Hoya krohniana silver care, plus how to root and propagate cuttings! (2024)

Hoya Krohniana Silver care isn’t unlike that of other Hoyas, despite being a harder-to-find variety. Learn how to keep this stunning heart-shaped silver vine happy!

Hoya krohniana silver care & propagation

Hoya Krohniana is the second-to-last rare hoya cutting I got from my friend that I’ll be writing about. (That was a mouthful of a sentence!) I wrote about Hoya Cumingiana and Hoya Obscura, but this one might be my favorite. That’s because it’s silver, and I’ve written about how I’m a sucker for silver houseplants!

They are simply stunning. The specific plant I’ll be writing about today is the Hoya Krohniana Silver, aka the Hoya Krohniana “Super Silver” or Hoya Krohniana “Eskimo.” All three of these are different names for the same variety of Hoya Krohniana.

What is a Hoya Krohniana Silver?

The Hoya Krohniana Silver is a type of Hoya Krohniana with a gorgeous silver sheen on the leaves. They remind me a lot of the Hoya Curtisii, both in shape and color. Hoya Krohniana Silver is a rare Hoya that can be really hard to find—another reason to be thankful for good plant friends 🙂

Hoya Krohniana is native to the Philippines, and its gorgeous green and silver succulent-like leaves have a heart-shaped finish. I’ve noticed that they can vary in shape, though. Some are slightly more oval-shaped and thicker, while others are flat and wide like curtisii leaves.

Regardless, they stay small—under an inch—and grow tightly along trailing vines. Once mature, the plant produces little white sweet-smelling flowers.

Hoya Krohniana Silver lighting needs

Like many other Hoyas, Hoya Krohniana Silver enjoys bright, indirect light. In nature, it is shaded by larger trees above it. So only indirect light or dappled direct light works for this one. Too much direct sun will burn the leaves or dull them.

I currently have my cuttings in my Ikea greenhouse cabinet under some strip grow lights that stay on 12 hours a day at full strength. However, I have a clear plastic lid on the container the cuttings are in, so that dulls the light a bit. (Read about using grow lights with houseplants for more.)

I think they’d be fine without the lid, though. These LED lights do not get hot, and they are no match for the sun’s hot rays. If you don’t have grow lights, keep your Hoya Krohniana Silver in your sunniest window or area of your home.

If you aren’t giving your Hoya Krohniana Silver enough light, it will grow really slowly, produce smaller leaves, and will likely not flower. Good lighting (among other things) is a necessity for blooming.

Want more Hoyas? Check out my Hoya Bilobata Care post, my Hoya Linearis Care post, my Hoya Obovata Care post, and my post about 9 Hoya Varieties for Beginners!

Water & soil needs

The Hoya Krohniana Silver plant’s water and soil needs mirror those of most other Hoyas. That is, wait until the top several inches of soil have dried out before watering the plant again. You might even just want to pick the pot up and see how it feels.

I’ve gotten so used to how my hoyas feel when they need watered that it has become a helpful gauge for me. Especially as the seasons change and watering frequencies change. For most of my Hoyas, I water weekly in the summer (even more if they are outside in the heat), and every 2ish weeks in the winter.

Soil is a critical part of your watering routine. You definitely want to use well-draining soil. Anything designed for succulents works really well. I use a well-draining houseplant soil with some extra perlite and coco coir added in. (Read more about houseplant soil amendments in my houseplant soil 101 post.)

If your soil is too dense, it will choke out the roots and lead to rot. A lighter, well-draining soil really helps with aeration and air circulation as well. Even with well-draining soils, there can be a scale regarding how much water the soil retains.

If the soil is too well-draining, you won’t risk root rot, but you might have to water your plant more often. If the soil is only relatively well-draining, you might need to water less often. Get to know your soil and your plant, and you’ll be golden.

You can also consider adding a moss pole or something for Hoya Krohniana Silver to climb. That’s because the plant is an epiphyte, meaning it clings on to other things to climb (trees, branches, etc.). Giving it something to climb isn’t necessary, but it will help mimic the plant’s natural habitat!

Temperature, humidity, & fertilizer

Warm temperatures are best. This plant is not cold or frost hardy, so you’ll need to bring it indoors if temperatures where you live drop down into the 40s regularly at night. A few cold snaps won’t hurt the plant, but it’s not ideal.

Right now I have my plant on a heat mat to help with root growth, so it is SO happy! Plus it’s in its old-Chinese-food-container-humidity-dome, meaning it is even warmer. I’m not sure if I’ll take this one outside for the summer later this year—we’ll see.

Speaking of humidity, Hoya Krohniana Silver is a humidity lover. Think about where it comes from—the Philippines. Keep your plant as humid as you possibly can. This will encourage the most ideal growth.

It will also help with overall leaf health. I’ve found that when humidity is higher and hoyas are super happy, they show that by churning out slightly larger, meatier leaves.

If you notice your leaves have browning on the tips, that’s likely because the air is too dry. But don’t worry—if your plant seems happy and you have it only in average household humidity levels, you can keep it that way. This is a tolerant plant.

I haven’t been fertilizing my plants too much over the last year or so. Last year I decided to use only organic worm castings for added nutrients. Plus the slow-release fertilizers that come in potting soil, though remember that if you haven’t repotted in a while, most of that is likely long gone.

Repotting & pruning a Hoya Krohniana Silver

Repotting and pruning a Hoya Krohniana Silver will probably be the least of your worries. It isn’t exceptionally fast growing, and it doesn’t mind being a bit tight in its pot. Mine isn’t nearly big enough to repot yet, but I generally have found that hoyas are fine in the same pot for 2 or 3 years.

If you notice the roots completely circling the bottom of your pot (so much so that you can put the whole plant up out of the pot and there doesn’t seem to be much soil yet), it’s time. I also generally repot plants once their roots begin growing out of the drainage holes.

Size up about an inch, and remember that when Hoyas are potbound, this can help the plant produce blooms. If you put the plant in too big of a pot, it will probably have too much soil and thus retain too much water.

Propagating or rooting a Hoya Krohniana Silver

Since this is a rare Hoya, you probably are starting with either a cutting that you need to root or a small plant. Or you might want to propagate a baby from your own plant to either sell or give away.

If you notice that some stems are getting leggy or are missing leaves, these might be great stems to snip and propagate. Just make sure you take a cutting with a few nodes on it. (Look for already-sprouting aerial roots from the stem or remove a set of leaves to expose growth points.)

You can’t just use a leaf to propagate this plant. You also can use a leaf and a piece of a stem. You must have at least one node—and having more than one node increases your chances of successful rooting.

When I got my cutting, the first thing I did was dump some rooting hormone powder on a napkin, dampened the cutting, and covered all of the exposed growth points or aerial roots in powder.

Next I prepped a damp sphagnum moss and perlite bed in an old takeout container that had a clear lid. I laid the cutting on the moss mixture, ensuring that all of the growth points were down on the moss.

I popped the clear lid to help with humidity and set the box on my heat mat. I normally do not use a heat mat for rooting cuttings, but it’s the dead of winter right now and the WORST time to propagate. This will help the cutting along and speed up growth.

I noticed roots sprouting after only a few days. Keep in mind that this cutting is in ideal conditions: under a grow light, in damp moss and perlite, with high humidity and temperatures probably in the low 80s (Fahrenheit).

Planting my rooted cutting

Once the roots were a few inches long, I planted my Hoya Krohniana Silver cutting in fresh, well-draining soil. I did dip the roots in some more rooting hormone again before planting it, too. These old candle holders are shallow and are perfect for small cuttings. (Just remember to drill a drainage hole!)

Pin my Hoya Krohniana Silver post!