ciao je, ti do il mio benevenuto in italiano, ma da ora in poi, per rispetto a questo forum , parleremo inglese.
ciaoooo!!

Hi Alessandro,

Welcome to the hoya forum!

If you google hoya hand pollination I think you will find a great material as I remember to have seen it somewhere at internet, sorry that I can't help you better.

Greetings from Brazil

Mitzi

We discussed this a little while back.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Hoya pollination

You can read this website too

http://www.agribusinessweek.com/how-to-breed-hoyas/

"RainforestGuy" (who posts frequently on this forum) has created some beautiful hybrid hoyas. Maybe he will chime in with some info. too.

Thank you all!!!

I think it won't be easy, but if someone has done this, I can do too!!!

RFG,
For cross pollination, can you tell us about the relationship and subgenus level at which hoyas belong?

RFG,
For cross pollination, can you tell us about the relationship and subgenus level at which hoyas belong?

RFG thanks for that info. The mention of higher success while the plants are producing their pollinator attracting scent is truly valuable information. I have tried and failed many times but now I have a new tactic. lol
I have to agree that the study of Hoyas has not gone much beyond collecting them. There needs to be a proper assessment of plants in the field to see how they relate to other plants (Hoyas) of the same area. Naturally occurring hybrids are very common in some many plants and in some cases (Kohleria, Gesneriaceae) the hybrids can be more numerous than the species and have a wider range.

Mayyan that is a lot to explain but it would be best if you understood these relationships. If you go to the Apodagis site and click on the Hoyas page you will find STEMMA Journal issues in PDF form at the bottom of the page. If you read through these issues paying close attention to the Hoya Sections articles you will see these relationships, lists of species (proposed) for each section or complex are listed and these are plants that would readily cross as long as you keep pollinia size etc in mind when planning your cross.

Mike

Here is a link that might be useful: Apodagis index page STEMMA at bottom

Knowing all the subgenus levels is difficult since so many of the names are wrong. But I usually use the coronal lobes and pollinia shape to help determine the way hoyas are related. The most important note is that hoyas have their receptive stigmas on the side of the column , not terminally as in most plants.
This is the biggest mistake that pollinators do not realize. They appear to be receptive but this is not the case. Remember bees, butterflies, flies and wasps are the pollinators and they stumble across the flower reaching in deep to get at the nectar. On some species, nectar is oozed over the surface of the flower and insects lap this up with gusto. Walking and getting their legs in a fix allows pollinia receptors to be attached and this is what they bring to the next flower.
Trial and error is the ebst practice. Start with self pollination (note some species are self infertile) but for the most part, almost all can be self pollinated. Hoya imperialis is a species which is self infertile. But I think some of the imperialis clones are actually backcrossed hybrids and do self pollinate.
Many of the eriostemmas are hybrids and we call them species. Many of the guppyi's, susseula, and others are all hybrids. This can be seen when you self pollinate these and watch the variation come out in its offspring.

The best tool to use is a coarse cat whisker, a watch repairman's magnifying eye-glass attachment, and a white scotch pad (to place the pollinia upon while gathering pollinia and going from one flower to the next. The scotch pad works since the pollinia gets stuck onto it and no gust of wind or just the breeze from walking will flutter these pollinia away.

Attach the cat whisker to a thin pencil-like rod and use good secured electric tape, or similar material.
Do not use metal or toothpicks, or anything that can damage the coronas. If you break a corona it will bleed sap and that sap is toxic to the stigmas and pollination process. Cat whiskers are best since they are stiff but not stiff enough to damage the floral parts.

Thanks you both,

Mike, for the pointer

RFG, for more first hand useful tips

Like many other genera, I believe that hoyas have hybrid swarm populations where they can be more common than either parent. The changing forces that drive such processes can be evidenced by nearly all groups of plants and animals in the wild. As our planet changes species will either face extinction or adaption. Usually adaption is a process where two related species may hybridize to produce a super plant. Hybrids have the added advantage of "hybrid vigor" while their species parents do not. Some species seem to just excel no matter what the circumstance. This may be a suspect for a hybrid.
Unfortunately like I mentioned elsewhere, the collectors of hoyas were mostly horticulturalists, a new plan = new interest, more $ and so forth. Nobody notices that there seems to be a large population of this "new" species among or in between other species populations that are quite similar.
In any event, breeding hoyas will be challenging as well as rewarding. On one hand you'll be the first to discover that the species you self pollinated is a hybrid.

To both RFG and Mike, your knowledge posted here for jesuis & mayyan as well as future readers is/will be wonderful. Thank you both for sharing! :)

Maybe in a few years I too will wander down this path, to try new things, Not sure yet. Who knows? ;) But I just wanted to thank the both of you for sharing.

~Tina

Hi, i learned a lot about this topic but still have got some questions ...

Where exactly do i find right spot for placing pollen tubes ? RFG write great info, but picture is picture and can help not just me - i did little disection on one bloom H.magnifica :

2- pollen tubes

3- nectar producing gland ?

4- ??? Nothing important ???

Should be pollen tubes intact? These have ready hard shell, how they will do their job?

I would love seeds from this lovely Hoya and she bloom right now :)

Do you see the black spots in the coronal lobes? That is the pollina. You want to use a fine wire or cat whisker to remove the pollina. Then, using the magnifying glass, identify the pollen containing portions of the pollina ( the bottom left illustration in pic attached to this post) and insert them DOWNWARD or INWARD into the staminal groove (#4 in your pic). Practice makes perfect!

Putting anything directly into the center of the flower (like you would think to do so) does not make seeds. The anatomy of a hoya flower and how to pollinate is difficult to explain, and those who have been very successful have not provided any instructions or shared their secrets via the internet! As soon as I get blooms on these plants (so many peduncles!), I plan to make a tutorial.

Thank you so much, its exactly what i need to know...its morning, so i go pollinating :)

Let us know the results!What tool are you using ?I blow glass and just made some glass points(drawn down glass to a fraction if a millimeter to mimic a cats whisker) not sure if it will work,but gonna try soon!

At a moment, sharp nail scissors and tweezer suffices - H.magnifica have big blossom.

Aahh OK..best of luck!