Hi Paul, As you can see, there are different ways to do this. I doubt there's a 'best' way, more like personal preference. I myself use wire coat hangers, opened up & bent into whatever shape I want, often I use a U-shape & place it upside down in the pot, training the vine. Others I've done around circular wire hoop (pegged down into the mix). Then I affix the vines w/ various things, twister ties from bread bags, I use binder clips for the heavier Hoyas, some folks I know use pipe cleaners. One just needs to take take not to tie it too tightly lest it strangle the vine. I've also seen folks use plain old orchid clips.

Bouldergrower is in Boulder, CO, zone 4-5. Tropic, where are you? You guys might be speaking totally different languages. What's sunny in zone 5 may be exact same level of light as deep shade closer to the equator. (Although Boulder's 5,500 feet elevation should also be considered.) This is why all this "full sun / no direct sun / shade" advice read online is of somewhat limited use. I think generally, Hoyas bloom better with intense light, intense enough to bleach the leaves but not to burn them. BUT: leaves often look way better with less intense light, as I think your pubicalyx does, bouldergrower. So, what are your preferences then? You may get away with having the best of both, as the sunny side works well for the blooms, and the shady side creates nice looking leaves. I would consider not changing anything.

I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. I've been using a bloom booster year round, at about 1/2 strength when they're growing, and way, way less in winter. Mine is 9-50-10. I happened on a couple jars of this for free a few years ago when a guy went out of business and ran out of room to move his products to AZ. I'm getting low on it and was at Paradigm Gardens one day and asked if they carry it as I didn't see it on their shelves. He said, "oh, yeah, that's over in the locked case." I thought that was funny (fertilizer locked up!) and asked why - he showed me this jar half the size of mine and said, "because it's $40 a jar and people steal it!" Hmmm, no wonder I like it so much! LOL! Liquid gold for my plants! Anyway, I also mist mine often in summer, and at least each time I water in winter with VF-11 water. You can google Eleanor's VF-11 if you want. I love it, and my sister, who owns a nursery, swears it's miracle juice for ALL plants, including her vegetables... Denise in Omaha

I think it was drama combined with the insult of Mother Nature. A lot of good sellers quit because of drama. It doesn't help when the forces of Mother Nature also decide to toy with you. You get angry customers who are ticked because you sent them a box of plants that are dead/dying because the customer INSISTED you send immediately, blizzard or no blizzard. You get customers who have no idea how to take care of carnosa, paying for platycaulis and then blowing up at you because they killed their plant. You also get customers who know a certain hoya species, and what you sent was not that species. But you thought it was, as you received it as such from another vendor. This happened to me, personally. I only recently found out that the sp. 93027 Borneo Red that Joni sent me is NOT Borneo Red, which IS an eriostemma and not the plant with thick pottsii like leaves she sent me. Am I mad? No. She most likely received it from a vendor who mislabeled it. If we had a huge snowstorm that took our power out, and I had a ton of nasty customers, and a ton of sickly plants to look after, and on top of that, say I or an immediate family member was ill, ALL at the same time, yeah, I'd probably close shop. Not saying this is what happened with Joni (I honestly don't know! Nor is it my business).