I received this Hoya as a small rooted plant in a 3 inch pot from Jimmy Myers early summer 2020. The plant came in phenomenally healthy condition in a little 3 inch pot. After unwrapping, I simple put it into my basement grow tent and left it alone except to water when dry. I so looked forward to flowering this plant and knew that it was closely related to Hoya wallichii.

The plant grew well from the beginning and was easier than its look alike Hoya wallichii, in that the leaves stayed green without becoming chlorotic. I had a quandary in how to trellis it with it being in such a small pot. I did not want to up-pot it unnecessarily, and invite root rot, so I opted to keep in in its original pot, and set it inside a larger pot which anchored a trellis in hydroton. I soon learned that this plant was now being called the “Red Wallichii”, and while I was concerned that it would give me problems, it did not, and got its first buds very quickly.

The next thing that I worried about was getting good photos of the flower. If it behaved like Hoya wallichii, it would bloom at night, and would be nearly closed up by morning. I took to checking it each night after the grow lights would turn off, and before I went to bed. It happened almost instantly; the lights went off, and POW!, the flower opened fully. I took many photos that night and a video.

Strangely enough the next day the flower stayed open for most of the day unlike the regular wallichii; it allowed me to observe it in the tent and photograph it many times. By the next day however it mostly closed. The flower had no scent at all. Unfortunately, all later flowerings of Hoya sp. Kalimantan (SLM-02) have been just like the regular wallichii in that the flowers are mostly closed up within a couple hours of the light coming on in the morning. So the flowers are ephemeral and should really be appreciated when it is observed, because it won’t last long!

*Update May 1, 2023* Hoya sp. Kalimantan (SLM-02) is now officially Hoya wallichii subsp. tenebrosa!