I had been very successful growing the regular H. griffithii for a few years, before obtaining the silver variant. I anticipated no problem with its cultivation, but I could not have been more wrong. On two different occasions, a couple of year apart, I tried my best with it and simply could not keep it alive. In 2020, I made a Thai order and the vendor for some reason omitted one of my requested plants, and put in Hoya griffithii var. silver in its place. I was far from thrilled as having failed with this one twice before, I was not really in the mood to try it again. I rooted it anyway, as what other choice did I have. This time for some reason I made out far better than in my previous attempts and the plant at least stayed green and alive.
It started growing really well in the summer of last year (2022), and finally rewarded me with buds and flowers for the first time in last September. I grew it in a five ounce, clear, plastic cup and used primarily tree fern fiber for a substrate. It has continued to grow well and I have up-potted it into a 4 1/2 inch clear net pot and used coconut husk chips to make up the new substrate. It seems to have liked it, and has just rewarded me with a second batch of fragrant flowers with many more on the way. I should also note that this plant picked up its pace of growth after spraying it with garden sulfur as a flat mite preventative.
Hoya griffithii was named for William Griffith, who first collected the plant. William Griffith bequeathed his collection and papers to the East India Company, which was sent to England, where they are stored in the library of the herbarium at Kew Gardens. No Botanist ever, collected and described so many species, like Griffith. His collection comprised some 12,000 species! I want to thank Mary Carroll for making this information readily available to me.
It should be noted that the only major difference between the regular H. griffithii and this variant is the variant has smaller leaves with much more silver splash. The flowers are identical; there is a variant or subspecies out there that has gold flowers, which I would like to have a crack at some day. It took a long time to get this one growing well, but it was well worth the effort; this plant gets a my highest recommendation!
