I got this Hoya in 2018 from an order that I placed with AH Hoyas in Thailand. It came rooted in coconut husk, which could not be removed so I potted as is in a 2 inch rose pot. It grew a new vine and a leaf and promptly stalled out, which usually means root rot. I pulled the plant out of its pot and sure enough the roots were rotted! I took a cutting and re-rooted it. This time after water roots appeared I used a net pot to grow it out to better see when it needed watering.

I up-potted the plant through a series of net pots and then planted the 4 inch net pot, with plant inside, into a six inch pot with soil. It did okay for a while, but then it quit growing once again, and as much as I did not want to contemplate it, I suspected root rot once again. Although I suspected root rot, I did nothing about it for months continuing to hope that the plant would somehow turn itself around and start growing again. Of course it it did not, and after it finally started losing leaves to yellowing, I took a cutting to attempt to save it once again.

This time after re-rooting in water, I decided to try growing the plant in leca using passive Hydro to see if I would have any better luck. It rooted and grew well at first, but then stalled out again. It did nothing for months until finally I added a heat mat underneath the pot in January of 2021, and it was as if a miracle happened, actual new growth formed within a couple of weeks. Unbelievably, a peduncle formed in late March and began budding up in late April. I did not want to get my hopes up too high, and tried to ignore the buds as much as possible. Finally the plant flowered in mid-May, 2021 and seemed to have an extra ripple in the corolla, which probably why AH called it ‘New’.

Here are the exact parameters I used to flower Hoya onychoides ‘New’: It had 15 hours of LED light every day with humidity levels never below 70%, day time temps around 78F, and night time temps around 63F. It was watered only after the reservoir was almost dry. It sat on a small 11X20 heat mat. It was fertilized with every watering using Jacks Nutrients for RO Pure Water 12-4-16.

I find that Hoya onychoides is the most difficult of all the Macgillivrayi type Hoyas, and this ‘New’ clone seems to be much harder than the regular version. It is not a plant for beginners, but most people can be successful with it if you keep it very warm and humid. I have laid out the exact parameters that I used to finally grow and bring this one into flower so give it a try if you want!