How to Encourage Your Hoya Kerrii to Bloom: 13 Pro Tips

If you’re looking for a beginner-friendly houseplant with romantic, heart-shaped leaves and delicate blooms, look no further than the hoya kerrii. This succulent may be famous for its Valentine’s Day-inspiring leaves. However, wait a few years, and you’ll enjoy fragrant flower peduncles that resemble waxy stars with adorable red centers. 

Similar to many orchid species, it’s epiphytic, growing on trees in its native range of Southeast Asia. As a houseplant, it thrives in bright, indirect light and airy, well-drained soil that’s slightly acidic. 

Use the Right Soil

For your tropical succulent to form its adorable toy-like blooms, you’ll need to grow it in well-drained and aerated soil. Standard potting soil can lead to waterlogging, which can cause severe diseases in its roots. This long-living flower is susceptible to root rot, which will destroy your chances of healthy blooms. 

Start with a soil mixture that uses orchid bark. Add perlite, peat moss, or vermiculite to increase drainage. Cactus mix and other succulent mixes also work. With the right soil that won’t become waterlogged, it will produce epic little flower peduncles once it matures. 

Keep Your Plant Root Bound

For some plants, being root-bound means stunted growth and health issues. For hoya kerrii, it’s a good thing for producing blooms. When your plant’s roots reach the end of the container and start to bunch up, it signals that it’s time for reproducing. 

This stress response is one of the best ways to get your plant to bloom. The plant sends energy for growing new foliage and roots into flowering. 

For this to be successful, you’ll need to make sure it doesn’t become too rootbound. You’ll likely get one or two blooms from this method. After three to four years of living root-bound in the same pot, it’s time to repot your succulent into something a little larger. 

Provide Plenty of Light

Bright light is one of the most important factors for stunning blooms. This plant grows on trees on the understory of broadleaf canopies. Light is consistent but filtered. With consistent light, your houseplant will generate enough energy through photosynthesis to create vibrant blooms. 

The best place to grow your succulent flower is near a window with trees filtering the sunlight outside. Having brief moments of direct light is a plus. If it gets too little sun, it may stunt its growth. 

If there’s too much light coming in, you can always hang a cloth with holes in it or other barriers. Sheer curtains or even hanging plants can do the trick. Don’t be afraid of moving it to new locations with more ideal sunlight. 

Keep Up with Watering

Unlike the stress caused by becoming root-bound, exposing your plant to dry spells will not encourage blooming. It will severely harm it. Like any tropical plant, keeping a consistent watering schedule is a good thing. 

Although consistency is key, you don’t have to water too much. This tropical genus is a succulent. It stores water in its leaves to survive droughts and seasons with low rainfall. 

The best way to see if you’re watering it enough is by touching its leaves. Thick leaves mean it’s getting plenty of water while thin leaves signify a thirsty plant. In the winter, it goes dormant and you’ll have to water less. But in spring and summer, give it a good soaking once every two weeks. 

Keep It Warm and Humid

Your succulent’s native home of tropical Southeast Asia is a balmy place. Recreating this stuffy environment indoors will take some extra vigilance with the thermostat. Keep the air temperature between 60 to 85°F (16-29°C). 

If you notice temperature extremes, try to stop them immediately. Heating vents, doors, or anywhere with sudden cool breezes can cause problems. If you need air conditioning, make sure you keep it on a low setting and away from your plant. 

Humidity is less of an issue. Ideally, your room’s humidity should be close to 40%. This should be easy in most environments. If you live in dry places such as Arizona or California, try using a humidifier or placing a bowl of water near your plant. 

Feed it Once a Month

Like other succulents, you won’t have to worry about feeding your hoya kerrii very much, particularly before blooming. In its native environment, it gets nutrients from its host and environment, not the soil. All it needs is fertilizing once a month in spring and summer. 

Choose an all-purpose liquid fertilizer. Dilute it with clean water to around half-strength. Use a fertilizer with a balanced nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium ratio of 4-4-4 or 10-10-10. As always, try not to get any fertilizer on the plant itself. 

If you live in a place without regular sunlight and cold temperatures, you can try growing your hoya kerrii hydroponically. Although it’s not ideal, you can still get it to flower if you fertilize it correctly. 

Avoid Changing its Environment

Once you see the flower buds develop, try not to move it. Agitating the plant could cause the delicate flowers to drop off. 

Another form of stress that could slow or damage flower growth is a sudden change in environment. It’s critical to control your indoor temperature. Any temperature swings could disrupt the flowers from forming, making them weak and brittle. 

Besides temperature extremes, your plant may be extra sensitive to changes in light and even humidity levels. If you can keep environmental changes to a minimum, it should enjoy healthy blooms for a long time. 

Prune Consistently

Pruning is a helpful method for encouraging vibrant blooms. When you cut off damaged or old growth, you’re encouraging new growth to form. It also helps redirect energy to blooming rather than its leaves, branches, and roots. 

Prune diseased leaves or discolored branches. Cut off any sparse, leggy growth. This growth is less productive for developing flowers. Carefully prune your plant until only the thickest, healthiest-looking branches are remaining. As you prune, leave the peduncles (or the base of the spent blooms) alone, as this is where they’ll develop new flowers.

As always, use disinfected pruners or sheers to do the job. This way, your plant will heal quickly and won’t succumb to diseases. Keep in mind that although pruning is good for radiant blooms, it may prolong its bloom times. 

Keep Air Circulating

One of the biggest threats to healthy blooms is disease. Keeping a consistent airflow moving between its leaves and branches is a great way to prevent fungus from forming.

When moisture builds up between the foliage and soil, fungi and molds can form. One of the biggest threats is root rot. This occurs when the roots become soggy and various fungal infections form. 

To prevent root rot and other diseases, try to encourage root-bound growth and don’t over water. Besides that, keeping air circulating prevents moisture buildup and helps dry the soil. 

Keep Pests Away

Most insects will avoid a mature hoya kerri plant. However, when it’s in bloom, it leaks a sweet nectar that’s hard for many pests to ignore. Once you see the flower peduncles form, you’ll have to monitor it closely. 

Look out for pests such as mealybugs and aphids. These tiny insects will form clusters around the undersides of leaves and flower stalks. You may even find them feeding on the sap flowing from the flowers.

Your best way of ridding your succulent of these viscous creatures is by rinsing it with water and adding neem oil. This solution repulses pests while not poisoning your plant like synthetic insecticides can. Follow up again in a week until the pests are gone. 

Stay Consistent and Patient

Consistent care is important for getting those candy-like blooms to appear. Maintain a routine watering and fertilizing schedule. Also, stay on top of monitoring light and temperature. 

Try not to make any changes in your routine. These changes could shock your plant and prevent its delicate blooms from forming. 

Most of all, be patient. This tropical succulent has lived a long time. You may not see blooms until it matures after two or three years. If it hasn’t bloomed by its third or fourth year, it probably means it’s not getting enough light.