Waiting for My Hoya To Bloom – When Does A Hoya Bloom?

 The wait is long. Excruciatingly long. The blooms are supposed to be so beautiful, I am very impatient to see it. But when does a hoya bloom? When can I expect to see those waxy porcelain flowers that I see in all the gardening books and websites? My daughter and I have had hoya plants for a number of years, but only once, long long ago, did I ever have a bloom to reward me.

Losing the tag long ago, I can only assume the true variety of my Hoya carnosa. I think it is the Hoya carnosa variegata ‘Tricolor’ since it does have variegated leaves and new growth is sometimes pinkish.  But that suits the description of the “Krimsom Queen” too. So who knows?

Special Care for Hoya To Bloom?

My Hoya carnosa is in a morning sun window and gets a dose of bright light all day long. I feel like it has grown a lot and the vines are reaching all over the window, trying to find a place to climb. Mostly they are twisted around each other.

Water is given not too often and only after testing the soil with a moisture meter to make sure that is it dry. I don’t fertilize it in winter, but do fertilize beginning in the spring and continuing to late summer.  I have seen some resources that say to use a high-phosphorus fertilizer to stimulate blooming, so I may try that in the next fews weeks.

The Hoya plant is said to like tight roots or to grow pot-bound, and I believe that is the way this plant is growing. It has only been repotted once and that was about a year after living in its nursery container. I put it into a larger pot but the roots were so huge, it was still hard to get it in the new pot and get all the soil around.

Poking a moisture meter into the soil is difficult since it is such a thick-growing mat of leaves. I usually have to poke my finger through that mat to find a place that I can test the soil…or even find a spot for my watering pot!

I am certainly hoping that this year will be the year I can see blooms on my Hoya carnosa. Any advice is appreciated. Currently you can see it is inside as a houseplant, but last year I had it outside on a covered porch. It was part of my plant Jungle. It grew well out there and I may decide to move it out there again. It is hot outside here in Ohio all summer with mostly high humidity that I understand hoyas like. Perhaps a summering outdoors would do her good? What do you think?

How Long Before I Can Get This?