I watched these buds grow for what seemed like weeks; some buds seem to grow quickly, but the buds of Hoya carmelae are not among those. It seemed to take forever but finally early one morning in May of this year they burst forth like little jewels. They remind me of sparkling rubies!

In all the years of trying to grow this Hoya I never so much as got one peduncle to form let alone try to bud up. The standstill all changed for me this year when I moved 2 of my 8 plants from a 14 hour day length to a 12 hour day length by shifting them to another grow tent where my timer was set for the lights to be on for less time. Almost immediately peduncles began to form; I was completely shocked as I had about given up. Along with the peduncles buds began to form!

The second set of cuttings that I received in 2014 became the plants that I am still working with today. I had so many stops and starts with these over the years that I’ve lost count with how many times I have had to start them over. I would usually lose the roots from rot; the last time I had a very large plant growing in leca using semi, or passive hydro when the roots went. I chopped that plant up and ended up with 8 plants all growing in tree fern in 3 oz clear cups.

I heard about Hoya carmelae for the first time around 2013 from a Hoya growing buddy of mine from Michigan named Patrick Vance. After seeing a photo of the plant and flower, I knew that I had to have one and promptly ordered one from Thailand. That first cutting rooted, but did not last long; I think I killed it inside of 6 months. The following year I ordered another one, and Patrick was kind enough to send me one of his cuttings as well.

Hoya carmelae is the next to last Hoya on my Hoya Hall of Shame List of plants that I was never able to flower. I can now take this plant off that list! Tomorrow we will begin the discussion.

Hoya sp. Surigao Del Sur is a fantastic plant when grown for the foliage alone; the flowers are just a bonus. It gets my highest recommendation!

The flowers of Hoya sp. UT-247 and Hoya sp. Surigao Del Sur both last for 24 hours, have no scent and are heavy nectar drippers. They are both beautiful and typify so many of these Philippine Hoyas.

Here is a close up of the blooms of Hoya sp. Surigao Del Sur:

Sadly like so many Philippine Hoyas of this type the flowers are short lived, lasting only 24 hours. On the plus side it is a frequent bloomer so it can be enjoyed many times. It is a heavy nectar dripper that has no scent.

I rooted, grew, and flowered this plant completely in soft tree fern substrate in a 3oz cup. It behaved very much like the typical Philippine Hoya.