Fish Tail Hoya (Hoya polyneura) has been one of the hardest for me to keep alive ... under my care this hoya usually begins to sulk and dies quickly. I did purchased another one (Exotic Angel Plant) a few months ago and although it's pretty ratty looking, it's still hanging in there. It's not my favorite hoya so I don't know what possessed me to buy another one. I thought it was going to kick the bucket shortly after bringing it home because leaves began to fade or turn yellow and drop like crazy but I re-potted it and sat it on the floor of the screened porch where it still sits. I just can't seem to figure out the wants and needs of this one:


I just don't seem to do well with the thinner leaf varieties of Hoya; I couldn't keep the Shooting Star Hoya (H. multiflora) alive for long either. The thicker, succulent leaf varieties seem to do so much better in my conditions.

Lin, I'm glad you said that about the shooting star variety, because that is currently the only variety of hoya that I'm regretting not having yet. If it's a toughy though, maybe I'll see how I do with my fishtail one and go from there.

I think @tarev grows the Shooting Star Hoya with great success; maybe she can offer tips on keeping that one happy and healthy. It seemed no matter what I tried it was never happy and eventually succumbed to the growing conditions here but then again, I have to be honest I am not the best plant caretaker; to survive at my house they must thrive on neglect.

Hoya shooting star is a water hog in my area. I have to grow it in standing water literally. It will make its peduncle when it is cool and will keep it, will rebloom on it several times, but once our temps begin to go very hot and dry outside, even though I grow it indoors, it knows..and will quickly kick the peduncle. But it grows a new one. A pair of new leaves, then a new peduncle at the center. I also have an oversized tray below, to catch the blooms when it starts throwing it out, and to catch the sticky drips. It is not as generous to bloom here, only one umbel at a time, I guess it is our very low humidity that affects it too.

I have seen this plant growing in the wild when I was in the Phils last year, seeing it in bloom on a very high tree limb, a cool mountain region, a huge lake on the backdrop and that area noted for its cool morning mists, and at that time it is cool season too, so it is a humid cool area. So it really made me understand why it seems to prefer being grown cool. Temps there at that time in the 65F to 75F. That is already cool by Phil standards, normal temps there goes up to over 90F plus humidity of 80% to 100%.

tarev, I do remember someone telling me that H. multiflora preferred cooler temps and it's so hot and humid here most of the year that it just was not happy at all. I did try it both indoors and outdoors but could not keep it alive.

I'm hoping that it will like our cooler climate, then, but we have far more extremes. If, like you said, it somehow knows what the weather outside is doing, I might be in for some serious difficulty growing it. Our house, however, is always between 65-75 degrees and I do own a mist bottle. I mist my tillandsias roughly every other day to every third day, so maybe shooting star could join the 'misting party' if I get it.

Edited to add:

btw, @tarev , I was following your post in the hoya thread where, over a series of months (years, even?) you were posting pictures of your shooting star in bloom. Between that, and your earlier suggestion, I had it on my 'want' list. SRQ Hoyas has javonica and another shooting-star relative, but I am holding off because I think I want to get the one that you have. I think Gardino's Nursery carries it, but I think they are out of it and I have enough new plants at the moment to try to manage, so maybe shooting stars will be a gift to myself next year.

It was really tricky at first with Hoya shooting star, never knew how to grow it, I kept reading threads in other forums about it, and there was one person who said what worked was standing water. So I figured, might as well try. True enough it finally worked! DogND, my area is really an extreme one too, being more inland, so we get triple digit hot often in summer, long span of no rain 5 to 6 months, tule fog during late Fall to winter at times, and we go down to the low 20's in January, the ironic part rainy conditions here is in winter, so it is such a struggle with the plants.

I have been growing some orchids too, and it really made sense Hoya shooting star wanting more water like that, there is an orchid alliance, the Oncidium alliance which are similar water hogs, can't ever drown it, especially in summer, I can leave them in standing water in summer only for about a couple of days. Similar trait almost with that Hoya, although Hoya shooting star is always on standing water.

Hoyas being in the milkweed family too, so it does behave like my tropical milkweed here, water hungry! Funny to see the traits showing across the plants.

DND, you took the words out of my mouth about Shooting Star Hoya. That's why I went to the website where you got your hoyas in the 1st place. I thought I bought Stephanotis, but I just remembered it was out of that and the Shooting Star Hoya. I got a Medinilla instead. It will probably kick my butt trying to keep it alive, but I think I'm just a glutton for punishment. I will try to grow any plant I get my hands on. Somebody save me. . . I'm drowning in plants, and can't swim. . . . .

I have Chandelier Tree (Medinilla cumingii) that looks pretty ratty most of the time. I'm zone 9a and it's a container plant sitting beneath a tree in the backyard. Next year we'll be living in zone10a where it's a little warmer in winter so I'm going to plant it in the yard somewhere and I think it will do much better. I like it okay but I'd love to find a M. magnifica because it's absolutely gorgeous!

It's lovely. Thanks for the eye candy, Lin. I think. I ordered Medinilla Myriantha - Malaysian Grapes. I was looking for M. Magnifica, but they don't carry it.

, Deborah
Did you just purchase the medinilla, or have you had it awhile? If you have it, can you post a picture, I'd love to see it!

I took another picture of my hoya bloom, trying to capture the fused petals a little better. An interesting thing about this plant is that it seems to photograph as a bright, true pink in every picture I've taken or have seen of it...but it's actually more of a reddish-pink. That suits me well because, while I don't hate pink, I try not to have too many pink blooms; I'm just not the biggest fan of pink, in general. Maybe my pink avoidance is a remnant of my I-don't-wanna-be-a-girly-girl youth, haha!

Yep, I just ordered it this morning. Thanks to you, I think.

Deebie said:Yep, I just ordered it this morning. Thanks to you, I think.

Haha! I'm not sorry, though, because I know you're going to love whatever you ordered.

Deebie said:That's why I went to the website where you got your hoyas in the 1st place. I thought I bought Stephanotis, but I just remembered it was out of that and the Shooting Star Hoya. I got a Medinilla instead.

Do you mean SRQ Hoyas or Gardino's Nursery?

Oh, Malaysian Orchid (Medinilla multiflora) (synonym myriantha) is pretty too and looks a lot like the one I have. When I bought mine it was labeled M. magnifica but someone later ID'd mine as M. cummingii.

Deborah must have ordered from Gardino's because Joni (SRQ Hoya's) only sells hoyas.

You're right. At first, I wasn't sure if medinilla was a type of hoya. I went to SRQ Hoyas and did a search for medenilla. When it didn't yield anything, I realized I must've been reading too fast, first we were talking about shooting stars and then medenillas and I got confused.

I would love to grow Medenilla..but have to stay away..it is such a high humidity plant..something we just do not have here. I have seen it though in the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco..entering that part of their tropical plants area is just a jolt in the system..really humid hot! Sadly my area is more dry hot.

So do post how it will go in your area Deebie!

Yes, it was Gardino's that I ordered from. Dogs, I think you mentioned that they send healthier plants than SRQ Hoyas. Then off I went to check out their website. I stayed up late last night checking all sorts of plants, so many I've never heard of. I'd wanted a medinilla magnifica forever, but could not find one for sale. So, I settled for the M. Multiflora for the time being. I'm sure I'll love it and it will love the hot, humid south. Lin, I plan to summer mine outdoors, but what do they need for the winter months besides the indoors.

Deborah, I'm sure you're going to love your order from Gardino's and I definitely recommend them, but I still highly recommend SRQ Hoyas, too, especially for people who have a specific variety of hoya in mind. The two kerrii hoyas that I got from Gardino's are huge, but partly because the leaves on those cultivars are huge, LoL! Yes, I was very impressed by Gardino's, but I'm not sure that their hoyas are necessarily better or worse than SRQ's. I would only know that if I ordered a smaller-leaf type of hoya. For people with patience and thinner wallets, doing cuttings from SRQ could be a better option because her bundles are reasonably priced, but they do require rooting (she does offer a rooting service, though, I just don't know how much it is). Gardino's is nice for people who have a little more to spend and want a plant that is already rooted and might be a little bigger as a result. Hard to say...