As always all good things must come to an end; so this will be my final day discussing Hoya desvoeuxensis. I have not been growing this one long enough to feel like I really have a handle on its cultivation requirements. I know that it is supposed to be a cool grower that likes lots of humidity. My conditions for it were temps that dipped to 60 F at night and went up to 75 F during the day. It sat on the perimeter of a large LED fixture where it did not receive a great deal of light. It seems to be exceptionally easy to flower, but more difficult to grow well. As of this date, I still can’t get rid of the slightly chlorotic leaves, and it could very well have to do with the sphagnum moss that it came rooted in that is still wrapped around its roots.

This is a plant with an exceptionally attractive flower, with a wonderful fragrance. I recommend it highly if you can locate it. If you do find it, make sure that you buy it from someone who has already bloomed it so that you can be assured that you have the right plant as the leaves mimic that of too many other Hoyas.

Hoya desvoeuxensis was found in a Cloud forest with dwarf trees at high elevations covered with large epiphytes.

Hoya desoeuxensis was named for Des Voeux Peak, Taveuni Island, Fiji where it was first collected.

Hoya desvoeuxensis was discovered by Ted Green and published by Dale Kloppenburg and Ted in 2011.

As happy as I was to have finally flowered Hoya desvoeuxensis, what I was really after was an umbel of flowers rather than a single bloom. I was not to have to wait too long, as the plant put on a 2nd peduncle in December and by January, I had seven flowers! This plant while not really growing nice dark green leaves was definitely a quick and ready bloomer!

Here are some general observations about my solitary Hoya desvoeuxensis bloom from December: The flower surprised me and smelled exceptionally strongly of caramel. The bloom does not fully open until about 24 hours has passed. I was somewhat disappointed the first day when I took all of these photos that the flower was only opened this much:

The next day however I was much more pleased with it after it fully opened. The flower hung one for around 10 days, which was way longer than expected.

After transplanting my little cutting grew steadily, but was somewhat chlorotic. I was surprised that it put on its first peduncle very early after I had had the plant for less than a month. I did not want to get too excited as I know that many of these plants can have peduncles for years and never flower. I did however get somewhat more jazzed when it started to bud up with only a few leaves. I initially had 3 buds but after a watering that was somewhat too enthusiastic, 2 of the buds yellowed and fell off. One bud however did hold on and made it to term.

As you all know, I desperately tried to flower a plant that I believed to be Hoya desvoeuxensis for three years, and when I finally pulled it off, the plant turned out to be Hoya vitiensis Yellow. My good friend, and Hoya grower extraordinaire Julie Kennedy felt badly, and sent me a rooted 3 leaf cutting in sphagnum from someone who had actually flowered it, and knew for sure that it was the correct plant. The cutting arrived on my doorstep in late July of last year (2022). I gently transplanted the plant into a 7oz clear cup and filled in around the sphagnum with coconut husk chips.

After teasing all of you with this plant for some time and the wrong ID debacle, tomorrow we begin our discussion of Hoya desvoeuxensis.

I know that I never paired these two plants together before as the last time I flowered Hoya serpens, I did not even own Hoya undulata.