Hoya Australis Lisa: Detailed Care Tips for the Lovely ‘Lisa’ Hoya

The Hoya Australis Lisa is an exciting plant of the Apocynaceae family that anyone can grow and it is a great indoor houseplant for both beginners and expert gardeners. Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ is the next most famous plant in the Hoya species after Hoya Carnosa and you would certainly need such a plant in your home garden.

Well-loved for its coloration and attractive shape, this hoya genus plant is a must-have for everyone! This article will provide you with everything you need to know for you to take good care of your Hoya Australis ‘Lisa.’

What Is Hoya Australis Lisa?

The Hoya australis Lisa is a rare, shiny and beautiful evergreen climbing houseplant that can grow up to nine feet in length. The Hoya australis Lisa flower that is star-shaped and pink-white in color makes the plant look so attractive. This plant is a descendent of the Hoya Australis plant that was discovered in Australia.

Hoya Australis Lisa Care

This plant is a low-maintenance plant. However, simulating the plant’s natural environment will help it to live, bloom and thrive for many years to come. When the plant is healthy, it can bloom white, star-shaped clusters that smell like a sweet mixture of vanilla and chocolate.

Although this plant requires less time, attention and specific requirements compared to other plants, there are still a lot of factors to keep an eye on when you are taking care of this beauty. For the care of your Hoya australis ‘Lisa’, we recommend you consider certain procedures and requirements that are listed and explained in this section.

Light Requirements

The Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ does not thrive well in direct sunlight. The sun can scorch the leaves and flowers as well as dry out the soil too quickly.

This plant requires bright and indirect light of early morning and late afternoon sunshine. These sunlight conditions increase your plant’s chances of blooming.

Although the sun is vital in the growth of your Hoya australis ‘Lisa’, we recommend that you keep the plant a few feet away from the direct sun to protect it from sunburn. Your Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ can adapt to low-light areas, although such conditions tend to slow the plant’s growth.

The most popular problem that is caused by low light conditions is the yellowing of the leaves of the Hoya australis ‘Lisa.’

Find a spot with medium to bright indirect sunlight to combat this problem to deal with yellowing leaves on your plant. Take note that increasing the plant’s exposure to light generally increases its water consumption. Excessive light increases transpiration, as well as the rate at which the soil dries out.

Water Requirements

Water is the most important aspect of Hoya australis Lisa’s care and highly contributes to its ability to flourish. Remember, this plant has succulent leaves that can store water and may only require watering once every 10 days.

The Hoya australis Lisa has low to moderate water requirements. Inspect your soil before watering by utilizing a moisture meter or by inserting your finger into the soil.

Consider watering your plant when the top few inches of the soil dry out. In the winter, be sure to cut back on the watering schedule because the growth rate of the plant is relatively slow during this time.

– Overwatering Problems

The Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ is drought resistant and cannot handle overwatering, which may lead to root rot. If you notice yellow or mushy leaves on your plant, this means your plant is being overwatered. In this instance, reducing the amount of water that you give to your plant or reducing the watering frequency will help a lot.

– How To Water

The “soak and dry” method is the best strategy for watering your Hoya australis ‘Lisa.’ In this case, you water your plant until excess water is draining from the holes that are at the bottom of your plant’s pot.

The Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ plant can be highly sensitive to hard water, so we advise that you use rainwater or filtered water. When watering the Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ plant, consider saturating the soil and allowing it to dry out before you can water it again.

Soil Requirements

The Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ thrives well when it is grown in loose, well-drained soil. The pH of the soil should be neutral for it to support the healthy survival of the plant. The potting soil that is loosely structured allows for adequate air circulation, which is vital for the development of Hoya Australis blooms.

To create a perfect soil mixture for your Hoya Australis ‘Lisa’, you can blend equal amounts of the commercially available orchid mix with peat, perlite, pieces of tree bark and coconut peel. The perlite helps to loosen the structure of the potting mix, thereby aiding good aeration and drainage.

The peat is responsible for holding some moisture and releasing it according to the needs of your plant. The role of the tree bark is more or less the same as that of the peat.

The coconut peel plays a crucial role as an antifungal agent in the potting mix. This makes your plant less vulnerable to infection by fungal agents. Please note that the Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ loves to be pot-bound, so too frequent repotting is not necessary. Rather, you may need to re-pot your plant every two or three years.

Fertilizing Requirements

Fertilizing the Hoya australis plant is done to help it to boost its growth. During the active growing season of the plant, apply fertilizers that have a high potassium and phosphorus content but with limited nitrogen presence. Excessive nitrogen supply to your plant causes the flower to become soft and watery.

The growing season of the Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ stretches from April to October. Do not fertilize your plant in winter since the plant is barely growing or not growing at all. If you prefer to use mineral fertilizers, apply them about two times a month only.

Applying too much fertilizer disturbs the plant’s development pattern to an extent that it might eventually die.

The Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ is a relatively light feeder so it won’t need much nutrient supplementation in the form of fertilizers. Consider fertilizing it with one-quarter teaspoon of fertilizer in one gallon of water once a month. We highly recommended that you use a balanced fertilizer.

Temperature Requirements

The Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ prefers warm and humid environments for its growth. If placed in low temperatures, it responds by dropping its leaves. In extreme cases, the death of the whole plant might result. The Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ does not do well in temperatures that are below 45 F.

Try to maintain the temperatures ranges between 65 F and 80 F. If you are growing your plant indoors, the minimum room temperature should always be above 60 F.

Humidity Requirements

The Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ is more tolerant to lower humidity when compared to other Hoyas. If you notice brown leaf edges, your plant may be experiencing low humidity and dry soil. This may be followed by yellowing, browning, as well as falling off of the leaves and flowers.

To rectify problems that are associated with low humidity, consider boosting humidity through regular misting, using a humidifier, or using a pebble tray, so that you keep the humidity levels above 40 percent.

To use the pebble tray method, get a shallow tray, add some pebbles in it, and then fill it with clean water. Put the pot of your plant on top of the pebble tray, making sure that the pot does not come into direct contact with the water. The water evaporating from the pebble tray will increase the humidity of the air around your plant.

Pruning 

Pruning is the act of trimming leaves, branches and dead matter from plants. Since the Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ is a climbing vine that can reach four to five meters in height, it needs strong and appropriate support.

This is done to aid its climbing nature, especially when you grow it inside a container. More importantly, the Hoya Australis ‘Lisa’ needs to be pruned back to maintain a bushy appearance.

Pruning can be done anytime when you notice excessive growth or after the flowering phase is complete. To maintain the desired length of the Hoya australis ‘Lisa,’ we recommend that you prune your plant in the spring.

Avoid over-pruning your dazzling plant. Doing so may slow down the flowering process. To increase your plant’s future blooms, try to spare some old flower spurs each time you prune your Hoya austalis.

– Repotting

Repotting is removing a plant from one container to the other. This happens when a plant grows and needs more space for its growth and root development. The roots of a Hoya Australis plant do not readily tolerate disturbances, so consider not to repot if it is not necessary.

To repot your Hoya Australis plant, choose a container with drainage holes and add a permeable soil mix that contains perlite. Terracotta pots are good for planting the Hoya Australis ‘Lisa’ plant in.

Terracotta pots are made from baked clay and their porous nature allows water and air to pass through their walls. This promotes healthy plants by keeping root rot and other effects of overwatering at bay.

  

Propagation

If you are tired of buying this plant from flower markets and shops, why not engage in reproducing it by yourself? Let us go through the three types of propagation that you may need to consider.

– ­Soil Propagation

In this form of propagation, you will have to plant the stem cuttings directly into the soil. To start with, choose a healthy two-or-more-noded stem that is not flowering and cut it from the parent plant using sterile pruning shears, knife or scissors to avoid infection to the plant. Consider adding a rooting hormone to stimulate the growth of roots before planting your cutting into the potting mix.

Prepare a mix of perlite and peat moss at a ratio of 3:1. Create a space in the soil and place the cutting inside the soil, maintaining a gap of a few inches above the ground. It will take about a month for the cutting to establish roots and shoots.

– Water Propagation

In this form of propagation, the stem cuttings are dipped directly into a jar or glass of water. Get a jar or glass and fill it with filtered water combined with a few drops of rooting hormone. Take a cutting from the parent plant and make sure it has two or more nodes.

Put the cutting in the water and make sure to keep the cutting a few inches above the water surface. When the water becomes dirty, drain and replace it to avoid breeding infections.

The roots buds of your cutting will appear within a week or two, and when you notice that the growing roots of the plant are a few inches long, repot your new plant to a potting soil mix. Expect the roots to appear in a couple of weeks.

– Propagation Using Seeds

The Hoya Australis seed species have excellent germination rates. On average, these seeds will sprout between the third and the seventh day after sowing. After sprouting, your plant requires more days before it is exposed to indirect light.

 

A Hoya plant will grow from seeds if they are sown in a semi-dry soil mixture. Within one year of proper care, they can grow into blossoming plants with beautiful blooms.

When you acquire the seed, make sure it is not older than one year. The seeds should also be well dried and planted in loose soil. For the soil to absorb moisture well, mix some artificial fabrics into it. This will enhance faster germination.

Problems

Despite the fact that the Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ is an easy-care plant, there are still a few problems that you may come across. These problems may affect the plant’s growth, among other issues.

For more information about the issues that you should possibly expect to deal with as you care for your Hoya australis ‘Lisa,’ read this section.

– Pests

You need to regularly check your plants for pests.

– Mealybugs

The biggest threat with the Hoya australis plant is the mealybug, which you can easily wipe out by rubbing alcohol onto the affected plant parts using saturated cotton balls or soaked Q-tips. This works well when the pests are still in smaller infestations.

– Sap-suckers

Other pests that affect the Hoya australis plant are mainly sap-suckers and they include aphids, caterpillars and spider mites. Thrips and whiteflies can also be a threat to this plant.

These pests can be controlled by spraying neem oil on all surfaces of the plant. Doing this can reduce or entirely wipe out the population of these pests. Whiteflies and thrips can be controlled using insecticidal soaps.

As for caterpillars, we recommend that you use Monterey BT in destroying them.

– Snails and Slugs

Snails and slugs can be another problem for this plant, and to combat them, you may use snail bait and garden slug. As part of pest prevention, never overwater your plant or allow water to sit in its pot.

Sufficient airflow around the plant is important, considering that it helps to discourage excessive humidity and moisture.

– Root Rot

Root rot is a disease that attacks the roots of plants that are growing in wet, soggy soils. This disease is caused by excessive soil moisture, which encourages the development of various types of fungi. Root rot can be controlled by simply avoiding overwatering, in addition to improving drainage.

Spray both the soil and the plant with a copper fungicide to reduce the effects of root rot on your plant.

Root rot may cause your plant to wilt and form a black or brown stem. Check the roots of the plant and if they are mushy and black, it means your plant is beyond revival and should, therefore, be disposed of. Another sign of root rot is when no matter how much you water your plant, it always appears wilted.

 

– Other Diseases

The Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ can produce enough sweet-smelling nectar that causes the leaves to be sticky. This may cause the formation of black mold on leaves, which is known as sooty mold. Aphids can also cause sooty mold on plant leaves because they produce honeydew.

Sooty mold is quite easy to control. You can simply wipe it off the leaves using a damp cloth. As an alternative, you may also consider spraying diluted seaweed fertilizer over the area that is covered with the mold.

Botrytis Blight is another disease that you may look out for as you take care of your Hoya australis plant. This disease also forms on the leaves of the hoya plant. Initially, you may see some greyish fungal patches on the stem of the plant, which may eventually cause the leaves to collapse. To treat this disease, use a copper fungicide like Bionicle Copper Fungicide. 

– Growth Issues

Watering issues are the main cause of growing problems on the Hoya australis ‘Lisa’. Overwatering a plant causes root rot, whereas underwatering the plant causes wilting and yellowing of leaves. Considering that the Hoya australis plant is drought resistant, it’s advisable to err on the side of underwatering.

If the plant shows signs of getting too little water, it may be brought back to life if you water it. The case is different when you overwater the plant, as it may now be too difficult to get it back on its feet. You should consider watering carefully while limiting the amount of water you give this plant.

Other causes of growth problems include diseases, temperature discrepancies, and sunlight imbalances.

– Toxicity

The leaves of the Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ contain a latex sap and when they are crushed or broken, they can be slightly toxic. We, therefore, advise you to use extreme caution when growing this plant around children, cats and dogs.

Ideally, keep the plant away from the reach of children and pets. Otherwise, you might need to monitor all activity around the plant as much as possible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the answers to the questions that most plant lovers have concerning caring for the Hoya australis ‘Lisa.’

– Is Hoya Lisa Rare?

The Hoya australis Lisa plant is not commonly found in a lot of places in the world, but it is not an extremely rare plant. It is well-loved for its unique coloration, so if you happen to see one in your local gardening shop, we recommend you snatch it up.

– How Do I Get My Hoya Australis Lisa to Bloom?

The Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ will only bloom if all of its needs are being met, so make sure to provide it with bright, indirect light and regularly feed it with a balanced fertilizer. If the plant is not well established during the growing season, it may be too stressed to start blooming.

If your Hoya australis is not blooming even under good light, try growing it with a little lower light and cooler temperatures at night. Hoya plants usually bloom in summer. 

– Why Should I Prune My Hoya Australis?

Regular pruning ensures that some of the diseased and damaged parts of the Hoya australis plant are removed, a step that makes the plant healthier. When your plant develops excessive leaves and branches, these prevent sunlight and air from reaching some parts of the plant, thereby eventually hindering the plant’s growth overall.

Aside from this, there are several other reasons why pruning your plant is necessary. Pruning is also a measure of controlling plant pests, which may hide in the excessive foliage. Pruning also assists in enhancing the beautiful appearance of your Hoya australis plant.

– What is the Difference between the Hoya Australis Variegata and Hoya Australis Lisa?

The main difference between these two plants is in the appearance of the leaves, as the leaves of the Hoya australis Variegata look much like those of the Hoya australis ‘Lisa,’ just that those of the former are more pubescent underneath than on top. Pubescence is a fine covering of soft short hair on the surface of a leaf and other parts of the plant.

The Hoya australis Variegata is a variegated form of Hoya australis. The term “variegated” refers to the appearance of different colored zones on the leaves, flowers, stems and fruits on the same plant.

When grown in the sunshine, the variegated Hoya australis has smooth green and white leaves that have a pink tone when it is still young.

The Hoya australis ‘Lisa’ leaves can get completely red and can grow up to about six to seven centimeters long and about 4.5 centimeters wide. The requirements for growing this plant are the same as those of Hoya australis Variegata. 

Conclusion 

The Hoya australis Lisa has proven to be a beautiful and interesting plant, as you have noticed by going through this article. Here are some of the major points to prioritize and remember.

• The Hoya Australis Lisa is somehow a care-free plant that requires less attention when it comes to water, sunlight, pruning and soil requirements.
• The Hoya Australis Lisa requires bright, indirect light for its proper growth, and water and humidity must be kept at a balance, making sure that you avoid overwatering as it may cause root rot.
• You can propagate your plant through water, soil or seed propagation. Like any other plant, pest control is vital in its growth and blooming.
• Well-draining soils are most appropriate for this plant, and use fertilizers that are rich in potassium and phosphorus while being low in nitrogen.
• The Hoya Australis Lisa prefers temperatures that are between 65 F and 80 F.

This article has given you insight and knowledge on how to grow your own Hoya Australis Lisa plant and beautify your home and workplace. Enjoy the adventure!