Hoya Globulosa – A Beginners Care Guide (with Propagation Steps)

The Hoya Globulosa is a fascinating plant that produces highly coveted blossoms that can fill a room with a captivating fragrance. We highly recommend adding the Hoya Globulosa to your indoor plant collection, because they are:

• easy to care for plants that are perfect for beginners,
• hardy plants that will thrive indoors in a variety of conditions, and
• unique looking plants that produce magnificent flowers that make it a true feature plant.

We are truly excited to be showcasing the beautiful Hoya Globulosa plant on the Garden Bench Top’s feature plant for the day.

In this guide you will learn where the Hoya Globulosa originates, and the natural climates that they thrive in. We’ll then bring this knowledge into the house environment, so you can understand how to adapt your conditions to maintain a happy and healthy Hoya.

Finally, we will explore the best way to propagate your Hoya Globulosa with a simple step-by-step guide, as well as answer those frequently asked questions about this wonderful plant.

So grab your botanist’s hard hat, strap on your khakis, because we are jumping into A Beginners Care Guide to the Hoya Globulosa.

Hoya Globulosa: The Facts

Frequent visitors to the Garden Bench Top will know our philosophy of plant care stems from understanding where the plants’ origins. We then apply this knowledge and try to mimic the conditions in the home or garden. So, with that in mind let’s get to know the Hoya Globulosa a bit better.

Origin

Interestingly, the Hoya Globulosa is native to regions like China, India, Myanmar and the Himalayas. Which is much cooler and dryer than what other tropical plants prefer.

But, like most other Hoyas, the Globulosa can also be found in tropical regions close to the equator, such as Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. They can be found growing wild in the tropical forests, along the ground or climbing up trees or crevices in rocks.

This suggests to us, that they are more tolerant of varying conditions (at least compared to other members of the Hoya family).

The types of climates the Hoya Globulosa thrives in, are tropical forests that are warm and humid. What makes tropical forests unique is the variety of plant life at different layers of the forest. And the Hoya Globulosa are a part of that wondrous ecosystem. They are usually seen in the lower layers of the forest, growing as epiphytes (plant that grow on other plants) to reach for whatever sunlight they can get through the dense upper layers.

Appearance

The Hoya Globulosa leaves are definitely one of our favorites among the Hoya range.

Globulosa leaves are more elongated than your typical Hoya, which tends to be more rounded. But, the detailing on the Globulosa’s leaf is what makes this variety stand apart from the rest. Each leaf displays intense dark green veins contrasting against an emerald green leaf.

Being a natural climber, you will often see Hoya Globulosa draping down over the sides of hanging baskets, with long vines.

Alternatively, other indoor enthusiasts have used garden trellises or structures to take advantage of the Globulosa’s epiphyte tendencies and encouraged their Globulosa plants to grow vertically.

Being a Hoya, we cannot forget about the prized blooms these wonderful plants showcase (if and when they do). The Hoya Globulosa does not disappoint, sending out baubles of beautiful miniature cream and white star-shaped flowers with red plum colored stripes to accentuate the center of the flower.

Name Guide

To prevent any confusion, at the Garden Bench Top we like to refer to all our plants by their botanical names. In this case, the Hoya Globulosa is the scientific name for this beautiful Apocynaceae.

They can be referred to as Waxflower, Waxvine and Waxplant as a more common version of their name. However, these common names are also used for other varieties of Hoyas.

As you can appreciate, this can be quite misleading, especially for novices entering the indoor garden space.

Hoya Globulosa Care Instructions

Okay, now that we know how where the Hoya Globulosa originates from, let’s see how we can apply this new information to how to successfully care for these wonderful plants.

Lighting

You will want to provide your Hoya Globulosa with 6-8 hours of indirect light a day.

They can adapt to thriving indoors, but you will need to find a position that doesn’t receive direct exposure to sunlight for long periods of the day. The reason is the sunlight will burn the Hoyas’ leaves, severely weakening the plant. However, they are able to tolerate dappled morning or evening sun.

This doesn’t surprise us, given the Globulosa Hoya is a ground dwelling plant in its natural environment, only ever receiving fragments of sunlight that filter through the forest canopy.

Temperature & Humidity

The Globulosa has a greater tolerance for temperature fluctuations than other Hoyas, like the Hoya Sunrise. Which makes sense, given the varying regions that the Hoya Globulosa is found around the world.

They will generally survive in a temperature range between 50-90° Fahrenheit (10-32° Celsius). However, we have seen them thrive in warmer temperatures with plenty of moisture in the air.

Which brings us to humidity. Again, given the vast range in varying climates of the Globulosa’s native countries of origin, it is very tolerant of humidity levels along the spectrum.

If we were to recommend the perfect levels for the Globulosa, we would aim to keep the humidity at around 50-80%.

Recommended Soil and Supplements

Like other epiphytes, the Hoya Globulosa prefers light and airy soils, that has excellent drainage. They require lots of space in the soil to supply the roots with plenty of oxygen.

Drainage is key for the Hoya Globulosa, as it doesn’t like to sit in wet and soggy soil, which can lead to problems down the road like root rot. If you are serious about your indoor plants, we recommend creating your own DIY indoor soil mixture. We use a specific recipe for indoor soil for our tropical plants, which comprises coconut coir, perlite and vermiculite.

When it comes to feeding your Hoya, they aren’t particular or don’t require any special care. We recommend using a liquid all-purpose fertilizer at half strength once every month.

Water Requirements

Generally speaking, tropical plants love lots of water. However, the Hoya Globulosa is slightly different when it comes to its water preferences. We attribute their difference to its greater tolerance for cooler and drier climates.

The Globulosa can tolerate being without water for short periods of time. As such, we recommend only watering them when the soil is dry.

We find using the finger soil moisture test, to be the best guide in determining a plants’ watering schedule. It is the easiest and most reliable indicator for watering indoor and outdoor plants.

Other General Maintenance

Hoyas are not known as being fast growers. And you can generally leave them in the same pot for a couple of years.

If you notice roots protruding out of the drainage holes in your Hoya Globulosa planter, you may want to consider giving it a new home.

Common Problems & Pests

The good news is, Hoyas are generally a resilient and easy to care for houseplant. The only pests that may disturb your plant may be aphids, which love to hover around the blooms.

However, most plants will be susceptible to disease and pests if they are weakened from incorrect care. One common problem for Hoyas is overwatering. You can generally tell a Hoya is suffering from over watering when the leaves become soft and wrinkled, and begin to change color. This is a result of incorrect soil and water maintenance.

How to Propagate Hoya Globulosa

Propagating is one of the most rewarding aspects of gardening. And fortunately, once you have mastered the care techniques, Hoyas are easy to regrow.

We recommend following along with our Hoya propagation techinque. It involves creating new plants using cuttings from your main plant. Now let’s get into the fun stuff.

Required Materials Checklist

• Hoya Cutting
• Sterilized Knife/Blade
• Rooting Hormone (or agent)
• Glass Jar
• Distilled Water
• Loamy Soil (refer to growing medium section above)

How to Propagate your Hoya Globulosa

1. Find a healthy vine. To begin, you will need to find yourself a healthy cutting from your main plant with 3-4 leaves (or nodes). Take your sterilized knife, and cut the healthy vine as close to the main plant as possible. You need a sterilized knife to avoid transferring any diseases or bacteria to the cutting AND your main plant. Leave your cutting out on a bench to dry for 24-48 hours.
2. Fill the jar with distilled water. While your cutting is drying, fill a jar with distilled water and leave out on the bench near the cutting. This way, it acclimates to room-temperature water, and there is less of a chance of shocking the cutting. We use distilled water to eliminate any unwanted bacteria that may hitchhike in. Ultimately, this will give your cutting the best opportunity to successfully take and grow. If you do not have distilled water available, tap water should be okay.
3. Rooting Time. When the wound has sealed over, dip the stem into the rooting hormone and insert it into the jar of water. Place the cutting and jar near your mother plant in a brightly lit position. To prevent the water from becoming stale, we recommend changing the water every 2-3 days.
4. Root Maturing. This is the exciting part. You should see tiny roots beginning to form where you made the cutting. Leave them in the water to grow into strong, mature roots, while continuing to refresh the water every few days.
5. Transplanting Your Cutting. Once the mature roots have appeared, it is time to transfer your cutting to a more soil based growing medium. Fill a small container with a mixture of damp peat or sphagnum moss. Make sure the roots are covered entirely to give them the best opportunity to catch and grow in the new medium.
6. Continued Maintenance. From this point on, just take care of your cuttings as you do your mother plant.

Frequently Asked Questions

In this section we attempt to answer all your ‘other’ questions that may not be addressed in the care guide.

Keep in mind, if you don’t find an answer to your question, please send us a message via our CONTACT page. We will endeavor to respond with a timely answer, and include it in our growing FAQ section below.

Is Hoya Globulosa Fuzzy?

You may not be able to see it from a distance, however the Hoya Globulosa’s leaves have small hairs across the surface of the leaf, given it a fuzzy appearance and feel. It can often take some people by surprise, as the hairs are very hard to see, and you would expect them to feel waxy, like other Hoya plants.

Can Hoya Globulosa Grow in Water?

As we demonstrated in the propagating section above, the Hoya Globulosa can easily be grown in water. For a thriving mature plant, we would recommend transferring the plant to a good quality indoor potting soil suitable for tropical plants.

Is Hoya Globulosa Rare?

Even though the Hoya Globulosa originates in more countries than its cousins, they are surprisingly not that easy to find. They are not considered ‘rare’, however if you do see one at your local nursery, we’d recommend snapping it up. Otherwise, it may become one of those plants that get away.

What are the climbing habits of Hoya Globulosa?

Hoya Globulosa are known to exhibit epiphyte behavior (growing on other trees) in their native environments, and are therefore good climbers. When given the opportunity, they will use structures to climb their way closer to light sources to enable healthy growth.

Are Hoya Globulosa succulents?

The Hoya Globulosa is NOT a succulent.

We receive this question often, and it is easy to see why. Hoya plants have thick meaty leaves, very much like succulents. And even though they store water in their leaves, like succulents, they are classified as subtropical plants.

Are Hoya Plants good for indoor plants?

Hoya Globulosa are fabulous indoor plants due to their easy – going nature and low maintenance requirements. They are one of the more tolerant Hoya plants, that still delivers those highly coveted fragrant blooms that can bring a room to life.

If you have the opportunity, we highly recommend adding a Hoya Globulosa to your indoor plant collection.