Hoya imbricata

Hoya imbricata is an unusual epiphytic hoya from the Philippines and Sulawesi whose round, dome-shaped leaves press flat against the tree trunk like overlapping shingles, sheltering ant colonies underneath. Leaves are mottled green and purple and can reach about 25 cm across, with only one leaf per node. In cultivation it must be grown on a flat mount it can shingle along, in warm, humid, bright-filtered conditions.

At home, aim for

Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry

Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry

Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry

Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry

No rest periodGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

An epiphyte of tropical forest that grows up tree trunks, each convex leaf pressed against the bark with a hollow beneath that ants colonise (a myrmecophyte). Roots grow under the leaves into the space the ants occupy.

No elevation data found in the sources opened; the range suggests lowland to lower montane forest.

PhilippinesSulawesi (Indonesia)

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates

✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it

✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light

✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it

✓ Substrate and airflow

✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its Public domain licence, unmodified.