There seem to be a number of clones of Hoya obscura available with different flower color and leaf coloration. After my experiences with my first attempts at growing this plant, I am wondering if some of these clones prove more challenging to cultivate than others.
My initial impressions of the flowers on Hoya obscura were that they were far smaller than I had expected. I have to say that the are very cute and are about half the size of the blooms on H. lacunosa. The flowers smell very sweet the first day that they are open.
After losing my first plant, I picked up a couple more cuttings over the years, but had pretty much the same experience with these as I did my first. There was just a general failure to thrive and a gradual loss of the plant. Enter Naomi my friend from this summer, who actually lives nearby, and gave me a cutting of her Hoya obscura, which rooted quickly in nothing but coconut chips. The cutting already had a peduncle, and as I have always said, those cuttings with old peduncles can bloom really early, and that is exactly what happened here.
I think I first tried my hand at growing H. obscura from a cutting about 8 years ago. It was a really nice large cutting from Ric Morier in Florida. I assumed that it would be and easy grow for me, but I could never seem to get this one off the ground. It grew a little bit for me in the summer, but promptly died from root rot in the grow tent.
Hoya obscura was first collected by A.D.E. Elmer at Mount Bulusan, Sorsogon Province on Luzon Island, but can be found through out the Philippines.
Hoya obscura has been around the trade for a very long time, and the odd reason that I have never addressed this species before is that despite its reputation for ease of cultivation, I have never had luck growing it. I have killed it at least 3 times in the past and thought that I had given up on it, but a very nice, Hoya enthusiast from Vermont gave me a cutting with a peduncle on it over the summer, and it has just flowered for me!
It has recently come to my attention that my Hoya krohniana, which came to me as the heart-leafed lacunosa at least a dozen years ago is now oddly in demand. My leaves are always cordate, which means heart-shaped. Many of the plants sold now as Hoya krohniana Splash, Silver, Black leaf, Super Silver, etc. do not have truly cordate leaves, and if they start out that way, they revert to looking like a regular lacunosa-shaped leaf. Who thought that my lowly little heart-leafed lacunosa would be back in demand after all this time! The flowers from this morning:
Hoya sp. UT-033 has been one of my most reliable bloomers over the summer months and now that we are into fall, it still has not let up. Photo from this morning:
This repotting of Hoya vitiensis was a major undertaking. The vine had 3 or 4 runners with the longest being about 20 feet long. It required a massive untangling and then rewinding on to a much higher trellis. All of the old potting mix was washed away, and bad sections of root cut out.
Hoya imperialis used to be a drop-dead easy Hoya for me to grow, but even this tough easy plant has given me great difficulty over the past year or so. Here is one that I am trying to bring back around with a repotting. I used a net pot inside of a cache pot with this one to more easily see when it needs to be watered. Note the chlorotic leaves and lack of vigor.
