Karen,
I wish I could say something insightful and positive, but, I have found that once EA plants start the decline, saving the plant is next to impossible.
You might try taking the whole plant out of the pot and washing all the soil away from the roots and re-potting it in your favorite mix. You can use a bucket of water to eliminate some of the mess, but, a mess is inevitable.
Perhaps others may have had better luck than I and can give you some more encouraging tips!

I have to agree (having lost quite a few plants to the EA soil....), it's probably the soil. I'd re-pot in a better draining mix as soon as possible and give it lots of humidity.

I'm about to do this myself with an Australis from EA, really a pain, but better than losing the plant.

It's funny too, how they look so HEALTHY when we get them from the store. One thinks, "why mess with a good looking plant like that". However, after a time, if it is not done, the plant starts to go downhill and fast. I lost a couple of them too.
You know, it's a shame that innocent unsuspecting people that don't even know what a hoya is will buy these plants only to loose them, and then think, "Well, I am not going to try any more of those HOYAS, they just die for me."
I wonder why they use that soil???
Marcy

Well Gang,

Thx for the suggestions. I'll admit to only waiting 24 hrs. for a reply, but w/ a declining Hoya, time was of the essense, so Sunday night I repotted the whole darn thing!

What a mess indeed, indoors w/out the luxury of a hose, my only choice was to soak the darn thing in a basin, enough so that I could pry all the mix off w/ my fingers. I had tried to do it w/out soaking, but the mix would not break apart. I suspect some parts of the rootball had been drinking while some had not at all (the dried out portions were dry all the way down the branch to dead roots).

I ending up taking the entire thing apart, no easy task at all! It was somewhat potbound w/ a mass of fine roots all around the rootball, which was virtually unseparatable (not a word, sorry).

So I pulled it all apart w/ all that soaking I'm certain it got REALLY good drink. I put it in all new mix (washed out the pot which was only 6", not 8" as I'd guessed) & started over.

The old soil was extremely spongy & after I repotted it all the remaining mix was really like sludge, w/ all the water I used to soak it. Found abt 7 viable plants in all.

So in its nice new home of mix (peat, perlite, vermiculite, pumice & tsp of charcoal), I'm hoping it will come back. So far this wk, the leaf drying out has diminished, tho' unfortunately I lost all my new growth tips. Happily, the mix is draining nicely & this wknd I expect to water normally w/ a shot of ST.

So yes, I'd agree, when in EA mix or (unknown) spongy soil, best to repot. WHEW, what an ordeal, cross yr. fingers pls! Thx for trying to help me. I'll report back on recovery results.

I do hope to get back to the shop where I bought it & ask if it was an EA plant or who the supplier was.

Abt why they use that mix? I'm guessing maybe it works better in greenhouses? Can't imagine for the life of me, why else they'd use such awful stuff!

I'm sure your plant will not only survive but begin to flourish in no time! I know what you mean about the horrors of trying to remove the soil from EA plants...nearly impossible! I went through that a couple of times and actually got very, very little off. I put the plant back into the pot and added a bit of mix around the sides. The plants sulked for a short while, then perked up and have done fine since. I think maybe the faster draining soil that I added to the sides wicks away the excess from the EA crappy soil.

So many plants come from commercial greenhouses with that awful soil. I've got two Christmas Cactus I got at Christmas time from my sis (who owns a nursery) that I desperately need to repot because of that awful soil. You know what I think it is? I think it's a mix they can water every day without it affecting the plant. Imagine having 10,000 plants to water and figuring out what needs water and what doesn't. It couldn't be done! So they use a soil mix that drains so fast that if they're watered daily, no problem. Then we bring them home and water once a week, more or less, and they falter. REPOT, REPOT, REPOT - it's my "battle cry"!!

Denise in Omaha

Someone mentioned once that it's likely this type of soil is used because if they ship them relatively *dry*, they're quite lightweight....likely saves a lot on shipping costs, and...with the price of gasoline these days, I'm sure that's a high priority.

If you *do* have to leave your plants in this 'spongy' soil, I highly recommend watering from the bottom. I've had success with this method. It seems that once they're wet at the soil line for any length of time, they begin to decline.