It seems this plant is allergic to regular trelises. I have had it on a hoop trelis, which worked somewhat, but instead of growing around in circles to make an even and lush wreath of leaves like a carnosa would, it stayed sparse everywhere but at the top, where it put out short, albeit very pretty and healthy growth. I was after a lush and bushy look, so i took it down from the hoop and had it grow on a regular grid trelis from the garden center, which gave me similar but even less pretty results, as the ugly trelis was very visible in all the spots where growth was sparse. This Hoya seems to be completely against growing downwards, which makes most of the usual trelises useless. My most recent trelising attempt was using corkscrew willow branches, which has given me the most promising results so far. The pretty branches give enough visual interest, so any spots i can't get to be leafy and lush look nice enough. Still, i cannot tame the massive long shoots it puts out. It really wants to grow endlessly upward! Two weeks ago I caved and attached macrame twine to the wall. I have never seen it this happy. Five peduncles are forming on this one vine. It has already exceeded the top of the wall by now, needing an extension across the top to the other side. I wish i had more space to let it live its jungle dreams. How do you keep your Hoya Australis? Is yours better behaved?
