Hoya newbie question

I got this Hoya several months ago off the "We will kill this if you don't buy it." rack at Lowes.
It only said "Hoya". Searching PF, I found a String Bean Hoya and that may be which one this is. Not sure.

Anyway, my question. How do you know when it's getting ready to bloom? This one sat like a lump through the winter.
Since the summer weather arrived, I've had it on our back porch and it's putting out growth. Is this where flowers might come from?
I have a photo of what the new "shoots" look like.
And a photo of the whole plant that may confirm its ID.

Many, many thanks for your help!
Deb

The whole plant.

Deb, Wow, nice plant! I'm pretty sure it's Hoya kentiana or wayettii. Exotic Angel sells one they label as kentiana (I have 3 of them) but I think they are actually wayettii because in full sun the leaves get brown edges.

H. kentiana: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57676/

hmm ... can't find wayettii in PF but I'm pretty sure it's there somewhere. Will look some more.

I don't see it in the PlantFiles either but here is a good photo spread on the H. wayetii http://www.rareflora.com/hoyaway.html

Pretty plant! I am jealous... LOL

Well, I guess there isn't a listing in PF for Hoya wayettii. I see I posted my pics under kentiana last year and since then someone told me it's not kentiana but rather wayettii. I guess I need to have Admin. remove my photo's if they are incorrect.

It's rather confusing, I've read that kentiana and wayettii are identical except that wayettii gets the dark brown edges on the foliage. I have one inside that doesn't get full sun and it doesn't have the brown edges but the two out on my pool deck are in full sun all day and the leaf edges turned brown in color when I moved them to the sunnier location.

Interesting, I see this site lists the plant as kentiana/wayettii: http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/HOYA_kentiana.htm

Maybe one of the pro's will come along with some input on this. I know I'd like to have my plants correctly labeled but with so many growers throwing so many names out there, sometimes it does get real confusing to know what is what!

Thanks, you two! It did have an Exotic Angel tag I think - now that you mention it. It does look alot like kentiana, too.
I guess if it blooms, I'd have a better clue, huh?.

So, this is the right time of year for blooms, right? I have it so it only gets indirect sunlight, though it's very bright light in the afternoon.
Deb

Edited to add...... Plantladylin, I just checked that link at Toptropicals. Evey they don't seem sure if they're the same plant or not. :>



This message was edited Jul 15, 2009 8:31 PM

Yep ~ that is one for the shopping list... like I need another plant of any sort.

I don't find EA Hoya's locally much anymore but every once in awhile I find this one at HD.

Pod: You have D-Mail!

That is the same plant called H. angustifolia, H. kentiana, H. wayettii. H. angustifolia, apparently, was not a valid publication so Chris Burton published it as H. kentiana (after Sir Douglas Kent of Kew Gardens). She says H. wayettii is another clone of H. kentiana. I don't think it really matters which you call it H. k or H. w....I would use both names. Hoyas really don't have names...people put names on them and no one agrees about anything. I put as many names as I can on them.... LOL

Edited to answer the original question: where do blooms come from?

They come on peduncles. What are peduncles? This is a subject of tons of threads and I am sure it is in the STICKEYs. They are wrongly called 'blooming spurs'.

HTH

This message was edited Jul 16, 2009 6:59 AM

I like they way you think Carol, it makes far more sense. I will now go shopping for plant ID tags that are 5" X 5"...LOL!!

Christine

I will look in the 'stickies" for info on peduncles! I'm hoping those two little white-ish protrusions in my top photo are the start of them.
Thanks!

This message was edited Jul 16, 2009 1:28 PM

Sorry Deb, they're aerial roots. Peduncles can be long or short depending on the plant, but they're not pointed like those are, and will likely have a bit of a bulbous end. Is that a 6" pot its in? Do the roots fill the pot? That's paramount to getting most hoyas to produce peduncles - they need to be root bound. If there's lots of potting mix and you don't see roots, you might consider repotting it into a smaller pot.

I started a kentiana/wayetti or whatever its called 3 years ago from several cuttings, its now a bit bigger than yours, and is still in a 4" pot. I've yet to see a peduncle on it though so don't know how big they are.

Christine

I like to think of peduncles looking like little microphones! The part at the end where the flowers are formed is called the rachis. If you look at the picture of H. onychoides further down the list of threads....that is a peduncle.

This message was edited Jul 16, 2009 8:23 AM

I can't seem to buy into the fact that Kentianna and wayetti are the same plant...they look so different!!

LOL, I'm guilty of calling peduncles "bloom spurs" because they look like little spurs to me and I can see the little "microphone" image too.

... Okay, heading to the thread on onychoides to look at the picture! The way my brain is getting, it's all I can do sometimes to remember what my own parts are called, much less plant parts! ^_^

I simply go by faith and what people tell me, and I keep changing plant tags, and now will simply be adding names on instead.

Any pictures I've ever seen of this/these plant(s) all look the same. You've obviously seen something I haven't LeeAnn. Inquiring minds want to see them too.


Christine

To tell you the truth...I don't buy it either. The flowers look different too. Oh well... I think I will call them as I see them and then list the syns. afterwards...that way people can know what you are talking about...hopefully.

I've been searching the "stickies" at the top of the Hoya Forum because I thought I remembered seeing an illustration of Hoya floral parts, but I couldn't find anything. Then I remembered it might have been in the Stemma Journal ... Bingo! I found it in Stemma Volume 2, #3 Summer 2008 on page 14. Maybe if we ask nicely Mark would put that in the "sticky" here on the Hoya forum? It sure would be a help to anyone wanting to learn all those parts!

Even though my plant is also under H. kentiana in PF, I believe it to be H. wayetii. I've read (and have been told) that H. kentiana has pinkish pedicels (the little 'stem' that connects the flower to the peduncle), whereas H. wayetii has green pedicels and also has brownish edges on the leaves.

Mark Randall sent me some pics of the differences. Here is H. kentiana (just flower...but you can see a bit of the pedicel)...

Here is H. wayetii..

And here is H. aff. angustifolia...

Not sure if this will work, but here is one he sent me of all 3 side by side...

GREAT information, Gabi....

Bon Voyage!!!

Good! The last one worked...you just have to click on the thumbnail and you will see all 3 (it looks like it's only one flower on the thumbnail...that's why I wasn't sure if it would work).

Hope those pics help...thanks to Mark, who was very helpful in sending those to me for me to share with others on another forum (when we were having the same discussion!).

Gabi

Bravo, Gabi! Thank you for that great information and those pictures! They all three look a lot alike but with slight differences. My H. wayettii's are all Exotic Angel plants and were labeled kentiana. The leaves were green until I put them in the sun where the edges turned the dark brown shade.

Bon Voyage? Gabi ... going on a cruise? Have a wonderful journey!

Thanks Carol!! I am so excited - but let's hope I don't get eaten by a bear! I just recently found out that Mark is also going to Alaska this month, but we are JUST missing each other. That would've been fun!

XOXOXO,
Gabi

Yes Lin, the one that EA sells is labeled H. kentiana, but actually seems to be H. wayetii. So Deb, you seem to have H. wayetii there.

Lin, no cruise for me this time (even though that's my usual choice of vacation!). I'm going on a 2 week camping trip throughout Alaska! Fun!!! It's with a group called Trek America...I'm going solo (most people are from other countries and travel solo), so I really hope I like the group I'm going with. It will be 12 or 13 of us. This will be my 3rd camping trip with Trek America...highly recommended for any campers out there!

Gabi

Christine, I don't know how you can't see the difference!!
I wish I knew how to put these pics. side by side but I don't. Open them in separate windows to see the difference.

First is H. Kentianna, plain green leaves.

Now, H. Kentianna "wayetti". You can clearly see the brown edges on the leaves. These edges are there no matter what light conditions it is grown in.

Gabi ... I hope you have a wonderful time! Some day we hope to get to Alaska but my idea of camping is a 40' or larger completely equipped motor home! ^_^ LOL, I know to enthusiasts that is NOT camping! As I've gotten older, I've gotten softer ... I prefer a real mattress when I sleep, and I don't do well thinking of the wild creatures out there either! I tried camping once when I was young ... don't think I liked it much and I don't think I could handle it now that I'm old, LOL.

I hope you will take lots of pictures to share with us upon your return! Some friends of ours traveled to Alaska a few times when they first retired @12 years ago ... they had a very large, fancy motor home and drove to Alaska twice. We also have friends that went on a cruise from California to Alaska ... the photo's I've seen of the scenery were wonderful, a beautiful area!

When I first met Bob he had just returned from sailing his boat around the world. I asked him which country he found the most beautiful and without hesitation, he said SE Alaska. When we sailed we went further out as far as Kodiak...and I have to say that for beauty, splendor, wildlife...it is Alaska for both of us.

Wow! I go away for a few hours and a "whole 'nother" flood of info appears!

Christine, I did eventually find written description of how and where the peduncles form and realized I don't have any. :( And yes, the pot's about a 6" and the plant doesn't appear to really be root bound yet. No choice but to keep waiting.

As for the kentiana vs/ wayetti...golly - who knows for sure. Definitely no brown edges on the leaves - at least not now .

AH: I also did see a few people calling them microphones, which is funny, but will help me remember what I'm looking for.

Thanks all of you guys for all the info. Really helpful to me since all I knew virtually nothing about Hoyas except what I had looked up about how to care for this one -- and I was looking at the wrong one even for that, apparently! LOL.

Deb

Well, I guess maybe then I've only ever seen pictures of wayetti, which is definitely what I have. I shall change my plant tag, not add to it, and also change my master list from kentiana/wayetti.

So, LeeAnn, you have a hoya that I don't have .... that's just not right .... LOL


Christine

hehe...may not be right but is cool!!

This can be fixed in a hurry if you'd like ^_^

Oh yes, please, I'd like. And I still have more hoyas than you...lol.

You have dmail.


C

Thanks Lin! And yes, I will definitely share pics with you guys.

Gabi