Names: |
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| Family | Asclepiadaceae. |
| Genus & Species | Hoya pubicalyx |
| AKA | Hoya purpureofusca. H. purpureo-fusca is often sold as H. pubicalyx 'Pink Silver' and visa-versa. |
| Common Name | Wax plant 'Pink Silver'. |
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| Size/Shape | Its vining habit is adaptable to climbing around a window frame. Grows to 1-2' in container. 10-12 ft. It is one of the fastest growing Hoyas |
| Leaves | The speckled silver leaves are long and lance-shaped. Dark green leaves with silver markings and lighter green underneath. |
| Flowers | 3 to 4" clusters of waxy, burgundy blooms. Pink. Magenta. Clusters of attractive, star-shaped, pink flowers edged with white hairs occur in impressive inflorescences. Do not remove the peduncles on which new flowers are produced every year. Some varieties of this Hoya have lighter or darker flowers. |
| Blooming Season | Summer. Early summer to early fall. |
| Fragrance | Emits an evening fragrance. Flowers are very fragrant especially during evening hours. Smell of flowers can become overpowering indoors. A strong sweet fragrance. It's fragrance is absolutely amazing. There's almost no smell during the day, but at night a single cluster of the flowers is so strong, that it even spills out to other rooms. It's scent is very unique; very sweet but earthy and damp. Of all the Hoyas that I've smelled, this is my favourite. |
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| Propagation | From herbaceous stem cuttings. From woody stem cuttings. Allow pods to dry on plant. Break open to collect seeds. Seed does not store well. Sow as soon as possible. A portion of the stem including one or more pairs of leaves will quickly produce roots in water or damp sand. It needs to be a bit rootbound to flower well, so don't use too big of a pot. |
| Soil | Mildly acidic to neutral. Well draining soil. Peat, loam and sand or perlite. |
| Water | Average water needs. Water regularly. Do not overwater. Water well and do not let the soil dry out completely in between watering. Water freely during flowering but allow the soil to become almost dry between waterings. During the winter rest period, the plant should be watered sparingly with only enough moisture to keep the foliage from shriveling. |
| Food | Fertilize every 2 months in spring and summer with a balanced fertilizer diluted to ½ the strength recommended on the label. |
Pruning |
Don't remove the spurs that the flower clusters grow on. The plant re-uses them for future flowers. |
| Light | Partial sun. Sun to part shade. Light shade. At least 4 hours of direct sunlight a day, but also can be grown in bright indirect or curtain-filtered sunlight. |
| Climate | Tropical. Zone 10 and higher. Minimum temperature 50°. |
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| Source to Buy | Logees plant (as Hoya purpureofusca). |
| http://tinyurl.com/awxsp | |
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