The story of Hoya Finlaysonii sp. Chicken Farm splash leaves

How durable can hoyas be? Can hoyas really be easy to care for?

I received my hoya Finlaysonii sp. Chicken Farm splash leaves as a 1.5 leaf cutting on February 2, 2023. What does 1.5 leaf mean? That's how I have defined hoya cuttings for myself, which have 1 neat and mature leaf with a mustache, which still has a young, immature leaf at the top, which most often does not get bigger, only matures in the hardness and appearance characteristic of the variety, or falls off if it could not withstand the journey from the grower's house to my house. In this case, the leaf did not fall off, it just grew harder and helped the hoya survive my further experiments:)

The cutting got a real break, because with this hoya I learned what and how not to do with hoyas:) At first I tried to root the cutting in a coco substrate, but then after 3 weeks I still transplanted it into a potting soil substrate, because it seemed like I would overwater it. Then, over the course of about 1.5 months, I carried the cutting back and forth several times - then I put it in the greenhouse, then I dragged it outside and put it on the windowsill, because it seemed like it was enough to sit in the humidity and it was March and it would be better on the windowsill. Then I put the poor cutting in the bright March sun directly from the weak lighting of the rooting greenhouse, which as a result partially burned the only full-fledged leaf. Then after a few days this main leaf fell off and I thought, oh my, I have successfully finished the hoya, there will be nothing more than that half-leaf, which was still faithfully waiting for me to stop my excessive activities.

And it did! Finally, on March 25, I saw the first 2 roots on the edge of the pot. This happened when I stopped carrying it between the windowsill and the rooting box and left it alone, leaving it right there on the windowsill, only moved to the corner so that the bright sun would not shine on it.

Back in July, the hoya received a slightly larger pot and fresh substrate and in fact, the cutting from a long mustache shoot with a small half-leaf at the top had already developed into a small seedling with several leaves between February and November and decided that it had done its job, had withstood my extreme enthusiasm and could go into hibernation.

The rest period lasted until March, when the hoya started with a new leaf and continued the growing season so briskly that already in June 2024, after almost 1.5 years, I expected the first home flowering of the hoya. The flower is very similar to other hoya flowers of the Finlaysonii group, blooms for 3-4 days or only 2, if the weather is hot, and smells lightly and quietly, I think, of freshly cut grass and apples, which is the difference, because another hoya of mine - Finlaysonii sp. - also blooms similarly, but the smell is much more interesting and gallant.

Hoya Finlaysonii sp. Chicken Farm splash leaves has several, in my opinion, excellent properties:

• if the young leaves flourish in good light, they acquire a splash of pink, the leaf itself is a little wrinkled and very soft, but as it grows it gradually smooths out, matures and becomes hard and thick;
• when the leaf matures, the splashes can even acquire a metallic sheen, which fades over time and then they turn light gray;
• if the lighting is lower, when the leaf flourishes, it can grow very large, but if there is more light, the leaves can also be smaller;
• hoya is extremely hardy and tolerates the mistakes of its grower and patiently waits for better growing conditions to finally appear, so that it can begin to show its charm:);
• hoya has a very interesting name, as well as an interesting history of discovery, but you can easily find this information on the Internet, I will not tell you here.

And in conclusion - I can only repeat that hoya Finlaysonii sp. Chicken Farm splash leaves is a very charming hoya and really easy to care for, which is a great pleasure to grow!

Good luck!

Diana's Hoyas Youtube video about hoya Finlaysonii sp. Chicken Farm splash leaves can be viewed here

Buy a rooted cutting of Hoya Finlaysonii sp. Chicken Farm splash leaves here

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