Absolutely gorgeous, Quinn! I believe you'll notice the scent when the umbel is fully opened...especially in the evening/late evening. Tell me, how do you grow this plant? I'm having some problems with mine...perhaps watering too much, though it's said to require moisture and not allowed to dry out. Congratulations!! Fondly, Patrick

Oh how georgeous!!!!!!! Quinn, please please please tell me how you grow the subcalva....I need all details! A++++ blooms! =) Thank you for sharing!!!!

You must have been treating this hoya just how it likes.I to need all your info on growing subcalva.Im lucky if I get one or two leaves a year.It tries to grow and then the all the new growth dies.

Cindy

Aw too cute. How long have you had yours? I'm liking the coincidentally color-coordinated clips.

Most of the buds are open now. Pics to come, in a bit. No scent quite yet. GG, this is the 2nd winter I've had this one. I originally got it as a rooted cutting during late summer, where it did pretty well. Then winter arrived, and I really thought I was going to lose it. It took a while to get going again in the spring, too. I think it was one of the last to start growing again.

This is how I grew it this year... It is right up front in a south facing window, so it gets lots of light. The window is barely covered with a white mesh curtain. I grow this one in coco husk chips, and water it very frequently, something like every other day to daily, provided that the top layer of coco chips looks dryish. This guy really seems to love water. I've read that it does not like to be cold at all, something ridiculously warm like 70 degrees is the lowest it tolerates. I don't actively try to keep it warmer, it's been a tradeoff for me; I was planning to move it back to keep it from getting cold in the window but it seems to really enjoy all the sun, so I've left it where it is, as long as I don't start seeing it decline. That being said, I am on the third floor of the house, so it tends to be a fairly warm room.

So, mainly, what I changed this year was the growing medium (to coco husk chips), frequency of watering (a LOT more than I used to), and lighting (up next to the window facing south). I'm happy it decided to flower! And I'm happy the buds didn't blast from my moving the vine around. There's a little bit of dried sap on the vine and flower stems, so I did stress it out a little bit, but I guess it didn't mind that much after all. Hope this info helps!

Quinn that is fantastic, good growing. As I mentioned in the past my subcalva is a bit of a brat but hopefully with your tips I can get some good growth this summer. I learned that cool temps and running dry are just what this Hoya hates but luckily there is new growth again. My plant was looking pretty sad there for a while.

I hope you get to smell the famous grape scent, would be a shame to miss it.

Mike

Open a little more today:

You can see the dripper in this pic. Also, you can see that all of its leaves are on the left side, in front of the wooden shelf post. Behind it is all sp. Tanna Island, who hasn't shown any signs of blooming yet:

Very nice and congrats! Try smelling it at night or early morning.You may have to put your nose right up on it to pick up the scent.

Thanks for the notes on your experiences. I have a generous cutting of subcalva that I split into several sections and started in late fall that has seemed surprisingly robust. The sections are still either in an aquarium or a clear storage bin with a heating mat, though, due to the late rooting. So, I'm happy to be provided with some strategy for when they're bigger. The loose medium + frequent watering combination seems to be the solution of the day for several problem Hoyas.

Huh. All buds are open now (well, that probably happened yesterday but I was too tired to rearrange plants so I could see properly). I will post some pics tomorrow. I tried smelling it today, and it does not smell like Welch's grape juice, but rather, like bubblegum. This is how it is described on hoyor.net, so it's not unheard of. But I don't know how I feel about it. Maybe I'd rather it smell like grape. Ah well. We'll try smelling it again tomorrow.

A side note... while I was trying to smell subcalva's blooms again, to see if I could get 'grape' instead of 'bubblegum', I started smelling popcorn. I was getting confused, as none of the hoyas I have that are supposed to smell like butter or popcorn are anywhere near blooming. Then the scent got stronger, and I realized... the roommates are making actual popcorn. Ha! Thought I was going crazy for a minute there...

The flowers are just beautiful! Thanks for the tips- hoping to get this one at some point!

Kelly

LOL about the roommates!

Smells are tricksters. Right now, I have an orchid blooming near my desk that smells just like Old Spice. I keep forgetting about it and jerking around when I catch a whiff, expecting to see an elderly dude prowling around.

Sorry, slacked off. Here are the pics of the buds all open:

And do I spy more buds forming behind the blooms?

GG, what orchid is that, that smells like Old Spice? I'm curious...

Beautiful blooms, that second photo with you hand gives great perspective of size.

GG I am interested to, Old Spice is not a common orchid fragrance. Remember that is coming from a guy who likes to grow orchids that often smell like dead fish but I do enjoy the pleasantly fragrant ones as well.

Mike

Beautiful blooms, Quinn! It's really going now.

Aw man. I am also curious what kind of orchid it is. I had all my coworkers smell it yesterday and they agreed that it definitely smells like a spicy aftershave, although there was some dispute over whether or not it was specifically 'Old Spice.'

Unfortunately, I am a complete orchid doofus. The kind of doofus who maintains a detailed database on Hoyas and Gesneriads, but inexplicably loses all her orchid labels.

I've actually been meaning to post a picture on here to ask you guys what it was, but my camera just broke and I haven't had the chance to take it in for repair yet. It's a common orchid though - nothing you two would find very interesting. I know because I purchased it as a discount rescue plant at the HD. Not that you'd know it now.

Its leaves look just like .

Its blooms have

shape, except they are way prettier, a sort of lilac and green scaley pattern, with the petals twisting about like it's some kind of grasping sea creature.

Not that I expect you to identify it from that description. I'm just so frustrated my camera is down for the count. At least orchids bloom for a while.

Hopefully you'll be kind enough to let me know what it is someday, though, b/c apparently my conditions are good for this variety and I'd like to expand a bit.

Do a search for Brassia, they have a strong spicy scent although from the colour you describe it is obviously a hybrid. Try Miltassia Charles M Fitch for starters.

Mike

Oh, you are so good, Mike! And fast! It is indeed a Miltassia Charles M Fitch !

Now I'm just going to go shake my head and stare into space in complete awe for a while.

............ /takes a few minutes

Okay, so if I am capable of growing and blooming this guy, and the standard phalenopsis, what else do you think I'm capable of not killing, in similar conditions?

LOL Hey you know I am a serious plant nerd and I was completely obsessed with orchids for at least ten years before I started with Hoyas. Orchid hybrids I am not all that up to date on but yours is a well known hybrid. Brassias are fantastic (although a bit big) if you want another similar type and I find the flowers much more graceful. Brassia flowers are actually designed to attract a spider killing wasp species so they look like big spiders spread out on their web.

Mike

Thanks! That sounds like a perfect recommendation, because everyone here really likes the way the Miltassia blooms look like they want to crawl right onto you.

I like your explanation of the evolution of Brassia flowers.

[WASP] Hey ho! That looks like a spider, my mortal enemy! This is MY wet forest habitat! Rawr!

[BRASSIA] Why do I always go for the guys who want to kill me?

[WASP] Bzzzzzzzzzz Killllll!

Hmmm... this spider is actually kind of yum.

/nuzzle /gobble /fly off

[BRASSIA] Call me!

Quinnfyre: I am very impressed and congrats on such a beautiful plant! Another reason for be to obtain another.

Such a beautiful picture and thank you for giving us all hope. I love the thread. It was certainly worth my time!

Hi Mike:-)

Mike