I don't know if one is faster than the other. But rooting in soil is better because you don't force the plant to go through the shock of adjusting to soil after being rooted in water. It's just one less thing to set your plant back and risk losing it.

Denise in Omaha

I started using hydroton this spring. Cuttings are being rooted that way, which basically is in water. They're doing great. The first cuttings I got this year I chopped up and put most in hydrotron but one cutting of each hoya in potting soil as well. I wasn't comfortable enough with the water rooting technique and I wanted backup in case the water rooting rotted them. Both methods work great. In my case, rooting in water is an advantage since they won't be planted in soil later.
Sande

I've not been terribly successful rooting in water. I find many hoyas tend to root that way. Oddly there are those who are successful at it.

Kelly

I also haven't done the water rooting method. I've been succesful using either the fast draining soil mix or equal parts of turface(or Diatomaceous earth) and shredded sphagnum moss. The turface/sphagnum moss method has rooted the fastest for me, then I remove the it gently(super easy to do) from the roots and plant in my normal soil. So far from all the ones I've done this way, all the hoyas have done great.

I don't think there's really one hard & fast answer to this. I think it depends on both the grower & what kind of Hoya in question.

Generally, I'm a big one for water rooting most of my Hoyas. I find it easy & it works well for me -- yet I find it doesn't work w/ H Carnosas (for me), or if it does, it works badly for me.

One really has to try it, ideally, split a cutting in two & try it both ways & compare.

There are little side issues: w/ water rooting, I add bits of aquarium grade charcoal to the water to prevent it from getting yucky or growing algae. Also I don't change the water, I only ADD to it (have heard that rooting cuttings release a hormone into the water which helps w/ water rooting, so I don't chance dumping it out by changing the water; I just add a bit more from time to time).

WHen you root in water, the plant grows "water roots" when planted in the soil, those water roots are replaced with soil roots, so in essence you're rooting it twice. I've been rooting in a jar with pure perlite, put enough water in the jar to moisten all the perlite, but not enough that the cuttings are sitting in water. They form roots "searching" for moisture. They also tend to root very quickly. You can just pop them in the soil after that with no need of transitional time and no need of regrowing soil roots.

Kelly,
I haven't been too careful with the water levels rooting. Perhaps I should be.
Sande

Is it true that there are two different types of roots? That seems quite useless to grow them in water just to have them regrow in the soil...

Also, it was mentioned that the plant sends out a hormone to help rooting in water. Does the same apply for soil?

Can you guys tell me more about the experience rooting the hoyas in water? As this thread was posted more than one year ago, it seems that you all have already the necessary data to help me. Thank you very much!
I'm doing my own experience and will let you know the results as soon as I have a conclusion about water vs soil.

My advice exactly mirrors Mentha's.

Josh

Did not understando Josh, sorry my English is very poor!

My apologies, Mitzicos!

I realized after posting that the expression might be unclear.

Water roots and air roots are different. When water roots are potted in soil,
they will often break, dry out, or die. Then, the cutting has to grow roots again.
So this is like rooting twice, which takes a lot of energy.

Therefore, in my opinion, it is better to root in a porous mixture from the start.
Mentha suggested Perlite, which is lightweight and doesn't hold much water inside.

I have rooted in water, Perlite, pure Bark, and Bark and grit combinations.
I find that pure Bark and Bark mixed with grit produces the best results.


Josh

Hi
Last summer I started to root all my cuttings in hydro clay chips.I changed my method because I was finding when your cuttings come a bit stressed they would some times rot in my coir mix but with the chips I have not had one rot.I use clear plastic cups so I can see the roots.Once I see a good root I transfer to my coir mix.

Cindy

Josh,

Thank you for explanation. I don't use any translator, only my mind, and my mind can be worst than the automatic translation.

Cindy, transparent (clear)plastic is an excellent idea, I'll do it next time!

Josh,

Thank you for explanation. I don't use any translator, only my mind, and my mind can be worst than the automatic translation.

Cindy, transparent (clear)plastic is an excellent idea, I'll do it next time!

Gee - how it would be cool if there was 100% sure straight-forward way to propagate an orange tree from its shoot.

Well Tom,

Maybe you could look to see if there is a Citrus Forum on GW.

Sorry, but here at Hoya Forum, we really only discuss Hoyas (& some of their relatives like Dischidias or Ceropegias).

MICROBIOLOGY!!!! you need to consider microbiology when rooting in water: When you have water with only plant material in it, it will be more likely to develop a pathogen that kills the plant, like a mould... If you put a pinch of living compost in the water, it will populate the water with a rich ecosystem of all kinds of soil bacteria, which will prevent a weird monoculture of mushroom in the water, and it should also contian rhizome beneficial funghi, and also... Humic Acid with promotes root growth... SO... When i am seeding or have cuttings in water, i always put compost in it... IT's the same principle as human digestion... If i have a big meal and i don't have cheese at the end, i get bloated and digest less well... If i wait till your stomach acid is less strong and eat some not-pasteurized living cheese, it will change how i digest food. The same goes for Olives, and non pasteurized saurkraut which are all living fermented foods. ... That said, water is a more fun way to sprout get roots but only in plants which root very easily i expect?!? not with any kind of plant, if they take more than 2 weeks in soil, then best use compost and a humid climate. so... pinch of ciompost, something with humic acid like beech understory, and keep the rooting zone in dark it helps. i discovered water recently but with my biology training that's my method for it.

Buying them...

Mr. Hamilton, buying what?

Antony, I tend to agree with you! That being said, I don't use water rooting (although hoyas are quite easy to root).

Epiphytes, like most hoyas and orchids grow mostly in tree canopies. There are exceptions, of course. Many hoyas start off establishing themselves in ground, and then using aerial roots, make their way up trees, attaching themselves to the trunks with the aerial roots. Hoya seeds often float up into the canopy and germinate directly on to tree branches. As such, unless the orchid or hoya is a true terrestrial, like paph orchids and Hoya imperialis (although, there was a picture I saw somewhere of an imperialis seedling that started in a tree...things that make you think), beneficial fungii and bacteria found in ground dirt may not be beneficial.

There are also beneficial bacteria and fungii on tree trunks and branches; some are even critical to germination of orchid seeds, which is why most orchids are propagated via division or keikis; those that are seed grown are germinated in flasks that contain exactly what they need. Exceptions are seed grown wild orchids and the occasional lucky grower that had a seedpod split and deliver seeds onto nearby trees (they won't germinate unless the environment is right; a seed that makes it's way onto a tree in Alaska, for example, is not likely to germinate) or onto the mother plant's root system, which contains the nutrients and beneficial microbes.

I am not saying that beneficial microbes are bad (I use EM-1, myself, in my potting media). They are, in fact, excellent and beneficial. The issue is, with epiphytes, we really don't know what they would benefit from the most. I haven't heard of studies that involve scraping tree trunks and branches to find out the makeup of micro-beasties of the microbiome these plants like. It would be interesting, though!

Buying more plants. Rooting takes FOREVER.

Rooting hoyas is actuall quite fast (except in winter). Usually takes 3-10 days. Buying rooted cuttings and plants can be expensive, which is why many people who have a hoya they really like that looks sick or on death's door just take cuttings and root them, versus buying a whole new plant. Also, it is cheaper to buy cuttings than established plants!

You are in the wrong forum, then!

Yuan...your statements are pointless..troll somewhere else nutjob

I think this "Yuan Gong Hamilton" is retarded big time. Making pointless comments in several forums here @ gardenweb.

Very odd indeed..lol

aurorawa, I have several cuttings in a perlite orchid bark mix that have been in there for 11 days now, when I tug slightly I feel no resistance. Would it be harmful to the cuttings to dump the medium out and check for roots? It's killing me not knowing what's going on under there! Plus I don't want these babies to die. They are pubicalyx

No, it won't be harmful. Check for rot, while you are at it. When mine are not passing the tug test by 10 days, I dump the pot out to check for roots and rot. If the stem is mushy or ugly looking (black or yellow), I just cut off the dead stuff and try again. If there are roots, you need to repot very carefully so that the new root system does not break. The best way to do that is to add 1/4-1/2 inch of potting medium to your pot, place the cutting in, and gently pour potting medium around the cutting. Be sure to support the cutting either with your hand or a stake (small bamboo, kabob "spear", whatever) while adding the potting medium, so that it stays upright and center in the pot!

Oh my gosh, two of the cuttings had roots! Small ones that are by no means anchored down but I could kick myself for not being patient and just letting them do their thing. I really hope I didn't shock or stunt them. I followed your advice to a T, but did redip the one cutting that hasn't rooted yet in some hormone again. Fingers crossed!

Don't feel bad. We may not admit it, but I am pretty sure we all do it!

I hope people are still commenting on this thread! I signed up because I have questions that I haven't been able to fin the answers to just by reading the convos... you alll sound so experienced and I'm just a beginner like literally got my first plant last spring... anyway my question is what part do I cut to propogate from? I have a few stems that are red and have new growth and the others are like a tan color... I rescued this one and just found out what it is lol

First,.....Welcome to the forum. There are many friendly and knowledgable folks here, but unfortunately not everyone that used to comment here are still here.

The best way to find out who is still around here to comment is to start a new discussion at the top and ask a question, then one doesn't have to scroll clear to the bottom of an old thread to find your current question.

That said, I am not sure what you mean by what part? Are you referring to what part to cut or what part to put in the medium? Actually, if you have a new plant, it's probably best to just let it grow and take cuttings in the spring. They are more apt to root easily then.

smr9479, welcome!

To answer your question, as long as the cutting you make has at least two mature leaves (4 or more is usually better), it should root.

To make a standard cutting (for your average hoya), you want to cut the stem right BELOW a node (the place where the leaves join to the stem, again making sure there are at least two leaves on the CUT portion of plant- see picture below).

For heavier (large leaves or a big cutting) hoyas or hoyas with very small internode stem (stem tissue between two sets of leaves), you want to make a cut directly BELOW a node. You will then remove the leaves from the node. See picture.

Keep in mind any long, young vines that have immature or no leaves may die back. But, after it uses the energy to root, it will grow a new vine.

Hoya waymaniae, taking a standard cutting:

Hoya waymaniae, taking a heavy "duty" cutting (large leaves or very tiny internode space):

Wow! Thank you so much for your very detailed responce! I should probably wait until spring to do this, though, right? I have 0 sun in my house so my plant is outside and even though I'm in Florida we have had a couple of nights in the low 40s already ...

I would like to make a comment, I have my Hoya Caranosa Variegated cuttings in water, sounds like not a good thing. I do have some perlite and orchid growing mix. I have had good luck with Christmas Cactus growing in bark.

My question is, I am to have two to three leaves per cutting, that I don't have on some of the cuttings, I could not just through them away. I have them planted in Sphagnum moss and water right now.

There are pros and cons to both. Rooting cuttings in soil means they develop hearty soil roots, which avoids problems that can arise when moving a rooted cutting from water to soil. But that being said, it's much easier to monitor the progress of a cutting when it's in a cup of water, and for me that usually outweighs the alternative. I've been experimenting with both, and this has provided some good info on the process of moving a cutting from water to soil: https://houseandsprout.com/water-roots-to-soil-roots/

Good luck to anyone else wondering the same thing! If you've got multiple cuttings to root, it's fun to try both the water and soil method to see what works best for your particular plant.

I've been rooting quite a few in jars with leca balls and about an inch of water at the bottom. Position the cutting in the leca, near the edge of the jar so you can see the roots develop, but not actually touching the water. Then add about an inch of water and maintain that inch. For the first water, I also sometimes add either Superthrive or KLN (if I remember). Some hoyas root well with this method. So far, I've had good success with carnosa both Krimson Queen and Princess, green carnosa, multiflora. Here's multiflora and carnosa in one jar:

Krinkle 8 did not want to root this way. I left it in leca for about 5 weeks and nothing. So I ended up putting it in sphagnum moss in a little greenhouse made from an old food container. Here's my little greenhouse. I have a shot glass in the corner filled with water to help retain humidity. Krinkle 8 rooted in less than 2 weeks in this.