Hoya thomsonii ‘White Flower’

Hoya thomsonii has caused me considerable anguish over the years.  I received the plant as a cutting from the Liddle Nursery back in 2006, and have had many stops and starts with it in that time.  It is a native of India and has been widely disseminated to China and Thailand.  The plant is named after its co-discoverer  T. Thomson with the other plant hunter named J. D. Hooker.  The leaves are pubescent and vary widely in size; with some silver flecks on many of them.  A very pretty, if slow growing Hoya.

I have had peduncles on this plant now for two years in succession and have been unsuccessful in blooming it. Last year I even had developing buds that unfortunately dried up and fell off when I moved the plant inside from the greenhouse.  I think blooming is triggered in thomsonii by gradually shortening day length or photo period.  By moving the plant into an artificially lit grow tent, I disrupted that cycle and lost the buds.  I also think that this plant is a cool, moist grower, and the grow tent was just too warm for it.  I could have flowered this plant if my greenhouse season was just another month longer.  H. thomsonii also really likes consistent even moisture in its potting mix.  I have a friend in the UK that bloomed hers successfully using a self-watering pot.  I am moving in that direction myself. I hope that the next time I update this page in the fall I will have some bloom photos to show.

***Update*** Hoya thomsonii has finally bloomed for me in November of 2014!  That was a lot of years to wait, and I’m very happy to have this one behind me now.

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Hoya thomsonii Photo Taken February 3, 2013

Hoya thomsonii Photo Taken February 3, 2013

Hoya thomsonii February 3, 2013

Hoya thomsonii February 3, 2013