Hoya Rebecca Care InfographicThe Hoya Rebecca flower gives the plant an eye-catching appearance that would give your home garden the vivid touch that it deserves. However, having this plant is not enough, you also need to learn how to maintain it.
This article is a compilation of professional advice from renowned plant caregivers, with a special focus on the care requirements of the Hoya Rebecca. For more details, continue reading this care guide.
Contents
What Is a Hoya Rebecca?
The Hoya Rebecca is a vining epiphyte with a waxy, dark-green foliage and sweet-scented pink flowers. This plant is often confused with the Hoya sunrise. The main difference between the two is that the green color on Hoya sunrise leaves is deeper than that on the Hoya Rebecca leaves.
Hoya Rebecca Care
As long as you know the care requirements for the Hoya Rebecca, parenting this plant is relatively easy. Just make sure to provide the proper environment for your Hoya plant, and it will reward you with a beautiful foliage and perfect blooms.
Learn the tips and tricks for growing this type of Hoya here.
– Water Requirements
Hoya Rebecca is one of the plants that have minimal water requirements. You should give this plant very little water, particularly during the winter when the plant’s leaves appear drier than usual.
It’s easy to feel tempted to give the plant more water at this time but this is not recommended.
In fact, don’t even leave a saucer with water under the plant beyond an hour, as doing so will make your plant more vulnerable to root rot, which can kill it.
You can quench your plant’s thirst more often in summer, though you still have to be cautious as you do so. Allow the soil of your plant to dry out before you water it again. Usually, this means that you should water after every three days on average.
– Light Requirements
The Hoya Rebecca thrives best when it is provided with bright, indirect light. One of the positions that strategically allow your plant to get indirect sunlight is a spot that is close to the window, especially during the sunny days in winter.
Growing your Hoya under artificial light is also another way of creating indirect light exposure to the plant. On warmer days, do the best that you can to keep your plant further away from the windows so that it does not receive too much light.
– Soil Requirements
A well-draining soil is a preferred substrate for your Hoya Rebecca. A well-draining soil protects your plant from possible waterlogging conditions that are caused by compacted soils. Plants that stay in waterlogged soil for long periods of time may develop root rot, and this is also a possibility for the Hoya Rebecca plant.
To create a well-draining Hoya Rebecca soil mix for your plant, add sand or perlite to the soil. Perlite and sand loosen the structure of your plant’s soil by creating more airspaces. Such a soil structure allows the roots of your dazzling plant to breathe and grow healthy. More importantly, well-draining soils help to prevent root rot.
– Temperature Requirements
Temperatures ranging between 64 F and 72 F are conducive for the growth of the Rebecca plant. In winter, temperatures between 61 F and 64 F are more favorable. You can keep the temperatures between 72 F and 75 F during warmer seasons. Taking heed of these temperature ranges is handy in maintaining a healthy Hoya Rebecca plant.
The plant is very sensitive to temperatures that fall beyond this recommended range. Moreover, huge fluctuations in temperatures negatively affect the growth and even threaten the survival of your Hoya Rebecca plant.
If temperatures fall below 54 F for about an hour or two, the damage that happens to your plant cannot be reversed.
– Humidity Requirements
The Hoya Rebecca thrives well when it is exposed to conditions of high humidity. This means that there is a need to keep humidity levels in check, especially during the winter when the air is naturally dry.
Ideally, the Hoya Rebecca requires humidity levels that range between 60 to 80 percent. Please note that such high humidity levels would also need you to make sure that your plant’s soil drains well so that your plant will not be affected by root rot.
One of the easiest strategies for maintaining the humidity levels that are appropriate for the proper growth of your plant is regularly misting the plant with a spray bottle. The main challenge with this method is that it demands much of your attention.
Additionally, you might even forget to spray the plant. Therefore, just make sure that your Hoya Rebecca is exposed to indirect light at all times so as to make the air around the plant less dry.
– Fertilizing Requirements
The Hoya Rebecca can do well even without adding fertilizers. If you do decide to feed it, just a little will be enough for your plant. During the summer and spring seasons, add fertilizer to your Hoya Rebecca on a monthly basis. During the winter season, refrain from fertilizing the Hoya plant as it will be relatively dormant during this time.
A balanced flower fertilizer is a great option for boosting the growth of your plant. It would be an additional benefit if the fertilizer is a slow-release one as well because this attribute reduces the chances of overfertilizing your beauty. You can also consider using an organic fertilizer to minimize the probability of burning your Hoya Rebecca.
– Pruning
The growth and appearance of the Hoya Rebecca improve when you prune the plant whenever it’s necessary. When you prune your plant, target the parts that are dying or already dead in order to eliminate them.
If you leave these parts on your plant, they will use up some of the resources that should ideally be available to the healthy parts of your plant.
We also recommend that you prune your plant as you approach the spring season. Doing this encourages new back-budding. Overall, your plant will appear healthier.
– Repotting
As your Hoya Rebecca grows, so do its roots. With time, the current pot for your plant will become smaller, a scenario that further constricts the free growth of your plant’s roots. If this happens, you should transfer your plant to a slightly bigger pot for optimum growth.
If you choose to use peat-based soils when you repot, consider adding small amounts of sulfur or aluminum sulfate to increase the acidity of the substrate. These two chemicals lower the pH of your plant’s soil.
Repotting this type of Hoya is best when it’s done during the summer months. However, you can also do it during the spring, though the results are not as admirable as those of repotting the plant in the summer.
Propagation
One of the best ways to propagate the Hoya Rebecca is through cuttings. Air-layering also works quite well. Once you know how to propagate your Hoya, you can save yourself from having to buy the plant each time you need more of it.
Problems and Troubleshooting
Like any other plant, the Hoya Rebecca has some issues that you should be on the lookout for as you parent it.
The best part is that most of the problems that you might face as you take care of your Hoya have remedies or preventative measures as you shall see in this section.
– Unknown Toxicity Status to Pets
It is assumed that the Hoya Rebeca is not harmful to human beings, considering that there have never been reported incidents of the plant’s toxicity.
There is not much data about the safety of this plant to pets, however. We therefore recommend that you keep your gorgeous plant away from the reach of pets. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
– Losing New Leaves
Are the new leaves of your plant falling while your plant is actively growing? This is a cause for concern, especially when the dropping leaves are not even mature. However, all these are symptoms of water stress on your plant. It could be that you would have deprived your Hoya of water for too long or you might have soaked the plant.
To correct the problem at hand, revise your watering patterns accordingly. Give your plant more water if you used to expose it to longer dry spells. Equally, restrict watering if you were previously giving your Hoya too much to drink.
– Yellowing Leaves
If you notice that your Hoya Rebecca is developing yellow leaves, that is a clear sign that you are giving it too much water. To correct this, improve the drainage of your plant’s soil.
Also, avoid watering the plant when the soil is still moist. Instead, wait for it to dry completely. You can also consider repotting your Hoya to another pot with a potting mix that is more loosely structured.
– Wrinkling or Thin Leaves
When the leaves of your plant are either wrinkled or appear thin, it’s a reflection of water stress. When you water your plant less frequently than you should, its leaves will become wrinkled.
Thin leaves are a result of your plant sitting in water, basically due to poor draining or compacted soils. Check the soil of your plant and revisit your watering schedule to ensure that the leaves of your Hoya are healthy.
– Stunted or Absent Growth
Even the slightest changes in the environment can cause Hoya Rebecca to enter into a period of immediate dormancy. Such changes include moving the plant from the nursery where you bought it from to your home.
Even taking the plant outside when it has been growing inside the house and vice-versa can also trigger this form of dormancy, which can span from weeks to months.
Once your plant has experienced a change in environment, give it enough time to acclimatize to the new conditions. It will get out of the dormancy period on its own.
– Pests
Mealybugs, spider mites, thrips and scale are some of the most common pests that attack the Hoya Rebecca plants. These pests survive by sucking the sap of your plant, thereby destroying its vitality. Develop a habit of thoroughly checking your plant for these pests because they are easier to deal with if their presence is detected at an earlier stage.
– What To Do
Neem oil is one of the best insecticides for dealing with these sucking pests. You can also consider using insecticidal soap that you can either buy or prepare on your own at home.
Dabbing the pests with 70 percent alcohol is also a great idea. To prepare the 70 percent alcohol, mix 70 ml of ethanol or isopropyl alcohol with 30 ml of water, which will give you 100 ml of the final product.
Washing your plant also works, especially when the infestation is still low. In cases where the infestation is too high, incinerating the affected plant might be the best solution. Be sure to disinfect the spot where the affected plant was, as a way of minimizing the possibility of the pests spreading to other plants in your home garden.
FAQ
What is the difference between Hoya Rebecca and Hoya Sunrise?
Hoya Rebecca and Hoya Sunrise are two different cultivars of the Hoya plant. Rebecca has waxy leaves with silver markings while Sunrise has green and pink leaves.
Does Hoya Rebecca like its leaves wet?
Hoya Rebecca does not like its leaves wet and prefers to be watered from the bottom to prevent water from sitting on its foliage.
How long can Hoya Rebecca survive without water?
Hoya Rebecca can survive without water for up to 2 weeks, but it is best to water it regularly to promote healthy growth.
Conclusion
Now that you have learned the tips for taking care of your Hoya Rebecca plant the expert way, let’s go through the main points once again.
- The Hoya Rebecca plant requires bright, indirect light for optimum growth. In summer, maintain temperatures between 72 F and 75 F. Keep the temperatures between 61 F and 64 F during winter.
- High humidity levels between 60 to 80 percent are ideal for the optimum growth of your plant.
- You can apply low amounts of slow-release or organic fertilizer during summer. Do not add fertilizers in the winter seasons and regularly remove dead parts of the plants to promote new growth.
- Allow the soil of your plant to become completely dry in-between watering sessions.
- Be on the lookout for pests like scale, mealybugs and thrips, but the most likely problems that you will encounter as you care for your Hoya emanate from incorrect watering patterns and soil structure.
With all this relevant theoretical knowledge at your fingertips, it’s time to get practical. Happy experiential learning!
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