The typical mix for Hoya's anywhere is to add perlite and orchid bark mix to the soil of choice.
The perlite will open up the soil and the Hoya roots love to find the bark to attach to. The bark mix also helps open up the mix for drainage and the charcoal in it helps keeps things fresh.
It's super duper cold in Oklahoma this morning! Brrrr!,,,Debbie

I know the "typical" mix, it doesn't work for me, the perlite, which I absolutely hate, just washes out of the pots everytime it rains. Eventually the plant is setting in the pot with nothing around the roots. I've tried orchid mix in the soil, the high humidity, heavy rains and heat rot it fairly quickly and once again the plants are sitting in a pot without much around the roots. I have trouble keeping the orchids potted in orchid mix, it can literally rot away in one summer.

I used to pot my amorphs in staight mulch from the city, by the end of summer when they started to go dormant the mulch had broken completely down to a nice thick black soil-great for the garden, awful for the amorphs. The city doesn't chop it very well and there are lots of big chunks of wood in it. The amorhs all died in Hurricane Ike.
Quit adding charcol when I found out it can raise the ph of the soil just like ashes. We have very alkaline soil and water. And the charcol always seems to be a weird green color after awhile.

That's why I live in the South and not in Oklahoma. It's 65 here. Supposed to drop into 40's, which is too cold!
Tally HO!

Never mind, my brain is dead, I got ahold of Tammy, she's just up the road so what works for her should work for me.
Tally HO!

Hi beachplant, I live south of you(FL), so I am warmer than you some of the times. I use a soil-less potting mix I got from the Container Forum(Al's Mix) for all my hoyas and Jades and almost all my containers, I just adjust the ingredients according to the water preference of the plant. The plants absolutely love it, and the soil doesn't stay wet too long, its a very porous mix, doesn't collapse or turn to wet muck in our summer time rainy season. As you can see I don't use any potting soil in it. This mix works very well for me.

That looks like it might actually stay in the pot! Thanks, I'll go find Al's. They are doing great in regular old miracle gro soil, too great, they've got to be repotted after just over a month. All this rain. I expected them to overwinter in the hanging baskets and get repotted in spring, I put a couple of different ones in each basket cause they were so small. I almost never got a couple untangled from the fence to drag in last week! Never had hoya grow so quickly before, even the old ones are going gangbusters.
Tally Ho!

Beachplant, there are a LOT of different soil/potting mixes that works for a lot of people, I only mention mine because you said you were looking for something that doesn't float
(perlite). I posted the recipe for Al's mix on the thread below...you can adjust according to your growing conditions or plants. There are also substitutes that you can use if you can't find some of the ingredients. Good luck with what every you decide to use. Not recommending you use it, I only wanted to share what works for me and give you other options.

Here is a link that might be useful: Al's succulent Mix

You could try using lava rock in place of perlite. A combination of lava rock and some sort of soil mix might be heavy enough to put up with the rain while keeping good drainage.

Mike

Hey Pug, one of my main objectives this Spring is to gather the ingredients for Al's soil mix. He gave places where one might find the Turface, crushed granite and coarse silica sand. Where would I look for fir bark, vermiculite, dolomitic lime, micronutrient granules (what's that?) and gypsum. Also CRF (what does that stand for?).

Tish

I have a difficult time finding lava rock here and have found that corsely crushed expanded clay pellets (used in hydroponic set-ups) work well. I use them for my plumerias but will try them with the hoyas when I repot.

Usually places like Home Depot will carry lava rock, it's about egg rock size and breaks up easily to smaller pieces.

I'm going to experiment with a couple of different mixes. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to find something that doesn't float off! Nothing is more aggravating than going out and finding the plants you just potted up are now sitting bare rooted just cause it rained 8" in an hour. Then no rain for 3 months.

Tally HO!

Hi Tish, fir bark you can get below(its from petco or petsmart, etc.)I attached a link below...also you can use orchid mix from the big box stores or small Pine Bark pieces(not cypress). I do NOT use vermiculite in any of mix because its used for holding more moisture(which I don't need). The lime I bought from a local nursery its my Epsoma...here's the link: I spent $6 for a 5 lb bag, its lasts a long time, you only use 2-3tsp of it per gallon of soil. Scroll down to " Garden Gypsum"
http://www.espoma.com/p_consumer/org_trad_overview.htmlcolor>;

CRF stands for Controlled Release Fertilizer...something like Osmocote or Dynamite...its a pelleted slow release fertilizer. This is optional for people that forget to fertilize on a regular basis. I also do NOT use the micronutient granules because my fertilizer already has it in it. HTH

Here is a link that might be useful: ReptiFir Bark

Pug, you are an angel!!! Forgive my ignorance, for I have a couple more questions. So HTH is the fertilizer you use. What does it stand for and where would I find it? Do you use it year round?

Also, for other plants (pothos, gynura, maranta), would I use the vermiculite? If so, where might I find it?

I think the crushed granite will be simple to find, however, how difficult was it for you to find the turface and coarse silica sand?

I'm not going to wait until Spring, I'm going to start gathering as much as I can starting now ;)

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me Pug!!!

Tish

Hi Tish, oops...sorry (HTH)means "hope that helps",lol(not a fertilizer) You can ask me as many questions as you want, I may not have the answers,lol. NO worries!

I use Dyna-gro foliage pro 9-3-6, its the one that Al recommends best for his potting mix. It has all that the plant needs and complete! Its also very economical for me, I use 1/2 tsp per gallon of water, so the quart size I buy lasts me a long time. There are many other great fert. out there but this one works best for me.
I attached a link below for the Foliage Pro and also to a link from the container forum about it. I also use dynamite
all purpose slow release pellets and add about a Tablespoon per gallon of soil when I pot up my rooted hoyas, its a slow release just for back-up in times I forget or don't have time to use the Foliage pro. It is purely optional!
Dynatime Fertilizer...I buy mine at home depot. I use the green or purple container. Its also the same as Nutricote or very similar to Osmocote...so any of them is fine.
http://www.dynamiteplantfood.com/products.htmlcolor>;

Please let me know if you have any more questions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread on Foliage Pro...

I truly, truly appreciate it Pug. Here are the other questions I had from above:

Do you use it year round (the liquid fertilizer)or do you stop in the Fall and start again in the Spring?

Also, for other plants (pothos, gynura, maranta), would I use the vermiculite? If so, where might I find it?

I think the crushed granite will be simple to find, however, how difficult was it for you to find the turface and coarse silica sand?

Again, I'm very grateful Pug :)

Tish

Hi Tish, I only slow down a little on the fertilizer in Jan/Feb our coldest months of the year(I use only 1/4 of the recommended dosage, but I do live in FL...my growing season is longer than yours...so I leave that up to you. I only use 1/2(FP) the recommended dosage during the rest of the year.

You can certainly use some vermiculite if you want on some of your plants that likes it a little on the "moist" side, but I wouldn't add a lot of it. I've seen Vermiculite at some of the big box stores in spring. Right now, the stores are on Christmas merchandise overload,lol so their garden supplies have been cut way back...hopefully, come spring they will get a lot more supplies back in. Also check some of your local nurseries, they should carry it.

Also, I screen the ingredients before I mix them all in a bucket...to get rid of the fine dust(which makes it hold a lot more water). I use one of those kitchen aluminum strainer, it works great for sifting out the dusts.

The turface you can find it a local John Deere location, type in your State and should pull up some distributor near you...
http://www.profileproducts.comcolor>;

Also, a GREAT sustitute for Turface is Diatomaceous earth.
Available at Napa Auto Parts store...Part #8822(50 lbs)
Just make sure you Screen it!
http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/contain/msg11180317999.htmlcolor>;

Coarse silica sand I found at a masonry supply store, I was told you might be able to find it at a place that sells or builds swimming pools.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vermiculite vs perlite

Cool!!! There is a John Deere right up the road. We bought our riding lawn mower, push mower and snowblower there. I also googled masonary in Kenosha Wisconsin and they're all over the place!!! This might be easier than I thought. I want to gather the things that are available now and then I just have to wait for the other stuff to come back in stock in the Spring.

You gave me the Dyna-gro foliage pro 9-3-6 website. Do you buy from them or did you go to store locator (it happens to be down right now) and order from one of them?

Thanks for all the great tips too!!!

Tish

I got mine from Miami...but I still had to order in online since they are three hours away. I HATE paying shipping...but sometimes its the only way to get the things we want or need,lol...

You're most welcome!! Good luck finding everything you need, just remember there are always substitutions that you can use! If you're not sure if it will work, you can always ask on the Container forum...they know a lot more than I do,lol...the reason I like this mix so much is you can tweek it according to your growing climate/plant preference...I add more turface if the plants like it a little on the "moist", or add more coarse silica sand(less turface) if they prefer it "drier".

Hi TishfromWisc,

I'm Karen & I grow indoors in NYC, so my conditions (I'm guessing) are closer to yours than Pug's, in her semi-tropical FLA.

That said, I offer that I fertilize from Spring to Fall only. So I pretty well stopped fertilizing here in about Oct. It's still been a warm Fall in NYC, actually the cold just kicked in TODAY (burr); 30s w/ a wind chill factor down into single digits (50s 2 days ago).

I find vermiculite to be readily available in box stores & nurseries, but yes, it's the wrong time of year, it'll be back in Spring.

I grow Succulents, Hoyas & a few houseplants.

I'm with you Pug with the shipping, but like you said, if you need it and that's the only way to get it, then so be it. Another great tip on the amount of turface versus coarse silica sand! I've got some Hoyas that like it drier, some moister and then the majority that are in between.

Hi Karen! So you stop fertilizing about the end of October and start back up around the end of April?

It's cold here too. We got a foot of snow and the temperature is at 18 degrees with a wind chill of 6. Definitely burrrrrrrr!!!

I have a few house plants--pothos, gynura, maranta, schefflera, dracaena marginata and chlorophytum comosum and 25 Hoya so far; I already have a list ready for Spring :) Once I found out I had a Hoya and started learning more about them, I got bit pretty hard. If my other plants didn't have a sentimental value, I would probably give them away. My name is Tish and I'm a Hoya addict :)

Well I think I have enough information to keep busy collecting all the soil material and fertilizers and such for a while. I can't thank you guys enough for all your help!!!

Tish

Hoyas are one of the easiest plants I grow. They love our climate and bloom almost year round. I made the mistake of putting a bunch of different cuttings in one pot. I did not expect them to take off and grow so much! So now I have to repot next week. 4 baskets and might as well do some that have outgrown their pots.

I'm skipping on this "soil-less" mix. I've never been a big fan of them even though they have been around almost as long as gardening. For me as mix has to be with easy to find ingredients, sustainable ingredients-no redwood, no cypress, no chemicals of any type and will hold up to torrential rains and drought. I'll do a bit of experimenting. Don't tell anyone but they are all growing in Miracle gro potting soil!! I had no idea I was doing everything wrong with them except light. Don't tell the plants either, what they don't know won't hurt them. Maybe some rough bark and a little decomposed granite to the mix to help with drainage and lighten up the soil. The dang baskets weigh so much when they are wet every hook I own has bent. Of course 8" of rain in 3 hours doesn't help!
Tally HO!

Pug,
The only diatomaceous earth I have ever seen is a really fine powder used for filtration in aquariums. I'm not sure if that would be an acceptable substitute for Turface. Do you have diatomaceous earth available that is pelleted?

Thanks for the link to the John Deere site. There is one not too far from me.
Mike
aka tl3 (long story...) (:o)

Tally the HD's and even most nurseries around here don't stock lava rock. I use pumice for my plumerias and have searched locally for it for several years. The chains really don't carry much of anything except stuff like MG. I can easily find perlite and vermiculite and I have found lava rock but it's sold as a decorative item in tiny bags and for the amounts I use it wouldn't work. I buy most of my supplies at a local hydrponics shop or online.

I use DE for slug control and used to use the same kind that's in our pool filter but heard from several people to only use the horticultural grade of DE on my plants/garden. I'm not exactly sure of the reason, something about it being a carcinogen but after hearing that from more then one source I decided to go with the horticultural grade. lol I use either Fafard (usually 3B) or Happy Frog potting mix and add to it, if necessary, depending on the plant. Course sand can be found at almost any hardware store. Just look for builders sand, not playground sand. I buy coir in bricks but rinse it well before using it. You can find the coir bricks in the pet store reptile section where you find the fir bark. I also add Mycorrhizal Fungi. I find it helps, especially with new transplants but you can only use it if you don't use pesticides.

Tish,

You and I have about the same climate conditions and I'd like to suggest that it's so much better to just keep it simple. You can find as many opinions about soil as there are people (which is why I don't usually jump into these conversations...) but I hate to see you work so hard to create a mix that is - well, ideal for people in a much different climate.

I've been growing Hoyas for over 30 years and what has worked best for me in my climate is just coir and perlite. Now, if I had access to pumice, I'd probably prefer it instead of the perlite because the annoying thing about perlite is that it "floats". I can get small bags of pumice at one local nursery, but the cost is prohibitive for me (in the quantities I need it!) So I get the coir bricks, which I pay about $3 each for, and they reconstitute to about a gallon or so of mix. The key is getting a really good quality coir. Then I use about 2/3 coir and 1/3 perlite. My Hoyas thrive in this mix. (I also grow a lot of succulents, and they're in the same mix...) I used to buy coir online, 10 bricks at a time, but I found a local source that sells the best quality coir I've ever found. They sell online, too, so I'll include a link.

Denise in Omaha

Here is a link that might be useful: Paradigm in Omaha

There are no pet stores here and only one nursery with limited selection. HD has lava rock in large bags and usually I get a bag or 2 when I buy their torn bag pallets. Coir is hard for me to locate. The Houston Garden Center had it but they only have it in the spring or summer so I gotta get it then, they are only about 20 miles away. Perlite only in those little bags and it does have that very annoying habit of floating off so I've given up on it. DE I can get at the local nursery. It has been linked to an increase in lung cancer but that is in workers with chronic exposure. Pumice is not readily available but I pick it up on the beach all the time and will just start saving it for my plants. I can easily pick up a bucket full when the seaweed starts to wash in as it washes in the same time.

It is hard to find what works best in each climate. What I grow plants in would kill the same plant if it were grown indoors or with different conditions and vice-versa. Some of the mixes used would require me to water plants 3-4 times per day. I often grow plants in a much richer mix simply because of drying out in summer, then the problem is how to keep them from being too wet when we get weeeks and weeks of rain.

I thank everyone for their ideas and suggestions. I'm going to mix up a couple of trial mixes and repot next week. I'm off for 5 days and have to paint the library, caulk the rest of the windows, install a floor in the upstairs kitchen, paint the floor in the downstairs kitchen, get the plumber to hook up the sink and put in gas lines so we have heat in the downstairs, wait on the electrician, continue caulking the outside of the house so it can eventually get painted.....BUT I am going to repot plants and do some gardening to destress in between. The roofers set the house on fire doing Hurricane Ike repairs, took off running, didn't call 911 & haven't been seen since. We're just happy to finally be home.

Ya'll stay warm.
Tally HO!

BP - yes my mix would defitely not work in your climate, especially in summer! We get lots of heat and humidity in summer, too, and it defintely requires more watering, and I'd imagine if I were growing mine outside in your climate, you'd need something that was heavy (to keep them in the pots during those torrential rains) and fast-draining.

That's why I think it's really important to consider the climate and growing conditions when picking a mix. What works well for one person is totally wrong for another. And that doesn't just apply to climate - we all water diffently. Someone who has a habit of watering a lot wants a mix that dries faster.

Denise in Omaha

Well put Denise! Floating is a big problem for me!! I am still amazed at what did float around in the hurricane and I'm a beachcomber.

Didn't get the hoyas repotted, it rained or was foggy and rainy every day I was off but Friday. And the plumber came on Friday so I spent a couple of hours running around with him trying to get all the supplies he needed, he doesn't drive, then cleaning up the flood from the broken water pipe! You'd think a plumbing supply would have what you need but on this island, oh no!

I am so ready for spring/summer and to be done with the house!!! I don't care if I never paint again.
Tally HO!