My Hoya Collection 5 Stunning Hoyas You Need to See Asami Sulawesi Hindu Rope More

Yo, what's going on everybody? It's Steve with I Live Plants. Thank you so much for tuning back into the channel. You guys, look, I got a table full of Hoyas. I am a Hoya head. It's official, you guys. I got my freaking certification and all of that stuff. I am a certified Hoya head. I love it. I love these plants. Okay. I started out with maybe like one or two and, you know, I was on the fence. Okay. But as I was collecting more and gifted more, I actually have a strong appreciation for these types of plants. They come second only to Pothos. Pothos is probably number one in my mind right now. Hoyas has crept up there, you guys. It's beat out Aglaonema. It's definitely beat out Philodendrons. Anthuriums are not even on the list for me anymore. Hoyas are a solid number two. They cannot beat Pothos just for me, but they come up very, very close second. 21 Hoyas right here on this table. You guys, I don't think you want me to get into every single Hoya that I have right now. So what we're going to do is we're going to focus on five, the five Hoyas that are right now my favorites. I mean, it changes week to week, but these are my favorite Hoyas right now. Top five. All right, ladies and gentlemen. Now, when I say top five, of course, this is a rotating list. You guys, I guarantee you next month, my top five is going to be something completely different. And that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to do probably in the next four or five months, my top five Hoyas of the month, because I got plenty of them to choose from. So let's kick it off with this Asami right here. This is a Hoya Asami. You guys, this Hoya Asami is amazing. This Hoya Asami actually started blooming for me this year. So every couple of days I would get new blooms and, you know, people weren't lying when they said that Hoya blooms smell amazing. I'm a little nasal right now. So luckily I don't have any blooms to smell. But when I tell you, you guys, this blooms, they smell like perfume, like a sweet, sweet perfume. Like it is amazing. There's really no other way for me to put it. It's amazing. Now with this Hoya Asami, you guys, this Hoya Asami is in a really, really chunky mix. It's in a clear container so I can actually see the roots growing. They are very healthy roots, you guys. And it is really, really close to my east facing window. It actually sits on a credenza. So one of the things about Hoyas, you guys, is that they are typically compact. Okay. I got 21 here that could fit on the table. So if space is an issue for you guys, this is the type of plant to get because as you can see, they trail down, you put them up a trellis like this Vesalinoides right here, and it can grow up. You guys, it does not take that much square footage in your apartment, houses or homes. So it'll be a great addition to put in a plant on a small table, a credenza, a coffee table, I don't know, something like that, a stool, whatever, whatever your aesthetic is, you can actually place one of these Hoyas on. Now back to this Asami, you guys, this Asami is on my credenza right by my east facing window. And when it's sun stresses, you guys, when it gets a lot of sun, these white leaves actually turn pink. So it is a beautiful contrast to the green, of course, because I think pink and green go together. I think my AKAs can agree with me on that one. Right. But this Asami is amazing you all. And this was my first Toya to actually bloom. So it has these little peduncles that actually create the bloom or they incubate the bloom. I don't know the proper term for it, but at the end of the day, you guys, this is a stunning Hoya right here. You guys, I promise you, you would do yourself good by putting this into your collection. It grows not so fast. Okay. So I've had this plant for maybe a year and a half, almost two years. And it was totally small. I mean, like it was tiny, you guys, it was not even, you know, cupping over the pot. But now look at it about a year and change later, a year and a half, maybe a year and a half. Look at it. It's good. You guys, I'm telling you, I have to convince you to get this plant. All right. It is amazing. All right. So put this one on the list. You got to get a Hoya Asami. This is just Asami right here. I just named this Asami. So put it on your list. Okay. Now my next favorite Hoya in this moment is this Hoya Sulawesi. This is Antlawesi right here. And this plant is beautiful. You guys, it has like this nice waxy texture to the leaf. You all, it has a little bit of vein and it's not deep. Okay. So it's not like the vein and it's going to be pronounced. The vein is actually a little bit lighter green than the actual leaf. And it's nice. You guys, it actually has a little bit of a curl and a little bit of a bend to the leaf you all. And the soil stays pretty moist. It's actually in a moist, a moister soil than I typically have my Hoyas in. But Hey, all that means for me is don't water it as much. You know what I mean? And so I've had this plant now for about, I want to say two, almost three weeks and it looks amazing. You guys, it's growing. It's, I mean, I think it's growing. I don't think it's grown since I got it, but it's not dying. All right. And so this is another plant. You all, that's on my credenza because again, it fits. All right. And I got to get a nice pot for this one. So you guys, what color will go against this dark green, this medium green? Let me know, put it in the comments. What color pot would you pair with this plant? I need some advice. I'm not a style guy. So much so. All right. So let me know what you think. Um, light. I mean, it gets East morning sun. So, so be it. This is what it's getting. It looks good. Another one of my favorites is a newbie. You guys, the Hoya Sulawesi. This is Sulawesi right here. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, my next favorite, this is number three on the list. This is a Hoya compacta, which is also known as a Hindu rope. You guys, the reason why I, I mean, I've talked about this plant before. The reason why I'm bringing it up in this video on the first video of my Hoya, so the mini series that I'm about to do. Videos prior to this, all of my leaves were probably, or all of my stems were probably about yay big. Okay. But I got these two that are actually starting to pick up the pace y'all. And I'm really, really excited about that. I'm really excited about that because this here is a slow grower. Like I can't stand how slow this thing grows. It reminds me of starter dress. I've said that before. It's still giving me starter dress right here. So until it starts to really trail down, cause that's how I want to grow this plant. I want it to actually trail down. You know, I mean, come on. I'm asking for Bob Marley, you know what I'm saying? And I'm getting Lauren Hill, like 19, you know, 97, you know what I'm saying? So, um, help me out here. All right. Anyway, at the end of the day, you guys like this is in the chunky mix. All right. So I watered this plant, probably about every week and a half, two weeks. And it's doing pretty good. Um, doesn't so look because of the curl and the leaf, you guys, I am constantly making sure that there is nothing growing inside the curls. All right. So I'm always cleaning this thing. I'm always spraying it down with neem oil because the last thing that I want to do is lose this plant to some pests that I didn't invite. Okay. So I know that they here somewhere because you know, how pest starts, like how did you get here? So I am doing my due diligence to, um, prevent that from happening. Preventative care with these plants are a must spray your plants down with neem oil, wipe them down, make sure that they're clean and they're not housing any sort of potential infestation. You guys, and this again, it's on my credenza, you know what I'm saying? So it's getting East morning sun. And I think that it actually loves it. What do you think? Is this something that you could add to your collection? Tiny, small dust trail, not expensive either. You guys, you can get one of these for like $15, $20. All right, ladies and gentlemen, the next Hoya I want to show is this Hoya Calistophylla. Yo, this is a wishlist plant for me for 2026. I actually bought this plant back in January. I might've had three leaves on this plant. Yep. Because I got two new ones. I got this one here and this one just, just got hardy not too long ago, maybe about a week or two ago. All right. So it's growing and it's growing nicely. I love this plant. Yo, one of the things that stood out on this plant for me is the deep veining, the dark veining of the leaf. You guys like, it is amazing. It reminds me of like alligator skin or snake skin, something like that. And I'm here for it. I love the prehistoric look of the leaf. You guys, I have a couple more Hoyas that have that kind of like prehistoric Jurassic period texture or shape or even distinction in color. And that's what drew, drove me to wanting this plant and putting it, putting it on my wishlist. Now these plants, I mean, listen, they can get bushy. You know what I mean? So I actually have this one growing up a small little trellis. And I think this is one of those plants you guys that I'll probably keep small because I really like how this looks. It's a really, really stunning plant. I don't know, for me, I think Hoyas is one of those plants that you can actually bonsai, you know what I mean? And style it, you know, like a long trellis or something like that, because they typically have like one long vein that starts to grow up and you can kind of maneuver it the way that you want to, especially when it does not have any leaves on it. So take advantage of that, let it do its thing, you know, like you can, or you can actually maneuver it around and get it to, you know, wind around the trellis and all that stuff. And you can make an installation sort of speak with a Hoya. So it's all in how you want to present it. And this one right here, this will look good, like being bushy, like just like right here, you know what I'm saying? And then I'll prop the rest. What do you think? I mean, that's an idea. And it is pet friendly. You guys, this plant is pet friendly. So, you know, if you got dogs that like to nibble on your plants or cats that like to nibble on your plants or kids that like to nibble on your plants, you'll be all right. All right. The Callistophylla, you guys, this is the Hoya Callistophylla. This is Callisto. All right, let's see, who do I want to talk about? I got one more to go. Who's standing out to me right now? Who's standing out? Let's go with you. Ladies and gentlemen, this is my Hoya Pachycolata right here. Pachycolata. All right. This is Colada. All right. She is in a self-watering container. She is heavy. She is beautiful. You guys, she loves the sun. She loves it. All right. Because see, when she gets a lot of sun, when she starts to tan, you guys, she sun stresses at the margins of the leaf, you guys. So, at the margins of the leaf, it turns pink. Here we go again with a pinkish red, like, I guess, fuchsia, is that even a color? Like that purplish color? Purple pink, right? That's what she does when she gets a lot of light. And her leaves are so deep. They have substance to it. They're very substantial. You guys, literally, they got weight to it. Okay. So, this chick got weight to it. Now, look, I have her in a self-watering container. All right. So, this is the deal. I got maybe three or four of my Hoyas in self-watering containers, this being one of them. I wanted to talk about this one because we all know, right, or some of us, some Hoyas love to dry out between waterings and stuff. And I would not doubt that this is one of them right here because this reminds me a lot of my Keriai hearts. Okay. And my Keriai hearts loves to be dried out in between waterings. It does its best work like that. Okay. So, the deal about this one is it actually takes exactly what it needs from the reservoir below with these wicks that are here in the pot. And it's fine. It's actually responding so, so well. Yo, I had so much new growth from this plant. I bought this plant earlier this year. You guys, probably, I want to say in February or March. It was when I thought I was still bowling. And so, it's a beautiful plant, you guys. It's one of those Hoyas, I think, that will look stunning in any collection, you guys. It brightens up a space because of the outer variegation of the leaf with that yellow. And then, again, when you give it a lot of light, you guys, a lot of sunlight, it's going to sun-stressed fuchsia. Let's just call it that. Okay. And it's a stunning plant, you all. So, yeah, I mean, yeah, she stood out to me on the right here. And yo, that's my five, okay. Self-watering, I don't have to worry about it. As soon as I see that the reservoir is down and it might take me like two or three days to even notice that, then I will fill the reservoir back up with water and do the same thing all over again. I very, really think about this plant only, you know, not to water it so much as to say, oh my God, bitch, you look good. All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for watching. Those were my five Hoyas. And I got still a table full of Hoyas right here, just side-eyeing me and screw-facing me, talking about, well, how come you ain't pick me? Yo, I promise you, you will have your time to shine. I promise you that because y'all are all beautiful. Y'all are all beautiful. You know what I'm saying? So I'm going to pick you one day. I'm going to pick you one day. Your time is coming. All right. We're going to do a series on this one because I got a lot more to go around. All right. Now, typically what I do at the end of the video is give you a Steve talk and it's, you know, I have an incredible segue of how we talked about something earlier when it came to plants and, you know, it segues into the Steve talk, right? I have no clever segue this time. All right. What I want to talk to you guys about today is healing yourself. Okay. From trauma. All right. So this is the deal. We all have trauma. We literally, it's like, as soon as we came out the womb, okay, there was some kind of trauma. Shoot. Birth alone is traumatic. Like where are we? What is this? That's why you cry. The first thing you do is cry when you come on this planet. All right. So the idea is this, our trauma does not just span from our experiences. Our trauma extends from our parents' experiences, their parents' experiences, their parents' experiences, and so on and so forth. It is generational, you guys. So look, this is not to say that you should ignore the trauma. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that the focus should not be on the trauma. The focus should be on your potential. You can use the trauma as a springboard to reach your potential. But in order to do that, you're not focusing so much on the springboard. You're focusing so much on the water, right? Like a diver, you know, initially focuses a little bit on the springboard, but then he has to make that leap to reach his full potential. So that's what I want you guys to do. And he left the diving board behind, okay? So that's the idea that I want you to think about when it comes to your life, to remember that the trauma is like a springboard for you to leap and reach your full potential. You do all the flips, right? You do all the twists and you nail the land and you're going straight down into the water. You don't even make a splash. You guys, that's your potential, all right? So look, I'll disclose, right? Last year, I was let go of my job. Now it took me a long time to sort of get over that, you know, but instead of me focusing on the bastards that let me go on myself to focus on, hey, what's my purpose? What's really my purpose, right? This video, when someone watches this video, it might change the trajectory of their mindset, right? Especially if they watch the end of this video, I might influence them to buy a Hoya compactor, okay? And they might go to a local nursery and have an exchange with a store owner or a manager or something like that, and maybe make an influence or impact on their life. And then that whole thing pays it forward, right? So the idea is that, you guys, it all starts with us. As soon as we start to recognize our potential for the sake of the trauma, and we're focusing solely on that and how we can be a positive impact on the greater world, that's when change starts to happen, okay? Now, I watched this incredible podcast, you guys, and I really, really needed that reminder, all right? David Bayer, shout out to David Bayer, amazing guy, all right? And so much so that words are powerful, words are influential, they're persuasive, okay? But at the end of the day, you make the decision to shift your mindset, all right? And trust me when I tell you that I needed to shift, okay? I always need to shift. I am a work in progress. This does not come easy for me, okay? Setting up a camera, placing all these plants on the table, making sure that I'm shaving and crisp and got my coffee with my bay leaves in it because it's a Sunday morning. I'm here to deliver a message, you all. So that's my purpose. It's one of those things, and I get a piece when I say that. It's amazing. It's such a piece. It's a piece with goosebumps. That's how I know it's real. So what I would say is this, you all, please, there's a lot of craziness going out in the world, and you might say, well, what's the point? What's the point of me even trying to divert my attention? I need to know what's going on, right? But that only brings me down. That's trauma, all right? Turn the other cheek. Go the other way, all right? That was the message that I received this morning, all right? Jesus said, when your enemy strikes you, turn the other cheek. That was part of the message, all right? So when you turn the cheek, you focus on potential. You focus on other things you don't focus on who just traumatized you, all right? So you guys, focus on yourself. It is not selfish. It is what you need to do because I've seen so many people who did not focus on themselves. They focused on everything else outside of themselves, their job, their kids, their significant others. They've done all of that work, but at the end of the day, guess whose life takes a toll? And so be it. They can't focus on work. They can't focus on the relationship. They can't focus on the kids because they're all effed up, okay? So I want you to take this time to heal yourself. Whatever that trauma is, acknowledge it. Yeah, I get it. It's there. That's my springboard, okay? But I'm still going to dive in this water. How about that, all right? You guys, I love you so much for watching. I hope that this inspires you to make a difference in your life, to focus on you. And we'll come back in another week and we'll talk about something else. Maybe some Hoyas. I don't know. We'll see, okay? I'll see you in the next one. Have a good one, all right? Great week ahead. Love y'all. And love yourself.