I use the Black Gold Cactus Mix distributed by Sun Gro of Bellevue, WA. I mix in Turface. I have a bag of E.B. Stone as well, but the first 2 mentioned are what I use most, although all 3 products are in the mix pictured below. I potted up my free echinocacti with it. And this Aloe Vera (3 bucks at a garage sale)... got potted up too because there were a bunch of rocks in the old pot around the base of the plant, there were privet seedlings growing there, and the soil was not ideal. This be the end result, although I did clean up the dried out lower fronds later because I was also cooking dinner during the repotting project.

Like I said I use some compost in my mix, but that does not say it is the best for plant yield. If that exact same organism was grown in a container with a high porosity mix, or hydroponics for that matter, the plant/organism would be even larger. There is no "magic" that manure or organics have. There are only macro and micronutrients that effect plant growth MOST. If you disagree with me, then you disagree hydroponics do NOT yield more then organic soil grown. I can say right now hydroponics yield more, a big reason is air porosity. For example: The 50/50 of manure and pumice- The manure holds water and buffers ph, and gives a little nutrients. If the grower used a auto watering system with 100% pumace, watering 3 times a day with ph balanced solution of water/ complete fertilizers ect, the plant would be 20% larger. Why? Because of increased air porosity. For my peppers I use the compost in my mix because I want a water holding potting mix that will not dry in the heat. If I had a self watering or auto watering system then I could use a very light high porosity mix, but I need the easy to grow in, water holding abilty of potting mix, for my pepper plants that is. I understand if I use a auto watering system with a high air porosity grow medium- I will need to watch ph a little more, and need to be on top of fertilizing even more direct. With all of that will come a larger harvest per square foot. I am not disagreeing, as I do too use compost im mix. I am just pointing out some things.

The best mix for a hoya is actually soil free. Pick up a bag of fine grade orchid mix (Lowes sells a good orchid mix made by Gubler, get the one in the blue bag). Hoyas are NOT cacti and succulents, and they should not be treated as such. There are some hoyas (austalis ssp. oramicola/rupicola) that would rather be watered once a month, and some hoyas that are very thirsty (buotii, lasiantha, praetorii, javanica/multiflora) and do best grown semi-hydro. The average hoya (carnosa, pubicalyx, most pottsiis, obovata, etc.); however, does best being watered once every 7-10 days. Hoyas are tropical/subtropical plants, and as a rule, they thrive on heat and humidity. There are also exceptions to this rule. Hoyas are epiphytes. In nature, most hoyas grow up trees, using their aerial roots to attach to the trunks. Because hoyas are epiphytic in nature, soil should be avoided or used minimally. Hoyas need a well-draining, airy mix that will provide their roots with enough moisture and areation to prevent rot. The issue with using soil, even when it is mixed in with perlite, is that it compacts. Every time you water, the smaller soil particles sink to the bottom of the pot, compacting together. This leads to blocked drain holes and can cause root rot. The key to a successful, well-draining potting media is to make sure each of your ingredients is the same size. This is another reason I am fond of my mix (1/4 inch orchiata bark, 1/4 inch new zealand sphagum moss or 1/4 inch hydroton balls, and 1/4 inch perlite, one part each...so, if I make 3 cups of mix, it is one cup each ingredient). My mix is expensive, and, unless you have over 300 hoyas, you don't need it (heck, even I don't need it, but it works for me, so I stick with it). I suggested an orchid mix as a substitute, and hoyas do very well in orchid mix. The average hoya should be fed 1/4 strength fertilizer at every watering. I use MiracleGro water soluble tomato food (1/4-1/2 TEAspoon per gallon of water) because it is inexpensive and provides all the micro and macronutrients. The reason you feed at every watering is because in nature, hoyas are fed naturally, in very small amounts. The mists from the jungles run down the trees, and onto the aerial roots of the hoya. Inside this mist water, macro and micronutrients from vegetative decomposition and animal excriment, nourish the hoya in small amounts. Flush your plant once a month to rid the pot of any excess fertilizer residue. You do this by watering the plant for 2-3 minutes straight or soaking the entire pot, plant and all for 2-3 minutes. Hoyas also, for the most part, prefer being rootbound. This means if you repot, don't use a pot bigger than 2 inches larger than the rootball. They like it snug. When you get ready to repot your hoya: *Soak your orchid mix overnight. This flushes out any ecessive tannis that may be present in the bark. It also rids the mix of dust. *The next day, drain and rinse your mix thoroughly. *Remove your plant from the pot. Gently rinse as much of the old potting mix/soil off of the rootball. At this time, check the roots. They should be firm and lack any foul odor. Also, check the stem where the roots attach from. A wee bit of yellow coloration is okay, as long as the stem is firm and has no foul odor. If the stem is soggy, peeling, black, or has a foul odor, you may need to restart your plant entirely by taking cuttings. *Set your plant aside. * If you are using a new pot, soak it in a 1:10 part bleach water solution (1 part bleach to 10 parts water) for 10 minutes or so. Rinse thoroughly. If you are reusing your old pot, rinse all the soil off first, and then soak in bleach water solution for 10 minutes or so and rinse. *Add 1 inch of your orchid mix to the bottom of your pot. Place the rootball of your plant in the pot. Add a bit of mix at a time, gently shaking the plant and pot to get the mix thoroughly around the rootball. Once the rootball is thorougly covered in the mix, top off around the base of the plant, if needed. *Wait a week and water.

Let me expand this conversation. Imagine that we were going to make our own custom cactus and succulent mix to compete with the big-name brands. What would go into that organic part of that soil mix? Assume this is for a container application. Without asking me to prove the reasons for it, assume that this mix has 80% inorganic sized components and 20% organic. My mix will have 40% sized and screened turface and 40% sized and screened pumice, keeping the particle sizes in the 2 mm to 4 mm size range. You could make that 80% pumice or 40% cherry stone and 40% turface. Whatever. Choose the inorganic components you like, and I am not focusing on the inorganic components in my question. For those of you who worry about putting a sawdust or fine particle material like peat or compost into a soil mix, I can tell you from testing I did this summer that you can generally get away in a cactus mix with about 20% of the mix being fine particles. Above that percentage, the air space in the soil quickly collapses and fills with water. Under that percentage, the perched water table is minimal and the adhesion and cohesion of water do not work against you. What I would like to ask the rest of you is what would you select for the remaining 20% of the mix that is organic? Judging by the contents of other commercial cactus mixes, candidates for the 20% of the mix that is organic include: * peat moss * bark products or sawdust * compost (from forest products) * feather meal (high nitrogen fertilizer), fish meal, alfalfa meal, and/or kelp meal * manure (chicken, earthworm castings, etc) The last three on that list appear to be an attempt to load the soil with some fertilizer. So which ingredients would you add to the 20% of the soil that is organic, and what percent of that 20% would be each of those components?