If you were lucky enough to receive a heart-shaped hoya plant, also known as a sweetheart plant or Valentine’s hoya, here is how to take care of this cute little plant.
This heart-shaped leaf is what it is, a leaf from a vine plant called Hoya kerrii. Because it is a rooted leaf and not a rooted stem cutting, it will not grow into a vining plant, it will simply exist as is. There is no growing point to develop a vine. However, if you take care of it, it will last quite a while. Provide a warm room, bright indirect light, and don’t overwater the plant. This is a succulent that needs little water and well-draining soil. Make sure the container has drainage holes. Since you are not encouraging growth, just survival, you only need to fertilize once a year during the summer. These plants will stay small, they won’t grow or change, which makes them perfect desktop plants.
In its natural life, Hoya kerrii is a vine with heart shaped leaves. Like other hoyas, these plants make great hanging basket plants. They have fascinating blooms, usually scented. Interestingly, we know about this plant because an Irish medical doctor named Arthur Francis George Kerr worked in southeast Asia in the early 20th century. He is known for his botanical studies of the flora of Thailand. He collected Hoya kerrii in Chiang Mai, which is in northern Thailand, and sent it to Kew Gardens in England where it flowered in August 1911. I am sure he had no idea that over one hundred years later, a single leaf cutting of this plant has become a popular Valentine’s Day gift.
