Hoya surisana was first vouchered in cultivation in August of 2019 at the Bogor Botanic Garden. It was first collected by Andarias Sambokaraeng in Indonesia, Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, Mamasa, Pebassian, Makalangkan mountain, ca 500 m elevation. It was found growing in a pine forest on a steep slope. It was rooted in the ground with long vines ascending the trees nearby. This Hoya was named after Surisa Somadee, Thai Hoya expert and grower.

Hoya surisana has very unusual flowers with long calyx lobes that extend beyond the corolla lobes. I have only experienced this in one other Hoya that I have personally grown and that is H. thailandica.

I first tried to grow what I thought was Hoya surisana in 2023 only to find out that I received an incorrectly labeled plant. It turned out to be a very weak clone of H. campanulata. The very kind grower from Florida sent me the real H. surisana in May of 2024. I received a well rooted four leaf specimen that arrived growing in Pon. I knew that I was not going to continue using this as a substrate as I have had terrible luck using this stuff in the past. After a month, I transitioned it over to mostly coconut husk chips with a little pumice thrown in. It was up-potted to a 4 inch clear orchid pot so I could keep close tabs on the roots.

One of the odd things that I noticed about growing this plant was that when a new set of leaves come in they are so pale as to be almost white. It made me think that I had a severe case of chlorosis, but within a few weeks the leaves would gradually turn dark green. I didn’t take photos of this phenomenon, because at the time, I believed the plant was sick. I started to get more confident with this Hoya after the new leaves began greening up. After having the plant for about 3 months, I was astounded to find a developing peduncle, which shortly after began to bud up. I never thought it would make it to term as these campanulate flowered Hoyas have a real tendency to blast buds especially when the plant is young.

I was excited to see what I thought was the buds opening one morning only to realize that what I thought was the corolla opening was actually the calyx. Finally towards the end of September the buds actually began opening. It took a three days for the flowers all to fully open. What was slightly disappointing was the flowers are heavy nectar drippers, and this fact coupled with the extraordinary height of the corona causes all of the flowers to be discolored with reddish debris. The only way to make the flowers look really nice is to use something like Photoshop to remove all of the discoloration. I never have seen Hoya flowers with this issue before. So all of these perfect flower photos of this plant that you have seen online have been cleaned up digitally to look great.

I’ve only been growing Hoya surisana now for about 4 or 5 months so I don’t have that much to say about its likes and dislikes. I don’t believe at this point that it is a Hoya that I can recommend to beginners and casual collectors, but for serious collectors it is probably a must have. Its very unusual flowers with extra long calyx lobes, makes it worth seeking out. I will report back when I have more experience with its cultivation and subsequent flowerings.