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I am a plant maniac. Yes, I know, the first step to recovery is admitting my addiction, even though it’s not one I want to recover from any time soon. And a heart shaped hoya plant is on my list to give my niece on Valentine’s day. She’s desperately wanted one of these for as long as I could remember and this year, she will get one. My hope is that it will quickly grow large enough for her to start me a slip. This way I won’t feel as guilty as I would if I had bought two.
She’s a plant lover, like I am. If we could each have our own personal greenhouse, we could die happy, I think. But unlike me, she doesn’t have the amount of light to grow things. In order for her to enjoy any plants in her home, they must have low light requirements. I’m sure plant growing must be in our blood. We have family in Florida with huge greenhouses that supply plants to Disney every year. What sheer heaven it must be to work with plants daily!
The sweetheart hoya was one I had never heard about until she told me. I’ve had hoya’s before, but not one shaped perfectly for valentines day. Honestly, cut flowers are great. They look beautiful and smell wonderful. But a living plant lasts longer and I get more enjoyment out of them. Don’t you?
When I went searching for one, I noticed that there were a few different kinds to choose from. Variegated and regular and those that you could start from seed. Some were only one leaf, others several. Some charged an exorbitant price in my opinion and others were more reasonable. Many more were sold in pots while some were sold bareroot. Following are my reasons for how you can choose the right plant for you depending on various factors.
How to Choose the Right Valentine’s Heart Hoya Wax Plant
Consider where the plant is being shipped from and the time of year……
When buying any plant online, I always consider two main factors first. Where the plant is shipping from and the weather. I have bought plants from over seas, but during the winter time there is the issue of cold in our state of Wyoming, and the long time in shipping from outside of the U.S. Not all sellers will guarantee a plant’s arrival safely and not all will use heat packs. Something to keep in mind, and look for, before purchasing your plant are import fees and duties if you order outside the continental U.S. (I have had boxes opened up, taped closed and mailed to me minus the plant. Be sure your seller has a certificate that allows plants to come across international borders.) Many overseas sellers will not tell you about them as they assume you may already know. Check with the seller and ask before you buy. If you have a time frame such as a birthday, the longer the distance the plant travels is the longer it takes to get to you on time.
Are you an experienced plant grower?
If you have more than a passing familiarity with plants, you already know the best place to grow them. You may already have growing lights in place in a window with great northern (western, eastern?) sun, a good supply of potting medium available and even a high quality fertilizer you prefer to use. If so, you are also probably very confident in buying seeds to start your plant. But if that takes too long for you, then choose a bareroot plant. However, if you are less experienced, an already well-rooted plant is the best choice.
Click Here for DIY Hoya Heart Vine Plant Seeds INFO
Do you have the right place and lighting requirements for growing plants?
Too often a plant lover’s zeal will have them buying and bringing home plants that they are not well equipped to grow. Most people, including myself at the very beginning, don’t realize the high light requirements that plants have. As an example, tomatoes can be grown indoors, but will need 16 hours of light. In the summer, this doesn’t necessarily mean the sun always shining on them, but the actual sun up to sun down time is counted. Indoors, good quality grow lights are essential. (subject for another post!)
Barring that, some of your plants requiring lower light levels will often do fine in an east, north or north east window. A southern window works great for things like small container tomatoes.
Final takeaway on the valentine’s heart leaf wax hoya plant is that it’s a darned fun plant to grow. It’s actually a fairly easy one to own and take care of for a new plant lover. It’s also relatively small and can be trimmed to stay that way making it perfect for small spaces and small apartments. And best of all, though it likes light, it will still thrive in lower light homes.
So enjoy the new addition to your family.
