The first of the month I ordered a half dozen Hoya plants from a ebay seller in GA.. This seller ships priority mail. It took 2 days to receive a tracking number and I expected to see my new plants in a few days. After 5 days I check the tracking number and find my box of plants is in Hawaii. 2 days later in Guam, then back to HI. After a few days in HI (at the beach?) they make it to Portland.

Two weeks in a box, in pots, they were bone dry. All had shriveled leaves and my tricolor looked dead. I was surprised just how fast they recovered, water and misting made improvements in just a few hours. The tricolor took a good 24hrs to look like it would survive, it did have a few leaves drop but overall they all made a full recovery. These guys are tuff as nails. I hope they enjoyed the 2 week Pacific vacation.

That is odd, was the seller actually in Asia? Kind of sounds like it. Glad they made a full recovery though.

Yes, that sounds rather odd. I've seen a package from Cali go to NY (I live in GA) and a package from FL go past me to ATL, GA and back down to me, but Guam?

These stories make me a chicken about order plants online. So glad they are coming back @madcratebuilder.

ps: still want to know what madcratebuilder means...

It was strange, I exchanged several emails with seller, we both talked to uspo, no one had a rhythm or reason.

ps: still want to know what madcratebuilder means.
A longtime ago in a land far away I used to build custom Harleys. Custom bikes were called Crates...you can guess the rest.

Steve , you said the hoyas came from an e-bay seller from Ga.(Georgia)?

I'm confuse because the responds mentioning is coming from Asia.

Seller is in Georgia and I have made several purchases from him. Priority box with correct address that for reason unknown spent almost 2 weeks flying around the south and central Pacific. This info was from the USPS tracking web site.

When I first saw the package was in HI I thought maybe a drop shipment from another greenhouse but that was not the case.

The good news is all plants have recovered and look great, really hard to kill. The Tricolor looked like dried up cardboard. After 36hrs with wet feet and misting every few hours it looks fine, lost two leaves and the stem tips are damaged.

madcratebuilder said:Seller is in Georgia and I have made several purchases from him. Priority box with correct address that for reason unknown spent almost 2 weeks flying around the south and central Pacific. This info was from the USPS tracking web site.

When I first saw the package was in HI I thought maybe a drop shipment from another greenhouse but that was not the case.

The good news is all plants have recovered and look great, really hard to kill. The Tricolor looked like dried up cardboard. After 36hrs with wet feet and misting every few hours it looks fine, lost two leaves and the stem tips are damaged.

If you want, you can cut the tips and it'll force it to back bud (create new vines).

Wow, if it was me i'll be in a panic. I'm glad it finally made it to you and only tips were damages.

Wish you luck on your new hoyas, Steve.

The first Hoya I ever owned was a small 4 inch potted plant given to me by a co-worker in 1976, labeled "Wax Plant". In 2006, I joined my first ever website (DG) and learned that my plant was Krimson Princess Hoya (Hoya carnosa 'Rubra') That plant grew so huge that I diveded it into two very large pots with trellises. They both eventually reverted back to the solid green form of H. carnosa. When downsizing, I gave one to a neighbor and kept the other. In 2014 we were away for a couple of weeks and it was left out in full, blazing hot summer sun without water ... the poor plant never fully recovered and finally just died.

I had no idea there were so many different Hoya's and after seeing photos and hearing that many are quite fragrant ... I was hooked!! In either 2007 or 2008 on DG, I joined in on a Hoya Co-Op for cuttings from Australia. The entire order went to the person hosting (I think he lived in North Carolina) and once he got the order, he re-packaged everyone's cuttings and shipped them out. I was advised by someone that upon arrival I should soak my cuttings for about 24 hours; I heeded that advice and they all plumped up and did really well. So ... cuttings went from Australia ... to North Carolina ... to Florida. I don't remember how long the travel time actually was but it sure showed me how sturdy some types of Hoya cuttings are!