hi, new user! just googled 'hoya' cuz i don't know much about them and ended up in your site. thanks. started a stem about 6 mo ago in a bud vase and this am was checking the water level and found a flower!! five little stars on dark pink stems, creamy pink, so nice and what a surprise, first time and not even on the mother plant it had been getting lots of morning sun on a portion of the kitchen counter :)
Michael, are the little stars the buds? will they open? where will I find the nectar? should I plant it now, new pot or with the 'mother' plant? I was quite shocked (and excited as you may have noticed) as I have had the mother plant for about three years without a flower; a friend didn't want to move it back to Manitoba. I had been trying to string the vine across the window like a curtain swag when a piece broke off. I just popped it in water (remembering the days when I had 'wandering jew' or 'spider plants' that propogated this way so easily). Just thought I would try it. The mother plant is still above my kitchen sink and slightly to the side of a kitchen window on top of the cupboard, no direct sun. A second, quite large kitchen window facing NE is where the morning sun has bathed the 'baby' since ~April. Thanks for your help and knowledge.
In my experience Hoya's mostly flower better when they are stressed or rootbound... That nectar, for me, usually forms at the bottom of the cluster. Ed
The 'stars' are probably the flowers, but might be unopened buds. The unopened buds are pinkish-brown, opening white or pale pink with a dark red-brown centre; the beads of nectar slowly emerge from the centre. Unfortunately mine has just finished flowering for now, otherwise I'd take a photo.
