The sweetheart plant has a very special leaf shape and is often used as a romantic gift. We show you how to properly care for the sweetheart plant.
The sweetheart plant is a great alternative to the traditional red rose on Valentine's Day and at the same time serves as a particularly long-lasting token of love. This article tells you how to care for them properly and how to propagate them yourself.
Sweetheart plant: origin and properties
The sweetheart plant (Hoya kerrii) is at least as suitable for Valentine's Day as the classic red rose (Rosa). It has other melodious names such as heart plant, little darling, its botanical name - Hoya kerrii - or often wax flower. But be careful: Wax flower is also called the porcelain flower, but it is a different species. Sweetheart plants belong to the milkweed family (Asclepiadoideae), which form a subfamily of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae). The Hoya kerrii is native between China and Java - one of the main Indonesian islands. It has its origin in the mountains there.
The climbing, herbaceous plant can grow up to four meters high. The pale glabrous stem is covered with opposite foliage leaves, which remain on the plant during hibernation. Each leaf has a petiole about 2 cm long and a thick fleshy, simple leaf blade about 12 cm wide and 10 cm long. The peculiarity of the bare leaves is the two-pointed leaf tip, which is very similar to the shape of a heart. This is also the origin of the plant's name and the reason why it is so popular as a gift on Valentine's Day.
The Hoya kerrii flowers between March and July. The conspicuous umbelliferous flowers each consist of an inflorescence with up to 25 flowers and have a total diameter of around 5 cm. White sepals and red, downy hairy petals are formed. The flowers produce a lot of red-brownish nectar, which is mostly odorless. The anthesis of the flowers - this is the time it takes for the flower to fully open -takes up to two weeks.
Hoya kerrii varieties
There are three special varieties of the sweetheart plant:
- 'Albo-marginata': Also spelled simply Albomarginata, particularly conspicuous because of the white variegated leaves; more widespread than other varieties.
- 'Variegata': The leaves have a prominent yellow border, turning green toward the center; occurs less frequently.
- 'Reverse Variegata': The leaves have a color gradient like Variegata, only in reverse: the border is green and turns yellow towards the middle; therefore sometimes also called Yellow Splash; occurs less frequently.
Care for Hoya kerrii
The sweetheart plant has certain preferences when it comes to location. It should be bright and shady, with a lot of direct sunlight it can burn the leaves. In summer, a room temperature of around 21 °C is ideal, as is high humidity. This is mainly because the sweetheart plant comes from tropical regions. It is therefore the perfect plant for bright daylight bathrooms. The plant should be sprayed regularly with water, as this will increase the humidity. The growth phase of the sweetheart plant is between March and October. Although the plant can easily survive outdoors in the summer if the pot is placed in partial shade or full sun, it should move to winter quarters indoors during the winter. This should be cool and yet bright, 10 °C to 15 °C is optimal. Sweetheart plant is very sensitive to frost.
Cactus soil is suitable as a plant substrate. If you don't have such a special soil at hand, you can also make one yourself from universal soil, quartz sand, pumice and crushed expanded clay. You can use our Plantura organic universal soil for this, for example, which, thanks to its sustainable production without peat, ensures that the plants are optimally supplied.
Tip to mix cactus soil yourself: Mix about 50% universal soil with 20% quartz sand, 20% crushed expanded clay and 10% bas alt or granite rock powder. The result is a loose, slightly acidic and well-aerated substrate that can store water well and at the same time avoid waterlogging.
During the vegetation, the sweetheart plant should be watered regularly, whereby the soil must dry out well in between. Since thePlants are very sensitive to lime, rainwater is a good choice for irrigation. Waterlogging should also be avoided, but this is not a problem if there is good drainage. In addition, it should be fertilized every 3 to 4 weeks. In particular, adding a liquid fertilizer with the irrigation water ensures a quick effect. This is how the sweetheart plant becomes juicy, green and strong. A fertilizer such as our Plantura organic indoor & green plant fertilizer is suitable for this purpose, as it promotes he althy root growth and active soil life.
If the plants get bigger, they can grow upwards along a trellis, or alternatively they can be set up as a hanging plant. If the pot is too narrow, the sweetheart plant should be repotted. This is usually the case every two years. The best time to do this is early spring, between February and March. The new pot should not be too big. Good drainage is important to avoid waterlogging. First, the old soil should be removed a little from the root ball. Then you can put the plant in the new pot, cover it carefully with soil and press it down gently.
The sweetheart plant does not need to be pruned, it is sufficient to remove diseased or stunted parts. Since new buds for the next year are formed on the faded umbels of flowers, these should also remain on the plant.
Propagate sweetheart plant
To propagate the Hoya kerrii it is enough to plant cuttings. To do this, a leaf of the plant can be cut off and placed in fresh seed soil, for example our Plantura organic herb and seed soil. With good watering and regular watering, roots begin to form and the leaf grows. If the sweetheart plant has grown well, it can be repotted in cactus soil. This is when the first roots grow out of the bottom of the pot.
Is the sweetheart plant poisonous?
The plant sap contained in the Hoya kerrii and the flower umbels are slightly poisonous. In birds in particular, even small amounts of the poison can be enough to trigger symptoms of poisoning. Symptoms of poisoning include gastrointestinal problems, vomiting, and diarrhea. However, the Hoya kerrii is harmless when touched.
Do you think the classic red rose is a more appropriate gift for Valentine's Day? Then read here which types of red roses are the most romantic.