Hoya decipulae was discovered in a mixed hill forest on July 16th, 2017. It grew on Bamboo plants at 783 meters in elevation.

Hoya decipulae is endemic to West Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia in a protected forest.

Hoya sulawesiana is a plant that I have had my struggles with, but it is definitely worth picking up and trying it out for yourself. The leaves are amazing, and it makes a very worthwhile specimen given enough time. The flowers are beautiful, fuzzy and probably the largest in the Acanthstemma Section. For those reasons alone, it is worth searching out!

Both of these flowering at the same time so what the heck!

Photos of the partially reflexed flowers of Hoya sulawesiana are what really drove the early frenzy to obtain this species.

Hoya sulawesiana like many of the Acanthostemma Section of Hoyas is an extremely heavy nectar dripper. Three of these that come to mind really quickly are Hoya sulawesiana, H. sp. MT-02, and H. sp. Sulawesi #1. These Hoyas drip nectar in such large quantities as to make them poor specimens to flower indoors. I have taken to either cutting off their flowers or sealing the entire peduncle with blooms inside of a closed Ziplock plastic bag.

According to the publication paper by S. Rahayu and M. Rodda, Hoya sulawesiana is most closely related to Hoya isabechanae. They are also both in the Acanthostemma section of Hoya and are both endemic to Sulawesi Island. There are however many differences with the biggest being the leaves of the two species. Below the flowers of both species. H. isabelchanae on top and H. sulawesiana on the bottom:

The Title of this post says it all!

Finally 2 1/2 years after obtaining it for the first time, I found a developing peduncle, which grew to over a foot long. It finally budded up, and I bloomed it from start to finish in a little under 3 years. It could have been done much sooner if I had gotten off to a better start with it. Below the buds of Hoya sulawesiana:

Hoya sulawesiana is an exceptionally slow growing plant in my experience, and if I had to guess why I have had so much difficulty with it, I would guess it is because I’ve watered it too much. Having hard waxy leaves, and in nature growing primarily epiphytically, it would require very little water. I finally after two years grew a decently looking specimen using mostly coconut husk chips as a substrate, and watering much less. This is a plant that can easily go two weeks without water.