Hoya benitotanii was first collected by David Bicknell in Matutinao, Badian, Cebu and was named after Benito Tan who is head of the herbarium at Singapore Botanical Garden.  It circulated for a number of years under the name Hoya gigantanganensis, but was changed in 2010.  It is a very slower grower and reluctant bloomer.  It would best be grown on a support.  It has very large leaves compared to the size of the flowers.

I received Hoya benitotanii as a cutting from Joni at SRQ Hoyas in the summer of 2012.  It had many stops and starts over all of that time and took almost a full three years to flower, which finally occurred in April of 2015.  I used three types of lighting in a very large grow tent to bring Hoya benitotanii into bloom.  There was LED, HPS, and T-5 Fluorescent lamps in the same tent.  The plant flowered with day time temps around 77°F and night time temps around 58°F.  There was a high humidity environment present at all times.  I also flowered it three months later in August of 2015 in one of my no frills tent greenhouses outside.  It experienced a wide range of environmental conditions in that greenhouse.  Everything from blazing heat and blistering sun  to cold and damp conditions.

While not a particularly showy plant, the flowers last a long time, and the plant when well grown is very pleasing and would make a lovely specimen for any tropical plant enthusiast.