Species library › Hoya › Hoya retusa
Hoyas Well documented

Hoya retusa

A pendent, clump-forming epiphytic hoya from the monsoon forests of western India, with narrow, clustered, slightly succulent leaves that end in a small notch (the 'retuse' tip that gives it its name). It bears single or few fragrant, star-shaped cream flowers with a red corona. In the wild it is a rare epiphyte on tree trunks in shaded semi-evergreen forest at low elevation, so it wants warmth, moderate shade and a drier, cooler rest after the monsoon.

Hoya retusa
Photo: Altocumuli, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Dappled lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

Herbarium labels describe it as a rare epiphyte on forest trees, growing in shade on tree trunks in semi-evergreen forest. Its stems hang down from the trunk or branch in loose clumps.

Collections come from the Konkan coast and the Western Ghats escarpment (for example Shiradi Ghat in Karnataka at about 300 m), so it is a lowland to low-hill plant. Kew also lists the East Himalaya, but no dated wild records from there were found.

India (Western Ghats and Konkan: Maharashtra, Karnataka)East Himalaya (listed by Kew)

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

Grow Hoya retusa? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.