Hoya Multiflora: 7 Care Tips for the Shooting Star Hoya

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Hoya multiflora, or the Shooting Star Hoya, is probably the freest blooming Hoya that you can grow in your home. Seemingly always in bud or in flower, this Hoya species makes for a wonderful addition to your indoor plant collection. Keep reading to learn more about how to care for this beauty.

Native to southeast China and neighboring tropical Asia, this Hoya has a stiff, upright or even spreading nature as it grows.

Unlike most other Hoyas, this one will bloom several times a year, so if you love flowers, this is definitely one to add to your collection!

You can easily see where it gets its common name, Shooting Star Hoya, by taking a look at the flowers.

Hoya Multiflora Care

1. LIGHT

Place your plant right in front of a window for best growth and flowering. Windows that have no direct sun at all would work, but if you can provide a couple hours of direct sun either in the morning or late afternoon, this would benefit your plant.

You can also grow your your plant under grow lights. My own plant, at the time of writing this post, is situated in front of a northern facing window in my sunroom and it is supplemented by T5 grow lights that are on for 12 hours a day.

In this position, my plant blooms freely.

If you have an Eastern or Western facing window, this would be perfect for your plant.

2. WATERING

Always water your plant thoroughly and allow excess water to escape your drainage hole(s). Never allow any Hoya to sit in water for extended periods of time otherwise they can easily develop root rot.

I try not to allow my multiflora’s soil to dry out completely. Although they do have sturdy leaves, they are not as succulent as many other hoya species, so try not and let them go completely dry for too long.

I normally allow about the top 1-2 inches of the potting mix to dry out before watering again.

3. SOIL

I use the same potting mix for all my hoyas. I typically use 2 parts of a cactus/succulent mix and then I mix in 1 part of 1/4″ pumice.

This provides a freely draining mix that Hoya plants need to thrive.

I love the 1/4″ pumice from Bonsai Jack. It is always consistent in quality I love using it as a soil amendment for Hoyas.

If you want an amazing mix to use right out of the bag, check out the amazing Hoya soil blend from Oh Happy Plants. This is an amazing mix and you will get 10% off at checkout automatically if you use my link.

4. POT SIZE

Keep your multiflora in relatively small pots. Never repot your Hoya unless it is root bound, and even then, they can stay in the same sized pot for quite a few years.

If it starts to become difficult to keep up with watering your plant and your pot is full of roots, you can upsize your pot to the next larger size.

Don’t be tempted to use pots that are much larger than the size it was previously growing in. If it was in a 4 inch pot, use a 6 inch pot and no bigger.

Be sure not to miss my blog post on choosing the best pot for Hoyas.

5. FERTILIZING

Fertilize your Hoya during the active growing season. There are many fertilizers that you can use, but I like to use Dyna-Gro Grow.

I use 1/4-1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water at every watering. My plants love this fertilizer and with consistent use, you will notice a beautiful difference in your plants!

6. FLOWERING

Like any Hoya, never remove any of the old flowering flowering spurs because they will continue to bloom on those in the future, and also grow new ones as well.

One nice thing about this plant is that it will easily bloom even as a very small plant. Many Hoyas can take 2-3 years to even start to think about blooming, but multiflora will often bloom even as a cutting!

Take a look at my plant when I originally propagated it. It bloomed even as a tiny plant.

One thing to note is that the flowers will produce a lot of sticky nectar. You can easily clean this up, but be aware. Take a look at the nectar dripping from the bottom most flower in the photo of my plant below.

One common problem with Hoya multiflora is flower buds dropping off before they open. I’ve experienced this in cases when I’ve let the soil go completely dry.

When your plant is in bud, pay extra attention to consistency in soil moisture. Allow the surface of the potting mix to dry out, but don’t let all of the soil dry out completely.

They can tolerate going drier, but it may pose issues for you while in flower.

On the opposite end, also avoid letting your plant sit in water for extended periods of time.

7. TEMPERATURE & HUMIDITY

These are warmer growing Hoyas, so try and keep these plants in the 60-85F range for optimum growth.

Average indoor humidity is fine, but they will always benefit from higher humidity. Humidifiers are they best way to increase your indoor air humidity.

If you’d like recommendations on humidifiers, check out my post on my favorite humidifiers.

PROPAGATION

These Hoyas propagate readily by cuttings. Simply take a tip cutting that has at least a couple leaves at the end. Remove the bottom leaf if you need to, and place in water.

Your cuttings should root in a matter of weeks. Once the roots are about 1/2 inch to an inch long, plant them into a small pot.

Do you have a Hoya multiflora? Comment below. I’d love to hear!

If you are interested in other Hoyas to grow, check out my blog post on the best beginner Hoyas to grow in the home.