I had never heard of this Hoya prior to a kind and generous woman, named Mandy, contacted me, and asked if I wanted a cutting. I immediately accepted the offer as it was closely related to Hoya Bella, which I always did pretty well with.

Hoya paxtonii was rooted in sphagnum when I got it and as I began to unwrap it, I noticed the dreaded root rot. I took cuttings and placed them in water with a couple of drops of KLN Concentrate and a few weeks later there were ample roots to put it into a 2 inch pot using a soil substrate. The newly rooted plant did not seem to like the warm conditions and LED lighting of the grow tent that I had it in, as the leaves did not look particularly healthy, and the first peduncle fell off. I moved it to a cooler tent with a T-5 fluorescent lighting, and it perked right up and soon formed a peduncle that actually grew. Buds formed and they opened a few weeks later.

The primary difference between the the regular H. bella and H. paxtonii is that the leaves on H. paxtonii are much longer and more narrow than on the typical Hoya bella that I have grown. The leaves on Hoya paxtonii are about 2 1/4 inches long compared to about 1 1/4 -1 1/2 inches long on the regular bella.

I love Hoya bellas of all types, and Hoya paxtonii is just enough different to make a worth while addition to any collection. I look forward to being able to have a large plant that will really show off its longer leaves to great advantage and will definitely bring it back for further discussion in the future.