I received a small rooted plant of Hoya nyhuusiae, in May of 2020, from my good friend, and one of the best Hoya growers that I know, Jimmy Myers from North Carolina. It is so difficult to obtain these rarer Hoyas; so I am really indebted to him for sharing this plant with me.
This Hoya came early in the year and had a lot of trepidation about it, because of its rarity in the trade and supposedly the need for very cool growing conditions. I do not usually fare that well with the cool growers, and they continue to stymie me. Well I had no reason to fear as this plant seemed to like me right from the beginning. The plant came in a two inch pot, and even though my temps were pretty high sometimes exceeding 90F, the plant continued to grow well, and I made the decision to move it up into a 3 inch net pot fairly quickly. It was no time at all and it put on a peduncle and its vine kept increasing in length. Soon the three inch net pot was filled with roots, which presented a conundrum. Do I try to get the plant out of the pot and risk damaging the roots or put the entire plastic net pot into another pot? I opted for the latter an put the pot into a 4 inch square pot and gave it a trellis.
The plant continued to grow well throughout the summer and when fall rolled around I put the plant into a brand new 4X4 grow tent, which was going to be minimally lighted to help keep the temperature down. It was lighted with a single 600 watt LED fixture. It was no time before all of the peduncles started budding up. I was blown away by how large the buds got. For 10 days I thought they would open and every day they wouldn’t. Finally my days of waiting came to an end and the first two flowers opened up, and I was delightfully surprised that the had a light floral scent. The flowers on Hoya nyhuusiae opened in stages and lasted about 4 days so I never had all of the 19 flowers open at the same time, but that is okay as it made the display last longer.
Hoya nyhuusiae is named in honor of Torill Nyhuus who is long time President of the Swedish Hoya Society, editor of the Hoya Telegraph Journal and is a big time collector of Hoyas.
Hoya nyhuusiae is endemic to Borneo (Brunei and Sabah). It is only found in lower montane forests an 1200-1800 m, often as a terrestrial on ridge tops climbing into shrubs or as an epiphyte on trees in valleys.
From A Guide To Hoyas of Borneo by Anthony Lamb and Michele Rodda
Hoya nyhuusiae was described back in 2003 by Dale Kloppenburg. I wondered why it is not more readily available after 17 years, but I’m guessing that this plant is a relatively slow grower, coupled with the fact that it needs cooler conditions, hinders the typical Hoya nursery from growing and selling the plant. When you peruse the Thai nurseries, this plant seems to be missing from their offerings. I think it is because their very hot conditions are too much for the plant and they are unsuccessful with it. This plant exceeded every expectation for me; I wish that it was readily available so that more people could have a crack at growing one of the showiest and nicest Hoyas in the world. I will report back on it in time to share its long term progress, ease of propagation, etc.
