Everyone's flowers and beautiful here! Jan, Your flowers pretty, they have such a nice color! The Macrophylla flowers are white and the tips of them are a light purple, or lilac color. Billy Rae

Hi Leon, maybe I should have been more clear - it's Hoya sp. sulawesii. Exotic Angel has a plant on their site that looks like the picture - and has it labeled Hoya sp. sulawesii. Whether one really exists or not, I don't know, I am not an expert, but there IS one in Exotic Angel's little world, and also you will find the name on other sites if you google it. Brevialata usually comes up in association with sulawessii, and also incurvula. I know there are alot of mislabeled hoyas out there, and EA has been selling quite a few of them, so who knows! Look up the brevialata flowers and only when it blooms can you be even close to sure. About repotting EA plants in all cases, I have done it and lost the plant, I have NOT done it and the plant has thrived. It depends on the condition of the plant when you get it and how long it has been there in the store- if the pot is extremely heavy and waterlogged, with moss growing on the surface of the soil, and the plant has the signs of being overwatered, then I would MAYBE take a chance by repotting, but for the most part I would give it time to dry out well before watering again, and do this several times, giving the plant a chance to recover on it's own. I have complained to EA by email more than once about their soil and I am not positive of this, but the most recent EA purchase of mine was a linearis and I do believe that the soil is different from the soil in my other EA plants. It would be nice to think that they might actually listen to their customers! The linearis, by the way, I have had all summer and did not repot and it is doing great. Also, alot of these plants are not much more past being well rooted cuttings, with still-shallow root systems, so I water sparingly - that helps keep them from getting too waterlogged too.

Well Hi All, Happy news, I got my gorgeous speckled Lacunosas last night, raced home w/ it, trimmed a few brown tipped stems & hung it in all its glory next to the new Polyneura. The 2 of them in their gigantic 8" EA pots are taking over my kitchen!! (All my other Hoyas are in small 3" or 4" maximum pots.) I couldn't be more delighted. I have already taken at least 3 cuttings to water root as insurance. I usually do really well w/ Lacunosa & find it very easy, non-fussy to grow, so let's keep our fingers crossed that this EA beauty will continue this tradition. The speckled Lacunosa had a few yellowed leaves & stem tips, but overall it looked fine. It does seem to have dropped all its peduncles which I'd seen in the store, a few of which shed on my coat in handling of the plant. So let's keep this thread active & we'll know whose interested. So far, I'm counting 3 people (& am thinking to myself that Ooojenn will want it & also Lesli/GA, for those who remember her, she basically started this Hoya Forum). My VF-11 shipment is due by Fedex on Thurs. & Linda kindly sent me an 8 oz. bottle as well, so by the wknd, I just be rocking in Hoya Heaven!!! For interested parties this was at the Home Depot on 23rd St. in Chelsea. Happy to report they had 2 or 3 regular Lacunosas, 1 Compacta, 3 labeled Kentianas (w/ the dark outline) which seems correct, 1 Krimson Princess & 3 or 4 of the Dischidias (guessing pectinoides). (All 8" pots, all $13.99) Lots of other really nice, healthy looking plants. They tell me they get new plants Mon, Wed & Fri & had it sold out, I would have been able to request they order it special for me, as long as I knew its name. They also tell me there's a 1 yr. guarantee on plants (I'm new to HD). I also got a big bag of peat & a small, adorable Ficus pumila (creeping fig) which jumped into my arms ($2.99). Oh Happy Spring Indeed!!!

Mealies have to be the most difficult pest to deal with. The adults can lay eggs on almost anything, furniture, walls, pots, any place they can hide. The young are mobile and can then go in search of plants to feed on. You can completely clean a plant only to find mealies again the next time you look. There are lure traps that are designed to catch the flying male mealy bugs so that there is a limited reproductive population. I have not tried these traps yet but they would be worth a try. I have been fighting a problem with these pests for a while. First I alternated between alcohol and neem which work well but in the end I have had to get a systemic insecticide. The insecticide has not even been able to handle the mealies and I am hoping that they are not already resistant to it. I have seen improvement but the mealies always come back although the plants seem less affected and are growing well. I think Denise's approach is the best to take, inspect your plants often and keep some alcohol handy to spot treat any insects you see. Check under clips, on pots and in the general area where you grow your plants. There are lady bird beetles that specifically prey on mealy bugs but they are best used in an enclosed greenhouse. Mike Here is a link that might be useful: Some info on mealy bugs