Hoya Carnosa Propagation Guide

Today I’m writing about the hoya carnosa—a plant that has been a houseplant staple for decades! Otherwise known as a “wax plant” for its thick, waxy leaves, it’s part of the Hoya genus. (See my full hoya carnosa plant care guide.)

It’s a low maintenance plant that can withstand a variety of different light levels and thrives on neglect—and there are a ton of different types of carnosa to choose from!

Taking a good cutting

Successful plant propagation starts with knowing how to take a cutting. This can be different for different plants—some can be propagated by a single leaf! The best way to take a hoya carnosa cutting for propagation is by including a few leaves and nodes.

Nodes are the areas on stems where leaves grow. However, it’s also worth noting that Hoya carnosa plants can sprout roots from anywhere on the stem. I find my success rate to be higher if I include a node or two, but I have had a ton of stem propagations be successful, too.

You also don’t want too many leaves, because you want the cutting to focus on root development. Just a few leaves is great. Here are some carnosa queen and carnosa jade cutting examples:

Rooting in sphagnum moss

Rooting in sphagnum moss is usually my favorite way to propagate hoya carnosa cuttings. I have saved these little plastic cups you get when you get a Chipotle kids meal—they are perfect for rooting cuttings in moss!

Step 1: Prep moss mixture

After taking a cutting, I prep a bowl of moss. Here’s how I do it: First I soak the sphagnum moss and squeeze out all of the excess water. I mix in some coarse perlite for aeration, then I add it to the cup and pop the cuttings in.

As an optional step, you can dip the cutting in rooting hormone if you’d like. I do this sometimes. It just depends if I have any on hand. It definitely isn’t required.

Step 2: Maintain moisture

Maintaining moisture and humidity is essential when propagating in moss. You don’t want the moss to dry out completely. You want it to stay damp, but not soaking wet. And you want humidity.

There are a few easy ways to maintain moisture and humidity. The first is by simply putting a plastic bag over the cutting and mixture. Take it off every few days to monitor moisture levels and make sure everything is staying nice and damp.

Another easy way is by putting all of your cuttings into a DIY propagation box. I simple use a clear plastic storage bin with a clear lid. Light can get in and the humidity levels are SERIOUSLY high.

To air it out, I just take the lid off to check on everything. But generally you don’t need to re-dampen anything! I have a post all about how to set up a DIY plastic propagation box you can check out as well.

Step 3: Monitor roots

Here is a look at some of the moss cuttings after only a few days in moss and perlite mixtures. Hoyas might be slow growers, but they root really fast with humidity! I would let these roots grow a bit more before transplanting the cuttings to soil.

Rooting in water

You can also propagate hoya carnosa plants in water. This is lower maintenance, and you can watch the rooting progress over time. It’s also a great option for if you take a bunch of cuttings and want to be lazy and wait to pot them up.

Simply pop the cutting in water and refresh it every week or so. Once you have some roots, you can plant the cutting. Keep the soil moist while the cutting takes root in the soil. After about a week or so, back off watering a bit. Once you can tug the cutting and get resistance, scale way back to normal hoya watering levels—letting the soil dry out before watering again.

Rooting directly in soil

If you’d like to skip the water rooting step and propagate a hoya cutting directly in soil, you can do that, too. The downside is that you can’t monitor root development. But since these are pretty easy plants to propagate, this isn’t a huge deal.

You’ll have to keep the soil damp, keep the humidity high, and put the plant in a spot with bright, indirect light. Give it a couple of weeks before you check the cuttings for root development—and if it’s not spring or summer, consider adding a heat mat to speed things up!

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