I finally figured out that Hoya sp. IM-08 (Hopefully soon to receive a real name) needs a shortening photo period to bloom profusely. I had never been able to get more than a couple of flowers at one time, but after cutting back its day length, I now have over a hundred buds. More photos to come in the future. Here is a couple of quick shots with the phone:
I moved this large plant into the grow tent to give it a change from stagnating on the windowsill and it immediately budded up and flowered.
I only restarted this plant last fall and look at how nice it looks already. The smell from the flowers is hard to bear, but hey, you can’t have everything!
I don’t think that I have featured these two flowers together before; so here you go: Hoya darwinii and Hoya obtusifolia.
Never give up on a plant that you have had difficulties with. I could barely keep this one alive for years and now it just won’t stop amazing me. Here is a photo from this morning:
Wrong time of the year Thomsonii! Anyone who has grown Hoya thomsonii knows that it is a fall bloomer, but using timers and grow lights the shortening days of fall can easily be duplicated. Below the April Buds of Hoya aff. thomsonii:
Another shortening of the days phenomenon – Hoya hamiltoniorum is a very shy bloomer, but has put out buds on all of its peduncles by shortening the day cycle using grow lights.
Once again shortening up the days has brought every peduncle into bud on this Hoya calycina ‘Stargazer’.
Hoya obtusifolia will only bloom in October in the U.S., but by decreasing its day length bit by bit, you can get it to flower in March or April.
The next few days I will highlight Hoyas that changed there behavior by me messing around with location and changing their photoperiod. I will start with Hoya sp. IM-08; this is a Hoya that has barely flowered for me. I have never had more than 2 flowers at once and it has only bloomed three times since I’ve had it. My friend Julie from the UK gave me information on a woman (Timea Valeria Takacs), who has flowered hers profusely on her windowsill. I followed some of her suggestions and moved my plant from 14 hour days to 12 hour days and put it into ambient conditions. Below is the result. I seem to now have dozens and maybe even hundreds of buds forming all over the plant. If you can’t flower your plant, it may be because of nonfluctuating day length. Below are a few of the new buds forming:
