Question: My wax plant – Hoya carnosa does not bloom, no matter what plant fertilizer or where I move the plant, it just will not bloom, any advice? C Wood, NY
Answer #1: My wax plant, Hoya carnosa, is now five years old, having been started in water from a small three-inch cutting. It occupies a space in my greenhouse where the temperature runs 62 degrees nights and all. During the day, in the spring before the orchids are shaded, it gets full sun which burns the leaves of part of the plant, but it does not mind this one bit.
Hoya as I treat it is in a very small pot, being pot bound with roots running all over the bench. It started to bloom when it was three years old, now is about 15 feet long, and would get longer if I did not cut it back constantly. Blooms generally on my plant are made from the new growths, although in some cases it does throw a bloom or two from the older or back growth.
I feed it any fertilizer that comes into my hands, even dry cow manure water, and it seems to enjoy this immensely. Insects do not bother the plant, although mealy bug would enjoy living a “life of Riley” on it if they once got a good start. Feed your plant, keep it growing, and above all do not over pot; with good drainage you cannot overwater. M Leichtamer, Ohio
Answer #2: My plant is a year old; I started it from a slip. At present it has four runners eight feet long, tied to a trellis on the inside of an eastern window. By feeding, this plant has seven clusters of buds. All winter I feed, liquid cow manure water every two weeks.
In March I start to feed with a mixture, which is made as follows: Fill a container half full of dry cow manure, the rest of the way with water; let stand two weeks. Stir. To one pint of cow manure liquid add a pint of warm water in which a half teaspoon of superphosphate has been dissolved. Mix well and feed every two weeks, or until plants bud. This is my own feeding idea and it has given good results. E Anderson, Michigan
Answer #3: The wax plant does not bloom well until potbound, and it should have a period of rest in winter. I have a plant which had not bloomed for years, which was probably due to being in a large pot. Last winter I gave it but little water and toward spring I began to feed it once a week with a liquid fertilizer.
This spring it began to bloom and has put out 10 or more big clusters of flowers. The blooming continued well into July. The umbels appear on short stubby stems, and these should not be cut off, as they bloom again. E Nelson, Washington
Answer #4: Our experience is that the roots of wax plant, Hoya carnosa, must come out the bottom of the pot into the saucer of water below, before the plant will bloom. Usually this will occur about a year from time of starting slip. R Fisher, Iowa
