I received various chopped up barely rooted cuttings of plants labeled Hoya stenaokei in May of 2022 from Indonesia in an Etsy transaction. Two of them had pubescent leaves and one had glabrous leaves. I potted them up, put them in my warm humid grow tent and anxiously awaited signs of growth.
As near as I can discern from a little online research, the dark flowered form of Hoya stenaokei was discovered on a 2018/2019 expedition to a low land primary forest (Timika Forest) in Arso Keerom, Papua Province, West Indonesia. Below the flowers of both clones of Hoya stenaokei with Nathalie Simonsson’s 2011 discovery (NS12-222) on the left and the dark form from 2018/2019 on the right:
My massive Hoya stenaokei (NS12-222) has started a new phase of flowering. There are buds all over the plant here are the first of the new crop to open. Photos of the plant don’t really do it justice. Tomorrow we begin our look at the dark flowered clone.
I don’t have much more to say about Hoya cumingiana (Albo Outer Variegated), other than it is very easy to grow, and quick flowering. I love the look of the variegated foliage much more than I thought that I would, and can highly recommend the plant. It seems to be readily available for very reasonable prices so I can heartily recommend picking one up!
Before I got this plant to flower, I lost a few leaves and others were stunted. I suspected mite damage of some kind and sprayed a few times with PureCrop 1, and the plant greatly improved and flowered soon after.
I like the bone white corollas of this wonderful looking plant.
The regular version of this plant has much more highly scented flowers than the variegated version. Below more flowers open:
From what I have heard many of these variegated Hoya are much harder to flower than the original nonvariegated species, so I was not really anticipating blooming the plant. I was very surprised to find a peduncle on the plant only 7 months after starting it from a cutting. The first set of buds blasted in early November last year, but by mid-December, I had a new set that made it to term. Below the first flower just after opening:
I rooted this plant in coconut husk with a little perlite thrown in using a clear 3 inch cup. It readily rooted and it was not long before I moved it up to a 5 oz clear punch glass. It seemed to use a fair amount of water, and soon I was watering it twice a week, which takes too much time so I moved it up to a clear 5 inch orchid pot and gave it a trellis made of galvanized fencing. Below Hoya cumingiana (Albo Outer Variegated) showing the entire plant:
Here is a plant that was never on my radar until I received a cutting as a gift from the very kind folks at Let’s Talk Hoya (https://www.letstalkhoyapodcast.com/). I have never sought out, or purchased any of the variegated Hoyas, but I have received a number of them now in trades or gifts, and I have to say that I have been greatly impressed with some of them. Tomorrow I talk about growing it out from a cutting, and from there we will progress to its flowering. Below the leaves of my plant:
