About 4 months ago I purchased some cuttings of Hoya Australis from a person on FB in the $10 or less forum. I received maybe 5 cuttings, supposedly from the same parent plant. Well after rooting them in sphagnum moss, I planted them up in little 2-3" pots.

They all pretty much took off, however some have very large leaves while others are growing long vines but with smaller leaves. Presently they are all located in a south eastern facing window, so they receive high light, sunshine even, pretty much all day. I live in Eastern Pa to give you an idea of the climate.

Have any of you seen this, where cuttings from the same plant appear to grow differently? I have to say though, this plant does grow very fast and the leaves are looking great.

Comments? Thoughts? Thanks....

Mugsie, your plants look great! I too find H. australis to be a fast grower, especially during the warmer months of the year. You will probably really see your plants take off next summer!

I have both Wax Plant (Hoya australis subsp. australis) and Wax Plant (Hoya australis subsp. tenuipes) The leaves of subsp. australis seem to stay pretty much uniform in size and it's not as fast a grower as subsp. tenuipes which seems to really grow like gangbusters during the summer months and it always has different sizes of leaves, some small, some larger. I just went out and took some photos to show the differences between the two:

Hoya australis subsp. australis:


Hoya australis subsp. tenuipes:

Plantladylin,

Thank you for the compliment. I'm not sure which species I have, but whatever the most common one is is most likely the one I have! They do seem to grow quickly, but now that they're inside for the winter, I would think they'll slow down a little. They get several hours of sun during the winter, and as the sun gets lower in the sky, and the shade tree outside drops it zillions of leaves for me to rake up, they will actually receive even more sunlight.

My plants, because they are in a very porous mix (miracle grow orchid mix, pearlite, sphagnum moss and some cactus soil mix) I usually water everybody at least every 4-5 days. The Bella and Multifloria get watered every day and the lacanosa gets watered every other day. None of them are drenched, but just enough to keep the soil "moist". Not wet nor soaked. This regime seems to be working well while they are on the window sills. When they were outside, they were getting watered every other day! All of them in fact. So far so good.

My Curtisii is the exception. It is watered maybe once every 8-10 days (or whenever I remember it). For a plant that likes to crawl along the forest floor in moss etc, it doesn't appreciate being watered much.

So - let's hope they all continue growing throughout the winter and I'm rewarded with lots of blooms soon.

Now to go find some unusual ones to add to my collection....

To me, your plant looks most like Wax Plant (Hoya australis subsp. tenuipes) The flowers on all Hoya australis look identical and have the most amazing fragrance! My H. australis always bloom anywhere from mid-late October to late December.

Plantladylin - I agree with you. My plant definitely looks like tenuipes. I'm pretty sure that is what was sent to me. So far they are still growing strong, but I expect that to stop shortly. Our days up here are gloomy, dreary, rainy, gloomy, dreary, cloudy, teeny bit of sun, did I mention gloomy? :-(
Typical PA weather in the winter.
Hope you're doing well and I'll keep you posted on their progress.
Later....