My kentiana definately gets the darker reddish burgundy edges in the sun...problem is, theres a fine line between too much and not enough, because too too much sun will also add matching burgundy specks and spots all over the leaves and/or turn the leaves pale and washed out yellow. Mine was looking pretty ragged after half a summer of only 3 or 4 hours of direct morning sun, so I have it in a shadier place now, trying to green it back up.

I don't know about Baltimore, but I know of a few places you can buy hoyas in the Philadelphia area if you are willing to take a few hours to make the trip.

I do believe it's the light exposure that makes for the dark margins.
Mine is hanging directly in an east window, and the leaves that are against the window have those contrasting margins, while the leaves that face the inside of the room don't!

My kentiana has very dark margins, and I don't find that it has anything to do with light. Like Nan, mine is in an east window, and I never rotate it...but the side that is facing the inside of the room has margins that are just as dark as the side facing the window.

I have found that the higher the light exposure, the more red the entire leaf gets (not just the margins). A co-worker of mine has her kentiana in a south window, and the leaves that are in front of the window are almost the same dark color as the margins.

I agree with Ines that it DOES have to do with the amount of sun it gets. My biggest wayetti was in my sunroom east window and has almost black margins. (I've moved that one to a west window as I think it was getting a bit too much light...) I have another that sits on a shelf in a north window, gets no direct sun and if you look close, you can see very faint margins. This summer, I put it in my greenhouse for about a week before a C&S show as I planned to show it and wanted the margins to be more distinct. Sure enough, within a few days the margins darkened right up!

Denise in Omaha

Thanks for all of the responses! For now I'll hold off buying another one with darker margins and give this little guy a chance to darken up. Will let you know if it does! Besides having purchased 15 hoya's in 2 months I probably should take a break and figure out a way to include hoya purchases in my budget before I go broke... I've been acting as if all hoya's are going to sell out if I don't get them now and my list of wants grows weekly! Can't imagine how I'll react when/if I get my first flower!

Thanks again and happy growing!
Kelly

I started with one hoya, a compacta about four months ago, then got a KQ, then I went a little crazy....lol. I have so many now, I dont know what to do with them. I must have close to 70 pots of various hoyas now. Its very addictive....lol.

Tracy

Tracy-
That's incredible and hilarious at the same time! From where did you acquire most of them? Any flowering for you yet?
I'm working more on my lists of wants and making sure I include ones that can possibly take more shade since I have a big northern window.
Any growing tips for another newcomer? I come home every evening wanting to pamper the little guys, but instead I just mist and wistfully hope for some growth! I do have some V-11 and hanging baskets on the way from acsagapeplants.com.
Kelly

I have no advice....lol, I still ask a ton of questions here. None have flowered yet except for the compacta, and that is what did it for me, once I found out how many different hoyas there are, I had to have more. I have gotten a few from around town, various big box stores, some I got through the mail from people around the country (I posted some ads for hoya clippings) Once I find them, I make sure to get them. I have gotten a few online from ebay canada as well.

I grow them all mostly the same, in coir (I love this stuff) and perlite, I use a weak fertilizer, and I also use vf-11(haven't noticed yet if it does anything) Most of my hoyas are cuttings still, most still trying to root, but some have peduncles already on them, so I am already excited.....lol. I also have most of mine growing under a 400W metal halide (just switched from 1000W), so the growth is pretty steady, no slowing them down.....I am hoping they wont slow down too much over the winter.....they shouldnt since they are getting a ton of light.

Have fun with yours......they are truly amazing plants!!

~~Tracy~~

Gabi, yours is an EA hoya, right? I seem to remember the tell-tale red plastic pot when I saw pictures of it...mine is EA too, and though you would think they grow all their kentianas from the same stock plants, they could have a few that just have the darker margins, sun or no sun. Of course, if the room is bright enough, the plant could maybe be getting bounce light on all sides - I don't know if that is enough to darken the leaves, but it might be. I know that your plant (Gabi's) is a very healthy specimen of the variety! Mine is way past the age where it should have bloomed, and it doesn't, even when in good light, and it grows VERY slowly...it is so boring, sometimes I even forget that I have it...it wasn't healthy when I bought it, but enough time has gone by now, it should be doing much better.

Tracy, in only a short time you have almost twice the amount of hoyas that it took me about 2 years to accumulate. Though of course, I am a very disciplined person...(cough, cough)

Yes Jen, mine is an EA hoya. I was very lucky to find one that was completely rootbound (not just a pot full of rooted cuttings!). The kentiana I had before this one sounds like what you are describing....it didn't grow AT ALL.

About the light, you could be right....maybe it's getting enough light from the sides. Here are 2 pics of it.
The first one was taken when the sun was shining bright (but you can see that the back has no light on it), and the second was taken at night with the blinds closed (you can see how the back of the plant has very dark margins). So again I'm wondering about how much of a role the light plays in those dark margins....Jen, maybe what you said about some having darker margins (with or without sun) is right - that's what I was initially thinking.

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Wow, yeah it does have the dark margins all the way around. Beautiful. It may be a combination of both the light and that particular plant. The only way to tell would be to move it further away from the light and see what happens, but I wouldn't do that, it is doing so well there -And why mess with a good thing, especially if it isn't that important?

I don't know what the problem with my plant is, maybe it just needs another year to keep recovering...when I got it, it was pretty sad looking, I think it was even marked down, that is how bad it was!

Wow, that plant is absolutely gorgeous!

I'm with Kelly, that is gorgeous!! I cant wait until my hoyas get bigger!

Tracy

I often wonder if the real difference between wayetti and kentiana is the dark edges. I really have no idea because I've never found anyone who can tell me IF these are actually two different plants (or if they are synonyms of the same plant) and if there are, WHAT are the differences. Would be nice to know... And then you have to consider different clones have slight variations. That's how I ended up with two (actually 3 - two large and one smaller...) of tsangii. Got the first one mail order - this is the small one that sits in my north window and has thicker leaves. Got the 2nd one, which has thinner leaves that are roundish, then found the 3rd, which had more oval leaves (which made me think it was something different... until it bloomed, that is!)

Denise in Omaha

Yours does appear to be getting more light than mine, Gabi, except for the portion that faces the window directly....mine is, quite literally, right *IN* the window, as our house is rather dark, overall.

I've had mine about 4? years, and it really just 'sat there' until last year, when if *finally* began blooming and is presently growing like crazy!
Mine produces quite long bare vines with lots of aerial roots.....do others note that theirs seem to have more aerial roots than most hoyas do?

I agree....what a beauty!

Thanks everyone for your compliments :)
Yes Nan, I find that kentiana has lots of aerial roots...pretty much at every node.

I am also recently addicted to the hoya plant. I actually just bought another one today during lunch at lowes. It's pretty bad when you spend a whole hour looking at plants instead of eating. Anyway, I herd when a hoya is in bloom your not suppose to move them? Is that right? I bought a hoya at a florist shop and it was in bloom at the time of purchase then it has bloomed for me several times since. the most recent time the little blooms died off before they got to far. I did have to move it from hanging in the south window to the corner of the window (same wall) b/c my husband got tired of me hanging it on the curtain rod. :-) Do you think that is why my bloom died off?

Well, it's not a "general rule" that the buds blast when the hoya is moved, but it can happen. I have had hoyas shipped to me while in bud, and they bloomed for me soon after their arrival. However, I have also had buds fall off ("bud blast") after shipment. So there's always a chance of buds blasting when moving a plant, but there's probably just as much of a chance that the buds will still bloom. If you had a choice, I would recommend NOT moving a plant while in bud...because why take a chance?

Ok, I won't take the chance anymore. thank you for your response.