Author Archives: Doug

Final Day With Hoya microphylla

Once again, all good things must come to an end. If you are looking for a really cute Hoya that will never get too large for your space, then Hoya microphylla is the plant for you. I have only grown this plant in a high humidity grow tent so I can’t speak for its ability to do well in ambient household conditions, but it is definitely worth giving it a try. It is a slow grower, and it very pricey at this point, but for the collector it is a must have!

Growing Hoya microphylla Part Four

The cool temperatures did not phase it however, and may even have helped contribute to it forming a peduncle and bring it into flower. It was endemic to a mountainous region of PNG, so it must have lived in coolish temps. I was however shocked to find that peduncle on such a tiny plant, and when it began forming buds, I looked at it every day with a magnifying glass. It produced four buds, with two opening on day one, one more opening on day three, and the final bud opening on day four. The flowers had no detectable scent.

Growing Hoya microphylla Part Three

I paid close attention to the little plant, and even though the root system was not that large it required watering twice a week. I was concerned that the environment of my basement grow tent might be too cool for it, but there was little I could do to change it. My new LED lighting system coupled with HVAC changes, made it much cooler in my basement than it had been in past years. Nighttime temps were falling as low as 55 F, and when the light were on it struggled to make it to 72 F.