the perfect hoya for beginners and collectors alike 🌼 hoya polyneura journey, care, & in flower!

Hi and hello everybody, it's Fern. Welcome back to another Planty video. I get so excited when I get to sit down and film now because I'm just so grateful that I'm able to do so. I'm very happy to be here with you once again. So today, I thought that we would make a video completely dedicated to my Hoya Polyneura because it is my number one favorite Hoya of 2025. So I wanted to talk about her a little bit more, have this be a bit of a feature video, but also provide some care for her as well because she is due for a repot. So we're going to be doing that today. And I also need to pop her in the shower because I can see that she's quite dusty. And I have not treated for pests for a while on this one. I haven't seen any active pests, but I also wouldn't be surprised if they're there, you know? I am going to have to be gentle with her today though because she's actually in bloom, which is so exciting. I will attach some better photos for you to see. I'll try to get a little close-up action here. There we go. Oh my goodness, how cute are those? They look edible, like they look like little jelly candies. There's another one right here. I'm just obsessed with them. I love the maroon and yellow combo. They are so, so cool. Just another reason for me to absolutely love this plant. This is actually the first time she's flowered for me as well. So that was part of the reason that I was like, you know what? Let's sit down and feature her today. And I have multiple other flowers that are coming in also that aren't quite open yet. I believe that I got this Hoya Polyneura in 2019. That's my best guess. I'll try to find the exact. I might be able to go back on my channel and find the exact date, but I believe that it was 2019. And I ordered this from Crystal Star Nursery as a tiny little baby. This was in the peak of the houseplant boom. So you really had to be on top of things when you were trying to order something from a restock from one of these plant nurseries. And I remember Hoya Polyneura was one of those ones that was kind of hard to get. They would sell out right away. Same with Hoya Linearis. That was kind of the planty climate. So I was, of course, very excited to get my hands on this one because this was one of the plants that you would see posted on Instagram. And it just immediately became a wishlist plant as soon as I saw it. Of course, because of the flowing mermaid tail shaped leaves. Like it's just such a unique Hoya. And even after collecting so many Hoya now, if you haven't seen my whole Hoya collection video, I'll link that in the description. Oh my gosh, I don't want to damage any of these flowers. But even after collecting so many Hoya, I can honestly say that this one has stood the test of time. It is a classic for a reason. It's very hardy. I still find it to be very unique in a sea of so many other Hoya out there. Which is why I also have multiple varieties of this one as well. I have four different varieties of this one. I have the outer variegated, the inner variegated, and the silver one. So I'm a big, big fan. But this is, of course, just my solid green one. It's the one I've had the longest. It's the one that made me fall in love with Polyneura. And it's the biggest of all the ones that I currently have. And also the only one to have flowered for me. Something that I really love about the Polyneura is that I would consider it to be a low light Hoya. This plant does not get much, if any, direct light. It's pulled back from a south window. It gets bright, ambient, indirect light. But I intentionally keep it pulled back so that I can maintain this beautiful deep green foliage. If this was getting a lot of light, it would have a very bleached look. And I really prefer the deep green foliage. And since I do grow it in lower light, I was really unsure if it would ever flower for me. I thought that maybe I would have to sacrifice this beautiful foliage in order to get flowers. So I was just so excited to see flowers finally coming in for me this fall. So if your Polyneura doesn't have the deep green look that you want it to, consider giving it a little bit less light. This plant, obviously, grows very readily in those conditions. Oh my gosh, this leaf broke off and now it's sapping. The leaves are on the thinner side, but they're definitely not the thinnest of Hoya leaves. If that makes any sense. They're just kind of in between. They're not super stiff and cardboardy. Mine does tolerate drying out. It's probably bone dry right now. Oh, it's actually not. Oh my gosh, there's actually... This shows how well I pay attention to things sometimes. This is literally dripping with water. Okay. That's because I'm a lazy water and I don't always check the soil or the nursery pot before I just dump water in. Anyways, that's fine. She's very resilient. But a lot of the time this will be bone bone dry and she tolerates it fine. If she's left for days on end super bone dry, then you might see some of her leaves yellowing and dropping off. I had that happen in September when I just was not staying on top of my plants at all. I've definitely lost a few leaves, but not too bad, honestly. I find this to be such a resilient Hoya. I do like to stay pretty on top of fertilizing my Hoya because they are flowering plants. And also I want to... That's another thing that can contribute to keeping it this nice dark green color, keeping it well fed. My routine with that is I have a main fertilizer that I will use for my plants. Right now I'm using General Hydroponics Flora Series. And then I rotate between that, a complete fertilizer, I guess, and a kelp-based fertilizer. Right now I'm using Kelpie. I'll go back and forth between those with some plain waterings in between. I do really think that they enjoy the kelp fertilizer because that's really the only change that I've made over the past year for this plant. And this is the first time it's flowered for me, so that's pretty cool. And I've also seen a lot of my other Hoya flowering for me this year as well. So I'm definitely going to keep up with that routine. I don't even remember the last time that I potted this, which is why we're going to repot today. You'll see how root-bound it is, which it doesn't mind being root-bound. It's just that I often struggle with keeping up with the watering. That's why I'm wanting to repot it today. This mix looks like it was just soil, orchid bark, and perlite. Very simple, and it's done well in there. Today I am going to be potting it with some Molly's Aeroid Mix because I find that my Hoyas really enjoy that. And I'm not going to be going up too crazy in size, just like one pot size up. And I always like to repot with a clear pot so I can monitor the roots. And then I just use a cover pot to make it look nicer. I've had this potted in a variety of different things over the years, though, and it has never been fussy. So I wouldn't get too hung up on that. Just watch your watering habits based on what it's potted in. Obviously, if it's a denser mix, you're going to be watering less. And if you don't have it in a lot of light, that's also going to contribute to less watering also. And especially if you have it in lower light, that's also going to require less watering. I don't often have pest issues with this plant. However, it did get thrips in 2021, which was horrible. It was actually the first time I'd experienced a thrips outbreak in my collection. And it started with this plant. I ended up having to restart it from just a cutting. So this one has grown out from that cutting since 2021, and this is what it looks like today. That was quite bad. Thrips definitely can go for Hoya, especially something that's a little bit on the thinner side like this one. But I haven't had thrips on this one since then. I have had a little bit of mealybugs here and there, but never a big infestation. The beneficials that I had really took care of that. And yeah, it's not really a plant that I have a lot of pest concerns with. I don't have to worry about that too much. It's also a really established plant, so I feel like that helps. My larger, more established plants don't suffer from pests as much as my other ones that might be a little bit more small or not as well-nourished. Oh, an interesting observation that I've made about this Hoya in particular is that I find it kind of goes through growth spurts, and then it won't grow for a while. So it'll be kind of like dormant, no new growth, and then suddenly it'll be pushing out a bunch of new growth from multiple vines at once. So I have new leaves here, here, here, here, coming in on the end of this one. It's kind of funny, like they will all just kind of start giving new growth at once, and it's kind of cool to see. But yeah, so if yours hasn't grown for a while, don't worry. Because I find that mine always goes in that cycle. I've had no issues propagating this in the past. I think that I've done just water. I usually like to take a cutting with a couple sets of leaves and pop that into some water. I've also done perlite with this one, and it's rooted really easily. I don't really ever cut mine. I don't prune it back. I wouldn't be opposed to if I was noticing that one of the branches was getting sparse, then I would happily just cut it back. But I just haven't really needed to do that. I've been happy with the way that it looks. Okay, the sun is going crazy right now, I guess. All right, maybe we'll start with the repotting now that the lighting is going really wonky. Okay, it's going back behind a cloud. This is a little bit better here. So I'll show you what the pot is looking like. Okay, so you can see there's roots literally taking up this whole pot. So it's definitely time for her to be rehomed. And this is the size difference in the pots. So it's significant enough, but it's not crazy. So I'm going to go ahead and pop some of the Molly's Mix in here. I honestly thought that this was going to be bone dry today, and I was like, Oh, it'll be perfect to repot it when it's dried out. But it's like, sopping wet. My plants kind of get overwatered a lot, but honestly, nothing bad really happens. Not that nothing bad can happen, I'm sure that it will. And I actually have to keep a better eye now that we're going into the cooler season. Because when it's warm, overwatering isn't really a big deal. But once the house starts getting cold, especially at night, then that's not good. Okay, let's see if this will still just come out nicely for us. I'm going to give it a little squeeze. It's like solid. Oh my gosh. It's tricky because I really don't want to knock any of the flowers. So that's like my main concern right now. But I mean, if they get knocked off, I guess they get knocked off. I don't even know where to grab it. Please don't turn into a chaotic repotting. Please. Okay, here we go. I have a good grasp. Oh my gosh. It is so rooted. It's crazy. Oh no, there's too much in there. Okay, let's try this. That's better. Okay. I am going to need a stake because I can already tell this is going to be hard to block some of the sun. Does that help or does that make it worse? Okay, let's just fill it up here. Let me know if y'all have a Hoya pollinera or are you watching this video because it's on your wish list. Where are you at? Let me know. And let me know what your favorite variety is, if you have several. I know that there's that newer variety, the jasminca or something, I think it's called. And that one looks so cool. It looks like it has tiger stripes or something with the variegation. So that's a really neat newer one. Yeah, this Hoya has really been with me through some things. I've had this in one, two, three, four different houses. Which is kind of crazy. And I honestly think that I will always have this one. Like this is going to be an heirloom plant. For someone. My friend's kids. Speaking of heirloom Hoyas, my compacta, which has grown like mad this year, is currently in bloom also. So it feels so special to have two of my OG Hoya that have been with me for so many years in flower. Two of my favorites ever. So yeah, that has been really cool. Maybe I'll have to make a whole featured video on the compacta as well, because that one's quite crazy. Just with how long it is. Okay, I'm going to have to go get a stake because I can't get the soil down. Please don't fall, please don't fall. Oh my gosh, I cannot get any soil in on this side. It's so tight. Should I put it in an even bigger pot? I feel like it might need a bigger upgrade. Because I can barely fit any soil in. Okay, here's what I've found. This one looks huge, but I think it's the only size up that I have from this one. It looks really big, but I mean, I guess I don't plan on touching this for years. So maybe I want it to be a bit roomy. And then I also have this one, which looks like it's the correct width and it's not too tall. So this might be the best option, but I would definitely need to find a cover pot because this is just like an old janky hanging basket pot. And it's not see-through. That's another drawback from this one. But otherwise, it looks good. I mean, it's even wider than this one. This is just tall. I am really unsure. Maybe I will go with this one. And then just be careful with watering. More careful than I have been being. I don't know. I'm hesitant because I don't think that I have a cover pot for this right now either. Oh, I don't know. I don't know. But this, do I even have a cover pot for this? I don't think so. I have this. It actually fits. The lip catches so that it just rests in there. Okay, fine. I will do this one. And hopefully it's not a bad decision to not use a clear pot. But I have never had any issues with rot with this plant. Even now. And it's soaking wet. I'm just going to go for it. Okay. Oh dear. Okay, okay, okay. What am I going to do? That actually looks perfect. Not too crazy. Okay, so here she is in all her glory. She's so big. And there's the pot. This actually looks so good. I'm glad that that worked out the way that it did. I think that this really suits her. I just hope that she still fits in her spot. She should. I don't see why not. It's not like it made her that much taller. That's so cool. I love it. You see her little flowers peeking out? So cute. Okay, I am going to pop this in the shower now. And I think I'm just going to rinse her off with water, honestly. I don't think that I need to do a treatment of anything. Especially when she has these baby leaves coming out and these flowers and everything. So I'm just going to give her a regular old wash. Another reason I think that Polyneura is so great and such a great option for beginners and even people who aren't really into plants is because you don't need to trellis it either. It's meant to just grow beautifully trailing. So that takes out a whole piece of the puzzle when it comes to a lot of Hoya. You don't have to worry about staking it, which is just a dream. While I'm waiting for that one to drain in the shower, I figured that I would show you the rest of my Polyneura collection. So this one is actually the one that's struggling the most right now. This is the outer variegated, as you can see. Which is beautiful, but mine was attacked by aphids this fall. So we have some really damaged leaves, like you can see right here. They love to go for the tender Hoya new growth. So I'm probably going to end up cutting these ends off. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. But yeah, that was kind of unfortunate. However, the Polyneura grows so fast. I'm not too concerned that I'm going to have to cut some. But yeah, it's gorgeous. The variegation obviously varies. I've even seen people have fully white vines come out, which is so cool. But I really love these leaves right here. They have so much white on them. It's so pretty. Yeah, stunning. I got this one from Plant Haven, Toronto. And it's doing really well. It just needs, I mean, it does need a little TLC. But otherwise, it's super resilient, the same as the rest of my Polyneura. Okay, and then I have my silver one. The Broguette, or Brogué, whatever it is. I've been told a million times, and I always forget what the pronunciation is. Let's try to fix the lighting here. But this is such a pretty Hoya. I love it so much. This lives in the bedroom on my Wally Grow wall. It's in a Wally Grow planter. And it gets light from the Soltec Highlands. And I think that this is the only Polyneura I would put on that wall because of the intense light that it gets. It works for a silver plant because, obviously, we want these nice, light, minty leaves. But I wouldn't want to put my just regular green one because it would bleach. But yeah, I'm really glad that this one has been doing so well. It has quite the wingspan. Look at how far it comes out. It's crazy. Luckily, it's in the corner of the room, so it's not too invasive. But yeah, I can't believe how much it's grown. This was sent to me as a small plant from a viewer, actually. And it has just done so well, growing out beautifully. I recently got this double set of leaves, which I've never had happen on Polyneura before. I'll try to get this to focus here. Look at the leaves, not at me. There we go. So it is layered. Two leaves came out super close together. Look how cool that is. So that's kind of neat. Oh my gosh, there's two little peduncles coming, too. That's so cute. I don't know if you'll be able to see. Do you see those two little peduncles? That is so crazy. I've had Philodendron do this before, where the one stem puts off two leaves. It's like branching off, if you look at it from the side. Okay, it won't focus. But yeah, it's like twin leaves, which is so cool. I don't think I've had that happen on a Hoya before. Not that I've noticed, anyways. Anyhow, this is my silver one. I'm going to go put her back. And then this little cutie right here is my smallest and my newest Hoya Polyneura. This is the inner variegated. This one was also sent to me by a viewer. Different person. But stunning as well. This also got attacked by aphids, so it's recovering from that. But the inner variegated is so pretty because there's so much more cream, as you can see. It's so gorgeous with the light center and then the darker around the edges. I just think that it's so pretty. Dropping soil here. Yeah, this one is also in Mali. I potted this one up not too long ago. And you can see we have a lot of visible roots already, which is great. This one is also in Mali. It's a really chunky mix. And yeah, I just find that Hoya root like crazy in it. You do have to keep up with your watering a little bit more, though. But I don't mind. So cutie. Can't wait to watch it grow. I'm very happy with my collection. There's not many plants that I love so much that I want to grow every variety of them. So it's really a testament to just how much I appreciate the Polyneura. Am I going to get the Jasminka one? Maybe. I don't know. I don't feel like I need it. I'm very content with the way my collection is already. But if I came across it, I'd probably be tempted to round out the whole collection. And hopefully there won't be another variety that comes out. Okay, so now I'm just looking to see if there's anything I want to remove. So I see like a weird dried stem here. I'm just going to snip that. These are kind of yellowing, but they're right in the middle of a branch. I'm going to leave them for now, and I'll see how I feel. I did see, yeah, there's some spots where sap has dripped. I don't know if you'll be able to see. And unfortunately, Hoya sap is really hard to get off. I doubt that isopropyl alcohol will help, but... Oh, it actually does scrape some of it off. Oh my gosh, this actually works. I'm so happy. Because it just looks not nice. Wow, okay, great to know. I have to kind of scrape it off a little. But that's way better. Way, way better. I think it looks pretty good, honestly. Most of the lighter leaves are just the new growth coming in, and that will darken up once it hardens off. So it looks pretty good, honestly. Okay, she's dried off enough to pop her back in her spot, but there she is in all her glory, looking so gorgeous. I feel so much better now that the leaves are all washed off. She looks a lot healthier just from that small amount of maintenance. So, yeah, so stunning. I just love this plant so, so much. And if you haven't seen her in her spot before, this is how far she is from the south window right here. And for most of the year, she doesn't get direct light. But you can see it's just beautiful ambient light that she receives, and she's very happy with that. And then usually the light is on inside this cabinet, but this cabinet is just a chaotic mess right now, so she does also get some light from behind her, I guess, and a little bit of light from this grow light that's down on the floor here, too. So there's a few different sources, but overall it's not bright light. Anywho, there she is. So, so glad that we carved out some time to care for her today. Okay, that's gonna be it for this video, but if you have any more questions about Hoya polynura, leave it down below in the comments and I'll get back to you there. Otherwise, I really hope that you enjoyed this video, and I'll see you in the next one. Bye!