mixing a high drainage chunky soil with maybe equal parts potting soil or cactus mix, perlite, and orchid bark mix. I know these plants can get large with lots of tendrils that reach out, I'm fine with that.

My question right now is about light and location- I have a choice of two windows that I would hang it in directly in front of (no curtains in either). One window faces northwest- gets fairly bright light all day but never sun. The other window faces southeast- gets 3 or so hours of morning sun and the rest of day just bright light.
Which exposure would be better for this plant?
I sort of was hoping for putting it at the northwest window when i ordered the plant, having read that hoyas are ok with just bright light, but now I'm not so sure, i keep reading different things. Needless to say, it's always easier finding plants for a southeast window.
Advice? Could the northwest window be a good spot where it can be happy? Thanks!

Hi Omie, to the site!

I find Hoya pubicalyx to be one of the easiest to grow and your Wax Plant (Hoya pubicalyx 'Royal Hawaiian Purple') should do fine in either location. Bright light throughout the day without being subjected to direct sun is perfect!

Thank you! Do you think it will still get those wonderful new leaves that start out as dark purple, even with no sun at all only bright northern light? I love that characteristic about it!

Ok so I just ordered one other hoya for another hanging basket in one of those windows. Hoya Retusa.
I will have two - the Pubicalyx Royal Hawaiian Purple, and the Retusa.
---Can you advise me which might prefer the (no-sun) northwest window, and which to put in the (morning-sun) southeast window? Both windows get decent light with no curtains.

I'm excited!

Let me try again...
I will have two hoyas- the Pubicalyx Royal Hawaiian Purple, and the Retusa.
---Can you advise me which might prefer the (no-sun) northwest window, and which might be better to put in the (morning-sun) southeast window? Both windows get decent light with no curtains, but the southeast window gets the couple hours of morning sun. Which would benefit from the morning sun more?

(totally new hoya owner here)

Hi Omie, to Hoya land

Right now, I would put both in the shadiest window and not repot. Let them settle into their new environment and work on growing more roots.

Hoya don't need a lot of extra room around their roots, if these are rooted cuttings in small pots, that's all they need for now. Hoya are epiphytic so fast draining fast drying potting medium is what they need.

I have a Hoya pubicalyx in a north facing window in cactus soil and perlite. But it only is watered every 10 days to 2 weeks. The rest are in Leca and sponge rock, cork, cactus soil, leca and sponge rock... and are watered accordingly. Leca/sponge rock and cork almost daily in summer (every 4 - 5 days in winter). Cactus soil mixes, every 4 - 5 days.

H. Pubicalyx, is still in a 6 inch pot and has not been repotted completely in about 40 years (its 60 years old).

DaisyI, thank you so much for this!
My two hoya are coming from two diff sellers on etsy. The retusa is described as a rooted plant in a 4" pot (photos look like 2 or 3 sprigs), and the pubicalyx will have only 2-5 leaves, with roots, ...could be 'potted' just in a plastic cup with spagnum. So, these are both baby plantlets.
I think you are right in implying that neither will probably need a hanging pot just yet. I've been daydreaming about them being big I guess. ;)

I have a whole bunch of various clay 3 and 4" pots (with drainage holes) and may use those if it seems needed.
This month I have an ongoing project of repotting a few of my larger 14 yr old houseplants and cacti, so I have on hand fresh bags of orchid mix, cactus mix, perlite, orchid bark, and reg potting soil. If I pot either of these baby hoya, I'll choose a SMALL terracotta pot to start and use cacti mix with added bark and perlite. Thank you, I'm understanding that hoya like to be 'hugged' in small pots. That photo of your hoya in the same pot for 40 years is ~very~ effective in educating me!
I will let these two babies settle in undisturbed so they can recover from their shipping. (unless maybe one comes in spagnum with no pot at all)

For their two little 'juvenile stage' 4" pots, I'll have plenty of available spots on tables in front of bright light windows while avoiding all sun. I won't worry about hanging baskets until they get substantially bigger.

Well my two first hoyas arrived from their two diff Etsy sellers, and both seem fine and healthy. I was lucky with the weather, but I also purposely chose sellers that were on the east coast so they wouldn't take too many days coming to me in NY. Both took about 48 hours via USPS and were well packaged.

I wound up having to pot both of them. The pubicalyx royal Hawaiian purple was bare root in a bit of barely damp spagnum, and the retusa was in a plastic pot in what looked to me to be regular potting soil.
So I had the good orchid mix which I mixed with some additional 1/2" bark chips and some perlite ...figured it might be a good thing to just get it done. The smallest clay pots I had were 5" but 4" tall, so not tall. I used those, and they have bottom holes.
The pots don't seem overly big because the two plantlets are a decent size for rooted cuttings:

The retusa is a bunch of rooted strands in a loose clump (I did not try to separate the roots) and the leaves reach out in all directions about an inch beyond the 5" pot edges- it's about the diameter of my hand if i spread it out. Some leaves are lighter or darker green, but no dead leaves (so far).
The pubicalyx is a strong healthy single stem cutting with some roots- it has 4-5 nodes and ten large mature green leaves. No new growth buds or tips yet. A small amount of 'splash' on the leaves. The stem measures between 9-10" long beyond where it's planted in the soil.

I gave the newly potted babies a good lukewarm watering since the soil mix was dry. Made sure they totally drained. I'll now leave them alone in the window with a touch of morning sun only. They get slightly shaded by other plants nearby. I won't rewater until the top of soil is starting to get dry.

I also got a baby plant of string of turtles that is absolutely adorable... but that's not hoya related. ;D