Hoya obscura (Silver) | 2-Inch

The regular version of Hoya obscura is fairly common and is known for being easy to grow and it easily sun stresses a beautiful red with veins that become more prominent when it sun stresses. It is also one of the parents of one of my favorite hybrids and is named after me (jk) - Hoya Rebecca.

Hoya obscura (Silver) is one of my favorite hoyas because it combines all the great things of the regular version but with silver on top of it.

The origins of it is a seedling, which means an obscura grew a seedpod that was probably crossed with another obscura and all of the seeds from that seedpod were planted by Cindy in Utah. When they grew, some of the seedlings were green but a few were silver. Those silver ones were chosen for their unique characteristics.

Some cuttings/clones are sold as obscura (Silver) and some are sold as obscura ‘Cryptic Chrome’ so they are basically sisters and very close in looks and genetics but not exactly the same plant.

I have found that in order to maintain the silver, this plant needs to be under very high light. I put them about eight inches under a Barrina T8 light and that does the trick.

*** Exact plant, rooted with new growth, US Seller***

Leaves

I would consider the leaves to be medium-sized and I would say they have a medium thickness. They make a really nice hanging basket.

Flowers

The flowers look very similar to lacunosa flowers. They are generally white but with higher white they can be a light pink. 

Growth

Like most hoya, they take a while to root and get started growing, but once they do, they grow quite fast for me. I would say they get new leaves every 2-3 weeks.

Soil

I have experimented with different potting mediums over the years for hoyas and this one does fine in any of them. My favorite substrate currently is Lezchuza Pon or a DIY pon mix of 4 parts pumice from my local garden center, 2 parts lava rock, and 1 part zeolite.

Water

A good rule of thumb for all hoyas is to water when the pot feels lighter than when it is moist. It takes a little practice to learn how heavy each pot size normally is but it really is the best method.

Light

These require a higher amount of light than most hoyas. I use Barrina T5 grow lights for most of my hoyas but I use Barrina T8 grow lights for these. I keep the top of the plant about 5-7 inches away from it for 14 hours a day.

Humidity and Temperature

These will grow fine in ambient room conditions but will grow faster with higher humidity and temperature. I keep my plant room pretty consistently at 60-65% humidity and 73-78 F and most of my plants love this. You can do higher humidity, but make sure to also increase the temperature relative to the humidity so there is good VPD.

Fertilizer

I add Tezula Plants MSU Fertilizer to my watering can every time I water for three weeks then water with plain water for a week to flush the pon.

When to Repot

These tend to have a relatively small root system and prefer small pots and they take a long time to get root-bound. I would stick with the pot it's in as long as it's happy in it and isn't root-bound. When you do repot, only go up one inch in size. I use these 2-inch pots for all my small hoyas and these 3-inch pots for all my larger ones.

Pests and Disease

I have personally not had a problem with either of these on this plant but I also avoid a lot of these problems but having good soil, light, and humidity conditions and by doing routine pest control. 

For my routine pest control I currently rotate weekly between PureCrop1 (good for all-around killing pests on contact), Horticultural Oil (for flat mites), and AzaMax (liquid systemic that takes about three weeks to start working but will then protect your plant from anything that tries to eat it).

Propagating

I like to take a mature hoya and snip off a long section. Then I cut it into sections with one node to a section,  get a small pot full of substrate, stick the cutting in the mix, and keep it consistently moist. The node should not be in the substrate. It's hard to explain in words, so if you don't already know how to propagate hoyas, I would check out some YouTube videos.

If you don't have already at least 60% humidity, you can do something like put it in a take-out container or Rubbermaid box to increase the humidity for a week or two then gradually get it used to regular household humidity once it has a few roots. 

Are hoyas toxic to pets?

Good news! They are non-toxic to cats and dogs.

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