I thought it would be nice for everyone to show off there monster hoyas here so here are a few of mine. I'll begin with the small leaved mini monsters.
this is H. kanyukamariana bought from Asiatica about 2 years ago.
monsters and mini monsters
this is H. heuschkeliana (pink) currently not in bloom butloaded with buds. My yellow clone is blooming and smells like butterscotch candies
this is a favorite of mine H. cv. Mathilde. It grows like kudzu vine for me. I also have the sister to this, cv. Chouke but will probably not live long enough to see it get to the size of my mathilde plant. I have been in contact with Emilio in Belgium who hybridized both cultivars and he says that they both grow the same way for him. Chouke is a very slow grower.
This plant is LOADED with peduncles and when they all open it's going to be one huge mass of flowers!!!!
this is another of my favorites H mindorensis which I find does not like to be overpotted. I almost lost this plant due to overpotting it into a 6" basket. When I bumped it back down to a 4" it began to thrive again.
this is my H. motoskei growing on one of the copper spirals that I made. This plant has grown to the top of the spiral and has grown so much that I have been able ro wind it all the way back down to the bottom form the top!
and this is H. meliflua ssp fraterna If you're looking for a monster hoya this is the one to get!!!! It doesnt take over,grows fast and produces leaves up to 13" long and 3-4" wide
Wow David, those are some huge plants!!! I think that would absolutely stress me out, if all of the plants in my house got to be that size. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed right now, anticipating a big shipment from David Liddle, and my over indulgence after this long winter.
Very nice growing though.
S
Oh my ... you do have some Monster Hoyas! I have a small motoskei that I got in my very first trade here on DG. Love that one of yours! How long did it take it to grow that large?
Nice Norfolk Island Pine (I think) to the left of motoskei and love the flowering Bougie to the right! With all those great plants, your greenhouse must be a wonderful place!
Lin, we had those norfolk pines on our tables at work several years back during the x-mas holidays. There were 3 tiny plants per 4" pot and they were going to be thrown out after x-mas so I brought one home and it is now close to 7ft tall.
I really love NI Pines. I had two like that years ago, little bitty trees. I used to buy the little ones at Christmas and decorate them and take them to the office for the holidays. One year I bought and decorated two for my office and five more for ladies I worked with. I brought mine back home after the holidays and kept them on the deck for a couple of years. Then, one time when I was cleaning the pool enclosure and deck where most of my plants stay, I stuck those two out behind the shed (where so many plants get dumped). I ended up giving one to my neighbor and she planted it in her yard ... it looks amazing! The other one just sat by the fence behind the shed, took root through the bottom of the pot and the plastic pot finally disintegrated. It looks great but is hiding behind the shed. I keep saying I'm going to dig the thing up and transplant it to a better location. They are really pretty trees.
Well...Bob is at the TOP of the extension ladder cutting out H. sp. Sulawesi (from Bada Valley) because it is so heavy it is bending the tree down and we are afraid it will break the tree. He is about 50' up and the hoya is at least 5' in diameter going up. I have to admit there ARE 2 plants there....
And here he is up another tree cutting me a piece of H. imperialis....
One of the smaller ones...H. weyettii - only about 5' long and about to bloom.
Ok, now I KNOW ... Hawaii IS Hoya Heaven!
Those things are humongous! I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to live where they grow wild like that!
Great pictures David! Your photographic skills have improved greatly of late. Do you have any kind of secret to growing H. kanyukamariana. I have had mine for about six months and it has done very little if anything. Actually it had some new growth, and then it got the dried stick syndrome and all new tips dried up. I have a sneaking suspicion that may like a lot more humidity than I'm able to give. I love your plant!
Doug
Doug, I realise that I am not David, but my kanyakumariana is doing very well, and for me, it is quite large. I don't live in a humid area like David, and even your location is much more humid than mine (single digit humidity at best).
I think that the key to this one is light. I have mine in a west window, super shallow pot, and I let it dry between watering. It has been blooming nonstop for 2 years now, and has probably more than tripled it's size. I have cut it many times to share, or it would be much bigger. Here is a picture of the latest flower - I thought I had one of the whole plant, but I can't find it.
Hope yours takes off Doug. Mine had dead vine syndrome too, but that was because my four legged beasties were religiously eating all of my new growth before it got moved out of range.
Sara
Oh my ... I won't even begin to try to pronounce that name but that is One Beautiful Bloom! I know the hoya has a common name of wax flower ... but that looks like Ice! Really Gorgeous, Sara!
Thank you Lin - I am getting more and more blooms as my hoyas mature a bit. 2 years seems to be the magic number around here, but not a rule by any means...
I have restarted plants that had failing roots, and had those bloom within months of being potted. The australis x subcalva was one of them. I got that one as a mature plant, and after a full year of no growth, I cut off the root system, and it re-rooted in a week. Within months, it had so much new growth, and peduncles, that it sort of blew apart the age theory with blooming. I have found the same to be true with many plants I have purchased over the years. Now, I just save a step, and get cuttings as I have so many times had to re-root plants anyway.
I am not sure yet though if it is age, plant material health, light, watering...that effects the blooming time. Every one is different. I guess it is good to keep one guessing.
S
Thanks for that very helpful information Sara, I had never even seen a photo of the bloom on that one very cool Hoya. Now I really want mine to take off.
Doug
Fun photos. Carol, I can't imagine invasive hoyas growing in trees like English ivy does here in San Francisco, but there you have photos to prove it. Amazing. Pretty weeds!
Julia
I would love some weeds like those! ^_^