Hoya flagellata is not a particularly easy Hoya to grow for me so we will celebrate its rebirth with several days of posts. It was discovered in Thailand by William Kerr in the mid 19th century and published in 1940. Below a set of new buds on my rejuvenated specimen:
I have desperately been trying to get a Hoya maxima, or Hoya imbricata to flower for me for a very long time. I have finally gotten to the stage where I am getting peduncles and buds, but I keep losing them, and it is killing me. Flowering this plant is my holy grail in the Hoya world, and maybe one day I will finally get it. Below photos of my latest set of buds:
If you are looking for a challenge, Hoya wallichii may be for you. I rate it as an 8 on a 10 scale of difficulty with 1 being dead easy. This is my experience with it; it may not be yours. It has a wonderful, large, albeit very short-lived, flower with virtually no scent. It is a plant that is probably best left to very experienced growers with the ability to give it what it really needs. If and when I can get a photo of its flower fully reflexed, I will bring it back.
I’m probably the last person to give you advice on how to grow Hoya wallichii with all of the problems that I have had with the plant, but I will give it a try. Don’t fool with the water chemistry. For a long while I was trying to lower my water pH for this plant. I don’t think it liked it. Use water out of the tap having allowed it to set for at least 24 hours to dissipate any chlorine that may be present. Fertilize at 1/2 strength with every watering but water sparingly.
Grow in a net pot so that you can be more sure when it is time to water. Don’t keep wet, or allow to get bone dry; leaves will yellow and fall off very quickly. Needs very warm temperatures above 80°F during the day and above 65°F at night. Needs lots of humidity above 60% at all times, better if it is higher. Light levels should not be too high – at least 18 inches under T-5 fluorescent bulbs.
Hoya wallichii is a native of Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, and Singapore. It grows in moist, shady lowland forests along streams rooting on the ground or on rocks. It is named after Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854) who collected it in Singapore.
The second bud finally opened this week and at 5:30 in the morning I got a mostly opened Hoya wallichii flower. I believe that the corolla is only fully reflexed a couple of hours before the light comes on in the morning in my case that would probably be around 3 or 4 am. At 5:30 am this was the best that I could get:
After all of the failures over almost three years, the flower partially closes before I can photograph it! A huge disappointment but there was a second bud developing, and I was determined to catch it the next time.
Finally when I went downstairs recently to check my plant, the flower had opened and it was glorious. I went upstairs and had a leisurely breakfast, and when I went down to photograph the plant, to my horror the bloom had mostly closed up.
At my lowest point with Hoya wallichii having only two yellowed leaves remaining, it started like Phoenix to rise from the ashes and add some new growth. It formed a new peduncle with a tiny bud; I was so excited. The bud promptly fell off! Soon another peduncle formed and the bud held on this time. I tried to curb my enthusiasm as I had been disappointed so many times before.
This time the bud held one and got larger, and larger. The bottom photo below shows the difference in sizes of the buds after four days. Look at the amazingly perfect star formed in the bud!
The year following the death of my second Hoya wallichii plant, I got a chance at another one in a trade with my Hoya friend Jimmy from North Carolina. I was determined that this was going to be my last attempt with this plant. Careful as I was with it, growing the tiny little Hoya in a 2 inch net pot, it still lost most of its leaves, and after 8 months was down two rather chlorotic leaves. I was sure that this one was a goner as well.
