Hi Klea, I have never been too techy with the naming. Sometimes I just like say hooray that the bloom happens. I did read the article and it was interesting.
I cannot wait to see it in bloom. Good Luck! ~ Mary

Hi Klea
Its nice to see our hoyas starting to wake up and put out new growth and reward us with flowers.
I have a few in bud right now also.

Hi! I would love to see your Hoya when it blooms!! Ibet it will be beautiful!
My Hoyas are starting to put on new growth and budding up 2..... :). The blooms make all our hard work pay off. Congratulations on your buds and thanks for sharing!

Klea,
Please let me know your secret if you manage to get your lasiantha to bloom for you! I have literally lost dozens of buds on this plant; they usually fall off just before they would be ready to open up. It is maddening!! I have tried the plant in both regular potting mix and semi-hydro; I have tried various fertilizers and watering regimes; it doesn't matter; I get the same results; either the buds fall off,or the peduncle falls off, or both fall off at the same time!

Doug

Doug I have gotten mine to bloom a lot.You can not move or touch the plant when you see buds starting to grow,Not even a tiny movement or you will see your hoya lose her buds.
But I can feel how you feel,I have tried everything to get my imperialis to keep her buds and peduncles but they get big and fat and then they yellow and fall off,then a couple weeks later the peduncle yellows.This happens over and over.This winter the hoya has grown 2 more peduncles but I have lost much hope to see any flowers.

Cindy

Cindy,

That info is extremely interesting about moving the plant causing lasiantha to lose its buds. With praetorii, I can shake that plant and move its peduncles all over the place, and it causes no harm. It is funny that lasiantha being such a similar plant, would have such an adverse reaction to movement. I appreciate the advice, and will certainly give it a try - I just lost another giant peduncle full of buds this morinng(:

I feel your pain with your imperialis, and hope that something improves to allow it to flower. I'm very fortunate to have the one imperialis in a thousand that is absolutely bullet proof.

Doug

Thank you all of you for your interest in my lasiantha buds! :) They are growing well, getting bigger every day.

Doug: You got me a bit scared now, worrying that the buds will fall of! lol They've been developing for so long now that it would really be a big dissapointment if they blasted! Maybe I should stop moving the plant around, since Cindy says it has hurt her plant in the past. I've moved, shaken and picked on the plant and buds since the buds started developing in december. It's done nothing wrong to the buds yet, but I'll take no chances!

Another thing: The purpose of this thread wasn't so much about boasting about my lasiantha buds (altho that is a nice side effect, lol), I started the thread because I wanted to know what you guys think of the article I linked to. The one about switching the names on lasiantha and praetorii. I'm a plant geek, and I feel it's important to use correct naming on plants. So what do you think? Should lasiantha be called praetorii and vice versa?

I'll post a picture of my lasiantha buds to show how they have grown. Still small, but there's definitely growing going on! I think they look like shiny little cherries or grapes!

Beautiful photo Klea! I have no trouble with my buds when they are that size. It is only when they are almost full-term that they and the peduncle that holds them abort. I have never been able to get more than two buds to open up before they fall off. Because my plant is grown in a tent, it is virtually impossible to never jostle or vibrate the plant in some way when opening the tent. As for the name of the plant, Christine Burton is probably right that the names should be reversed, but because praetorii, and lasiantha have been known the way they are for so long, I think they should remain so. I liken it to the adverse possession rule: If you squat long enough on someone else's property it becomes yours.

Doug