I have grown several from seed- some are known crosses, others wild crosses (where daddy isn't known), and others are just self crossed.

It's easy to do, provided you get fresh seeds from a reputable source. Right now, I am growing some seedlings out from my personal stock, and from 2 other growers here in the States, as well as from 1 grower from Thailand.

Because I ethically grow, I don't sell seedlings, nor do I sell wild cross plants. If I have wild cross seedlings, they become my personal stock, not to be sold.

I also don't sell crossed plants untilthey have had time to prove vigor and bloom.

I thin weak and/or unhealthy stock, as well as stock that is not really different from the parent plant.

If you are going to hybridize, you need to know what you are introducing and take care to only introduce healthy, aesthetically pleasing (or ugly/odd, because some people-myself included, love ugly/odd), unique crosses.

I cannot tell you how much it breaks my heart when I have to destroy a beautiful cross with a ton of potential because it just won't grow, even though it's siblings are thriving.

Buy your seeds from those who follow this similar philosophy.

Ric Moreir, myself (not yet, as I am working on personal crosses), Jan, and sometimes Susan Swartzfager will sometimes have seeds available.

My Thailand contact will remain private, as we are working on a crossing program together.

Thanks for the advice, aurorawa. After much reading on this site and others, I think I'll stick to cuttings. I am not into hybridizing. I appreciate all your knowledge and advice.

You can still experience growing from seed! Just be sure to thin the weak ones, and keep the ones YOU like best. But, don't release them for sale, unless you know the parent plant IDs! Keep them for yourself to enjoy!

I only grew one lot of seeds that came from my plants, no crosses. It was okay for the novelty value but a lot of them died from dampening off. I ended up only keeping one, it's a very slow grower. Cuttings are very much quicker.

has anyone ever crossed hoya with milkweed? i always wondered if that might lead to more climate tolerant crosses

I tried crossing acuta and lockii with Asclepias incarnata and Asclepias curassavica. No dice so far.

Whats the point in thinning the weak ones? and why would it be a bad thing to sell the seedlings? I think its really rare for people to get seed pods anyway. just wondering.... In nature there are not people there to do any thinning and the plants do just fine.

Do you really need to ask why you should thin out weak or unhealthy seedlings? In nature, they'd die off or, if unhealthy or infected, they might kill other species. In a controlled environment, the truly genetically weak might not die, due to constant care, but they certainly would not be of much use, aside from being space-wasters. The sickly/infected/unhealthy ones might spread whatever issue they have to healthy stock.

I never said you shouldn't sell seedlings. I said wild crosses should not be sold, for obvious, ethical reasons.

The Hoya genus is already a muddled mess of misnomers, species that are obviously identical, but named as different, and swills who claim they have crossed 2 certain species and given the crosses cultivar names, when in reality, the seedlings are self-crossed or wild crossed. You cannot name wild crosses because you don't know the pollen parent. In order to name a cross, you must know both pod and pollen parents.

Another reason you should not sell seedlings is because you don't know how they are going to look as adults (and, in my opinion, as well as many other peoples' opinion, a hybrid that looks too much like one of it's parents, is just not of value), you don't know if they have vigor (which is important; no one wants to buy a seedling that is so genetically weak that it cannot thrive past a certain age), and a sold seedling is one less seedling that you don't personally get to decide if the seedling has enough merit to actually name.

Why do you think Mike Bernardo is so successful? He literally has his growers (used to be Carol, now it's Susan) burn or destroy any grown from seed plants that he deems too much like a parent, too unhealthy, or too uninteresting. People crave healthy and unique, not ho-hum and weak. Mike is a shining example of what a hybridizer should be. There are many crosses that others loved that he has destroyed or not released, simply because they are just not up to his standards.

He requires a seedling to be healthy. He destroys those that are not. The ones that are allowed to grow past the seedling stage are then reviewed for vigor and aesthetics. Those that are not unique or appealing in leaf or growth are put aside until bloom. If the bloom is also not unique or appealing, the plant is destroyed or deemed un-releasable, or, if the plant is exceptionally vigorous, it may be set aside as breeding stock.

Those that have vigor, appealing leaves and growth habit, and have blooms that are appealing, are then subject to Mike's personal opinion. If he decides he likes one enough to release it, he will name it. And, it will be released. He may ask us for our opinion on his Facebook page, but it is ultimately up to him.

I can understand that but i feel that most seedlings are probably healthy by default. I'm just speaking in general and not about hybrid crossing and all that. Most people dont grow seeds to hybridize and release and name. It' just for fun. Just like when a invasive tree overtakes an area, they dont really seem like anything is wrong with them. If one grows slower than the other so be it.They are just plants. Humans have children and they are for the most part healthy. We dont get rid of the weak ones! lol

A wild cross might actually be appealing. I got a fungii splash from someone and we assume thats its self pollinated but we cant really know. I would never destroy it and others might also be interested in buying it. I think in reality most people dont even kno what a hoya is. LOL

Even AH has offered to sell me seedling where both parents are not known, although it obviously is not named but may be a gem.

" if unhealthy or infected, they might kill other species" Is there a case of that happening with any plant?

Aurorawa, could you message me please. :)