Hoya pulchra was discovered March 22, 2016 at around 1,000 meters in elevation in De Leon. Mindanao, Bukidnon Province, Philippines.

“Hoya pulchra stands out among Hoya species by having very long peduncles and tooth-like corona lobes. The only other published species with this combination of characters is Hoya waymaniae (Kloppenburg 1995)” Pulchra means handsome or beautiful. Thanks to Mary Carroll for providing the research.

Hoya pulchra came to me early last summer from my good friend Julie Kennedy from the UK. It spent a little too much time in the mail, but arrived in pretty good shape over all. I potted it up in coconut husk chips in a 3oz clear cup and waited for it to acclimate. The lights in my tent are pretty intense and withing a short period the leaves were very red.The plant soldiered on and the vine grew a few more leaves so I up-potted it into a 9oz clear cup. Around 7 months after receiving the plant, it formed a long peduncle and started budding up. The plant flowered during the coldest point in my basement grow tents. The nighttime temps went down to around 55 degrees F and Daytime highs were around 72 degrees F.

I don’t have anything bad to say about Hoya pulchra. The leaves get really red in high light, it is easy to cultivate, easy to flower, and seems to be a no fuss, no muss Hoya. It gets my highest recommendation. They seem to be readily available on Etsy and eBay; I urge all Hoya lovers to pick one up and try it out for yourself!