Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Shooting Star Hoya (Hoya multiflora)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called shooting star hoya, shooting star plant, many-flowered wax plant, Hoya multiflora 'Shooting Star'.

More about shooting star hoya

About Shooting Star Hoya

Hoya multiflora · also called shooting star hoya, shooting star plant · flowering

Hoya multiflora, the shooting star hoya, is an epiphytic flowering plant from Southeast Asia grown for its prolific clusters of swept-back, star-shaped yellow-and-white blooms. Unlike most hoyas it grows as a stiff, upright shrub rather than a trailing vine. Easy and free-flowering in bright indirect light. ASPCA-clean genus, pet-safe.

Cold limit: 18-29°C

What shooting star hoya's hardiness rating actually means

Shooting Star Hoya is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1b means: Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season. On the US scale that maps to USDA not formally rated (treat as tender) — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 10 °C (sustained cold below this is damaging). Shooting Star Hoya has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for shooting star hoya as it gets too cold:

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can shooting star hoya go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when shooting star hoya can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1b figure above.

Shooting Star Hoya hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is shooting star hoya cold hardy?

Shooting Star Hoya is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Shooting Star Hoya can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA not formally rated (treat as tender)); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature shooting star hoya can survive?

What hardiness zone is shooting star hoya?

Shooting Star Hoya is rated USDA not formally rated (treat as tender) and RHS H1b — Sub-tropical — a normal warm home is fine, but it cannot go outside in a cool season.

Can shooting star hoya survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 10 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to shooting star hoya below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 10 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.