Hoya Seeds AH-138 was not on my radar when it was very kindly gifted to me by my good Hoya friend Wil in the autumn of 2023. It arrived as a cutting that easily rooted, and had relatively small leaves. It gave no indication of the massively large beautiful leaves that it was capable of producing.
I can only make a supposition on where Hoya Seeds AH-138 comes from. AH Hoya Plant Nursery in Thailand has a lot of plants blooming at the same time all over the place, and insects are continually going from flower to flower. I believe that cross pollinations happen quite frequently producing seed pods. Many of these seeds are planted to see what kind of plant is produced. When something comes across that is interesting, they number it, reproduce it, and sell it as cuttings or rooted plants. I believe these plants are sort of wild crosses, and I’m not sure that they know what the parentage is.
The plant went through a couple of up-pottings and eventually ended up in a 5 inch clear orchid pot using coconut husk chips as a potting medium. I was surprised by a peduncle with relatively large developing buds that was hiding under one of its massive leaves. From cutting to flower, it only took about 9-10 months growing in a tent. The blooms only have a hint of scent and last about 5 days in total. This is the first flowering with a minimum of blooms, but I believe that subsequent flowering will produce far more. There are already buds pushing out from behind the first flowers that are much more numerous. The flowers are similar to another AH wild cross – Seeds 002, but are a different color. I love this iridescent pink!
Hoya Seeds AH-138 is such a gorgeous plant that I am sure that I will be bringing it back in time. The leaves on this one are to die for, and can’t be adequately appreciated without seeing them in person. I want to thank Wil Halstrom for giving me an opportunity to grow this one out. The flowers are a lovely bonus, but the red bordered giant leaves are what this plant is all about! Hoya Seeds AH-138 gets my highest recommendation!
