Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Is there a small growing Hoya for beginners?, 1 by atisch

atisch wrote:
I only just came upon this thread. The Hoyas that follow are all compact or smaller. In addition to the two already mentioned, these are plants that I've some experience with:

H. lacunosa does well in a 3"-4" hanging pot or small trellis. It's small flowers are among the most fragrant Hoyas I know of. The variety, pallidiflora is very easy to flower. I've gone from cutting to flowering plant in less than six months. [Flowers pictured.]

H. Mathilde' (H. carnosa x H. serpens) This is a compact hybrid. H. serpens is a miniature species with half inch leaves that is itself a candidate, though it grows best in a cool climate. The hybrid is quite compact, and is very easy to grow and flower. The flowers are fairly large compared to the 1"- 2" leaves.

H. curtisii with half inch, attractive mottled leaves looks best as a hanging plant, though mine isn't flourishing at the moment.

H. nummularioides has 1.5"-2" roundish, pubescent leaves. The plant resembles a very compact carnosa, but is much slower growing. The flowers are similar also.

H. cumingiana is quite compact but can't quite make up its mind if it's a vine or a bush. Not the most attractive of Hoyas, but looks fairly nice when several rooted cuttings are planted close together in a small pot (3"-4")

Of the two Hoyas already mentioned in previous posts, H. bella and H. multiflora, I have both solid green and variegated versions of. There seems to be some consensus among Hoya growers that variegated Hoyas tend to grow slower and flower less often than their fully green siblings. I do find this to be the case with my H. bella's, but my variegated H. multiflora is growing and blooming neck and neck with it's all green counterpart. H. multiflora can reach beyond a compact plant but will take a few years to reach such size, but blooms well along the way. Truly a bush habit when grown in very bright light.

Allan