Sometimes when you bring a plant home, or it arrives in the mail, you expect that it will require some time to adapt to its new surroundings. He’ll need time to settle in, adjust to the new environment.
That wasn’t at all the case with this Hoya sipitangensis. I did the band-aid approach – like pulling the bandage off quickly – to get all the trauma over with at once. He went through shipping, cross-country travel, and unboxing. I didn’t like the mix he was in so he got repotted right away. He settled in like he owned the place and just said: “Cool. I’m gonna start growing now.”
And he did. He was putting out new growth in just a few days. Now I doubt that my conditions are those of Sipitang, Malaysia where he’s from, but he’s happy and I’m not going to interrupt him while he’s busy.
The leaves just have tiny little bits of splash, but they’re a beautiful shade of green. I don’t have another Hoya that looks quite like he does, so he’s a good addition to the collection. And if he keeps growing the way he has been, well, there’ll be no complaints from me.
I’ll keep you posted.
