Happy July 4th to everyone and Happy Independence Day to those readers in the U.S.  Hoya maxima ‘Red Corona’ buds continue to enlarge – Do I dare hope?

I’m really glad that I kept Hoya flagellata around despite my struggles with the plant.  This species also helped me learn that you need to keep trying different methods and medias when a plant does not grow properly for you.

Just because a plant likes and needs humid conditions to survive, does not mean that they want to be wet. This has been a strange disconnect with me, and taken a long time to learn.  Hoya flagellata will immediately start losing leaves if the mix is much more than lightly damp.

While I did manage to root my tiny little Hoya flagellata cutting in bark, it continued to do poorly and looked as if it were going to die, until I spiced up the mix with a whole lot of sphagnum moss.  It finally started to actually grow and now looks like this:

My pitifully small specimen of Hoya flagellata stress flowered with just a few leaves right before it was going to die back in March of 2016.  I took a cutting just before it died of the dreaded rotted root syndrome and rooted it in bark.

Hoya flagellata is not a particularly easy Hoya to grow for me so we will celebrate its rebirth with several days of posts.  It was discovered in Thailand by William Kerr in the mid 19th century and published in 1940.  Below a set of new buds on my rejuvenated specimen:

I have desperately been trying to get a Hoya maxima, or Hoya imbricata to flower for me for a very long time.  I have finally gotten to the stage where I am getting peduncles and buds, but I keep losing them, and it is killing me.  Flowering this plant is my holy grail in the Hoya world, and maybe one day I will finally get it.  Below photos of my latest set of buds:

If you are looking for a challenge, Hoya wallichii may be for you.  I rate it as an 8 on a 10 scale of difficulty with 1 being dead easy.  This is my experience with it; it may not be yours.  It has a wonderful, large, albeit very short-lived, flower with virtually no scent.  It is a plant that is probably best left to very experienced growers with the ability to give it what it really needs.  If and when I can get a photo of its flower fully reflexed, I will bring it back.

I’m probably the last person to give you advice on how to grow Hoya wallichii with all of the problems that I have had with the plant, but I will give it a try.  Don’t fool with the water chemistry.  For a long while I was trying to lower my water pH for this plant.  I don’t think it liked it.  Use water out of the tap having allowed it to set for at least 24 hours to dissipate any chlorine that may be present.  Fertilize at 1/2 strength with every watering but water sparingly.

Grow in a net pot so that you can be more sure when it is time to water.  Don’t keep wet, or allow to get bone dry; leaves will yellow and fall off very quickly.  Needs very warm temperatures above 80°F during the day and above 65°F at night.  Needs lots of humidity above 60% at all times, better if it is higher.  Light levels should not be too high – at least 18 inches under T-5 fluorescent bulbs.

Hoya wallichii is a native of Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, and Singapore.  It grows in moist, shady lowland forests along streams rooting on the ground or on rocks.  It is named after Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854) who collected it in Singapore.