The top photo was taken 10 months ago and the bottom photo was taken just now. I recently moved it up from a five inch pot to a seven inch pot. The plant now stands well over three feet tall. It grows only in the tent under artificial lighting with high humidity and warm temps.
Hoya sp. IM-08 Flower Size Comparison
I think that this photo of the flowers held up to a dime gives a pretty good indication of bloom size.
Growing Hoya sp. IM-08 Part Four
I find that while Hoya sp. IM-08 is a vigorous and prolific grower, it is rather stingy with its flowerings. Since I bloomed the plant the first time, I have only had a couple more flowers. There is some kind of blooming trigger that I have not figured out as of yet. I believe the secret must lie with increasing or decreasing day length.
Growing Hoya sp. IM-08 Part Three
Hoya sp. IM-08 just like Hoya serpens got tons of peduncles, which refused to bud up. I began to wonder if I was ever going to flower this one, when finally after about a year I finally spotted a small bud, and it flowered soon afterward.
Growing Hoya sp. IM-08 Part Two
This Hoya grew so well right out of the gate that I was blown away. The leaves from a distance looked just like Hoya serpens, but it was just so much easier to grow. It quickly became one of my favorite small-leaved Hoyas. It underwent at least three up-pottings and was always potted in coconut husk. Below you can see it in a five inch orchid pot:
Growing Hoya sp. IM-08 Part One
Hoya sp. IM-08 came to me in May of 2022 as part of an Indonesian import order. It was labeled as Hoya NOID PNG Small Leaf. The very name intrigued me, and I decided to give it a try. This was part of the order that brought me Hoya leucantha, which was labeled Hoya NOID PNG Large Leaf.
Hoya sp. IM-08 Is Endemic To PNG
I know very little about this little Hoya other than it is endemic to Papua New Guinea and that the IM in the accession number stands for “Imran”, the name of the first discoverer of this (and the other “IM-number”) species, according to Thai grower Surisa Somadee Riampreeda.
It Is Time To Discuss Hoya sp. IM-08
Hoya sp. IM-08 is a plant that flowered for me several months ago, and one of those that I totally had forgotten to discuss here. I think what happened was that I put it on a YouTube video and totally forgot to post about it here; so tomorrow we will begin to talk about this great little Hoya.
A Really Big Hoya stenophylla Specimen
What do you do when your Hoya stenophylla gets too big? The only thing you can do is to keep up-potting it, and make it even bigger. Here is my monster just after moving it up to a 9 inch clear pot. It is sitting in an even bigger cache pot. I struggled with this plant for so long, that now that I have a healthy specimen, I can’t bear to chop it up!
Hoya sp. Frog Foot – Specimen # 2
I still can’t believe that I ever managed to get this very difficult species to look this amazing especially after struggling to keep it alive for years. The secret my friends is to grow it in coconut husk and water once a week!