Author Archives: Doug

Hoya multiflora Flowering Away In The Greenhouse

I am growing this one in semi-hydro, but noticed a lot of root rot the other day, so I don’t know how long I will keep this one growing this way. It may have to get started over.

New Greenhouse Finally Has Plants In It

I put weed barrier on the ground and covered it with coconut husk mulch, we shall see how that works for a floor but so far so good. It seems to hold a lot of moisture when when wet and transmits itself as humidity in the greenhouse.

Hoya sp. AH-002 Seeds Is Flowering Away

I snapped a photo of this plant flowering away in the greenhouse this morning. It seems to be pretty happy so far outside for the summer.

Working Hard And Paying A Lot To Keep Hoyas

Let’s talk for just a minute about how hard I work and how expensive it is for me to grow Hoyas the way that I do. The photo below shows the discarded remains of an 8X8 Gorilla Grow Tent. I managed to get four years out of this tent, but I really should have gotten rid of it last year. This tent cost $576 plus tax and now needs to be replaced because it is totally rotted out from humidity and standing water on the floor. It is also totally covered in mold and the bottom frame is all rusted out.

The massive amount of work in disinfecting and cleaning the humidity trays full of blue green algae and scrubbing these tents out is pretty tough and disheartening work. The work of setting a new tent up all over again is tough to contemplate. I have almost no head room in the basement, so assembling this tent is an all day and exhausting project. I just want to make it clear that the way that I keep Hoyas is definitely not for everyone, and at some point I will have to severely cut back the number of plants that I keep as a quality of life issue.

Hoya flagellata Looks Not So Pretty, But Is Flowering Regularly

I’m growing Hoya flagellata in semi-hydro, in a basement grow tent, down in my basement. The plant is nothing to brag about, but it is now regularly flowering. Here are some blooms from this morning:

Hoya sp. EPC-301 Black Leaves What A Spectacular Plant

These flowers perfume the entire living room at night. I am always asked for a list of nicely scented Hoyas, well Hoya sp. Black Leaves belongs near the top of the list!

Hoya sp. aff. Bella PES-03 Flowers

Even though I can’t grow Hoya sp. aff. Bella PES-03 worth a #*&#, it still will occasionally flower for me. From this morning:

Hoya polystachya – The Flowers

This plant flowered right inside on the windowsill. I believe that is a first. Hoya polystachya has always flowered in the past in a humid summer greenhouse for me.

Hoya polystachya – One of My All Time Favorites

I started my Hoya polystachya over a couple of years ago, and now have two very nice plants that I can be proud of. I live in fear of putting these plants outside and sun burning them so I will play it safe and keep them inside this year. Here is one of the plants from this morning in its entirety; tomorrow the flowers.

Final Day With Hoya sp. Philippines Long Leaves EPC-869

I have to say that the new leaves that emerge from this species are very dark and much more handsome than they are after they fade to a flat, light, green color. I wish that I had a photo of them, but if I keep the plant around long enough hopefully I will be rewarded with more leaves to photograph. I can’t really say one way or another yet whether this plant is worth keeping, or not. I should know more at the end of the summer.