I stopped growing Hoya cutis-porcelana in leca, and started it over in coconut husk chips with a little added perlite. It seems to like growing this way even better than the leca. Here are 3 peduncles full of flowers: there are more, but I could not get them into the photo.

Hoya deykeae flowers are not that impressive, but its what I have flowering at the moment, so here it is from this morning. Note the sulfur residue on the back of the leaves. The plant has been growing nicer leaves since the spraying.

It is not everyday that I have two peduncles full of Hoya oblongicutifolia flowers open at the same time, so I had to capture a photo for posterity!

My Hoya platycaulis was close to death over the summer, but after spraying it for flat mites, it has rebounded and is now flowering. I paired it up with Hoya blashernaezii ssp. Siariae as it was flowering at the same time.

Happy New Year! I always like to take the opportunity of moving into another year to look back at the highs and lows of the previous one. While 2022 did present a number of challenges, I did flower for the first time a number of Hoyas that were new to me. I guess we will start in January and move forward.

Near the end of January 2022 brought the flowering of Hoya paulshirleyi seedling also known as almost Paula:

After years of trying February finally brought Hoya vangviengiensis into bloom along with the recent acquistion Hoya lyi:

March brought new blooms for me from Hoya alagensis, Hoya Rachel, Hoya cf. palawanica, and Hoya thomsonii Pink:

Late March into April brought new flowers to me from Hoyas hamiltoniorum, Bicolor, BP-01, and fungi x RHP:

May brought a very rare flowering of Hoya stenophylla; while not much to look at, I was super glad to have had the opportunity to flower it:

June brought two new first-time flowerings: Hoya carmelae and Hoya vitiensis Yellow:

July brought me the blooms of Hoya sp. Sweet Scent and Hoya apoda:

Not much going on in August other than Hoya Mistie:

September’s Highlight was the massive flowering of Hoya obtusifolia:

October only had one new flowering and that was Hoya sp. Rangson:

The only thing new in November and December was Hoya Aff. thomsonii:

There you have all of the highlights of 2022. The low points were the discovery of a major pest in my collection – the dreaded flat mite and the blasting of all of the buds on Hoya maingayi, which I have been waiting to flower for a very long time. I guess if you weigh the bad with the good, the good far outweigh all of the bad by a long shot! I want to take the opportunity once again to wish all of you a happy and healthy new year and the best growing season of your life!

Hoya sp. aff. thomsonii is an incredible plant, and one which I wish responded better to my growing conditions. The leaves with their high degree of pubescence add year round interest. When the plant normally flowers in October, it becomes a thing of beauty that delights all of the senses with its gorgeous blooms and beautiful fragrance. I give this plant my highest recommendation!

The flowers of Hoya sp. aff. thomsonii like the regular thomsonii are highly perfumed, and are a joy for as long as they last, which in this case is about a week.

I was thrilled when I was able to get my first flowers on this plant after struggling with it for some time. You can see it growing in the coconut husk below. It seems to give it just the right amount of moisture and air for its roots to grow fairly well.

I have had to start this plant over a number of times, because of root rot and other maladies. H. thomsonii is a plant that does best in natural light where it can respond to changes in day length. Finally this year I tricked it by moving it from a grow tent with 15 hour days to one that had 12 hour days, and it immediately started to bud up. This go around I am growing it in coconut husk.

I received a cutting of Hoya sp. aff. thomsonii from Jimmy Myers, the great North Carolina grower, a few years ago. As with most thomsonii, I struggled with it, but finally this year was able to flower it, and it was worth the wait. The biggest difference between this plant and the regular H. thomsonii is that the pubescence on this plant is off the chart. It has long hairs all over the leaves. It is difficult to show in a photo, but here is my attempt: