I have a new Hoya 'Rope' and would prefer it not be in the soil it arrived with. I thought I had some bark around but I can't seem to find it so I can't make my usual 5:1:1 mix. What would be a good substitute to use until spring?

I have Cactus soil, potting soil, perlite, pumice, and special orchid mix.

I use cactus soil in all my Hoya's. Great for drainage.

I use regular potting soil, perlite and orchid mix in my Hoyas. I've used cactus soil too. As long as it's a well draining mix it ought to be fine.

I use a chunky fast draining potting medium for my Hoya's as well as all of my other plants. It's a mixture of potting soil and orchid bark (the one that consists of bark, perlite and charcoal.) Many years ago I added extra perlite but found I really didn't need it. I'm in Florida where there's lots of humidity year round and this mixture works well for my conditions.

Thanks for the feedback everyone I'm glad I repotted because the soil was drenched but the roots seemed fine. I used the same pot it came in but removed the 'attached' saucer for better draining. I also ended up with two stems separating so they are in their own pot.

I need to figure out how to update the information in my profile to show where I'm located.

Click on Profile at the top of the page and the first box says Actions, the first items says Change Public Profile ... click there and you can add your location.

As a side note.... I will say that I was told the "ropes" can handle (or even prefer) more moisture than your typical Hoya. When I complained that mine was beginning to resemble a plastic plant - no growth, no flower - it was suggested that I up the watering. Sure enough, I've gotten growth. I've also been told they prefer crowded pots.

That being said, everyone else here probably has much more experience than I do with Hoyas, I am a relative newbie in this area. And unless it's a bog plant, what doesn't appreciate good drainage?

Okay, so was this a useless post, or what????

Sheryl, it's not a useless post at all! It's always helpful to hear someone else's experience with plants.

I can't really attest to the "more" water regarding the Hindu Rope ... as soon as I bring any plant home it gets removed from the container and all soil washed off to be repotted into my own potting medium. Commercial nurseries seem to use very heavy soils that retain a lot of water (probably because of transporting them all over North America). They then unload them at the garden centers to be under the care of folks who sometimes don't know a thing about live plants. At one of our local big box garden centers in particular, the employees water them and water them until they are so saturated that the roots rot. I'm in an area of the country that has high humidity most of the year so I water twice a week during summer and sporadically-to not at all during the months of Dec. Jan. and Feb.

I had a really large beautiful H. carnosa compacta, the Hindu Rope Hoya. I still have it, or rather what's left of it! It's almost totally gone now ... not even worth trying to save. We've had extremely cold winters the past two years and it was hit hard by freezing temperatures. I lost a few large Hoya's and many, many other plants because I couldn't give them enough protection from the cold. This is what it looked like for a few years.

Oh wow, gorgeous!

That was the other part of the advice I was given - more light. Your plant blooming outside tells me that was probably more than a casual suggestion. I assume it wasn't getting direct sun?

So.... I guess I should say that I used to let the plant get pretty dry between watering and now it's up to about once a week.

Sheryl: Correct, no direct sun. Originally I put it in more direct sun and ended up with scorched leaves so I had to move it back into the screened area to a location where it got bright light but was shielded by a large Schefflera tree from the direct sunlight. In the heat of summer I water twice a week unless we get rain.

Sheryl I think they need a little more water than I tend to give. I'm finding that my fear of overwatering and turned into a habit of underwatering.
Mine all get high light but mostly indirect. The only direct sun they get is when the sun rises in the morning but once it's up the vertical blinds prevent them from getting direct late morning to late afternoon sun. One of my Hoyas has started putting out leaves because of it's new location.

I'm sorry to hear about your Hindu Rope Lin. That is a really beautiful photo of it though.
My rule of thumb is to repot all HD, Lowes, Garden Center or Floral plants. (Not always so with Nursery plants.) I remove as much of the medium as possible and rinse if I'm sure I can do so without damaging the plant. This Hoya was so awkward for me to hold that I was afraid the three super long ropes would break off.

Ang: The Hindu Rope was a beauty but I needed to downsize with the number of plants I owned anyway and I can't say I will miss that one. When I first became interested in plants 45 years ago I used to kill them with my over-watering habits but for many years now I've grown everything on the dry side and they've seem to adapted to my routine.

Here is 'Rope' and the two bits that fell off.

I have an H. kentiana that got knocked over by my cat last week (grrr...). I had never seen it un-potted before and was amazed at how small and sparse the roots were that supported all those thick leaves. Is that pretty typical for hoyas or does it vary as much as the rest of the plant?

Ang: Nice looking plant and smart to pot up the two stems that broke off!

Sheryl: I think it varies. I've heard that most hoyas prefer to be root bound but I'm not sure about kentiana. I have H. wayettii: Wax Plant (Hoya wayetii) which is similar to kentiana and it's really potbound but it seems to bloom all the time so I guess it's happy. Sometimes it takes a long while for roots to fill a large container so I usually underpot my hoyas.

I've read that the kentiana and the wayetti are often confused (or the same, or something! ).... mine looks good (despite its enforced repotting) - it has two... root thingies? I think they're aerial roots or something, they are like a stem with sticky little rootlets on it - but once again, no blooms.

My Hoya australis subsp. tenuipes sometimes has loads of aerial/adventicious roots but I've not noticed any stickiness to them.

The hoya lady that had a hoya section on cubits, told me some of them grow right in the tree's, so I'm guessing some don't have much of a root structure? I can't think of her name right at this very second, I still have not had enough coffee, but I'm sure she'll show up as soon as she knows we are talking Hoya...

Probably Carol, from Hawaii?

They don't feel sticky at all, Lin, but I noticed that they had attached in one place to my mantle, although they were quite easy to gently pull off.

I've been considering training one towards a pot of soil...

Alan, did you ever make it up to Baker's?

I agree, it must be Carol (AlohaHoya) from cubits! She has commented and shown photo's of some of her hoyas growing up into the trees. Many are epiphytic in nature. Reading Carol's posts on cubits and another forum has taught me a lot about these wonderful Hoya's, she is very knowledgeable grower!

Sheryl: I must have been confused, I thought you said something about aerial roots being sticky.