eeeewwwww.....

Do I have a problem here, or is this just cosmetic?

A couple of months ago I bought one of those EA 40# sopping wet full baskets of H. curtisii...I removed the saucer as someone here suggested (Denise? Gabi?) and hung it under our walnut tree in dappled sun, where it seemed perfectly happy....in fact, it still seems perfectly happy, is putting out new growth and shows no signs of rot...meanwhile, our weather here has been very humid with almost daily rain showers and thunderstorms...yesterday when I went to check on the plant I saw that actual MUSHROOMS were growing out through the bottom drainage holes....do I have to think about re-potting the whole thing (yuck) or shall I just let it pass as one of nature's miracles? Any advice would be appreciated...

Shelley

I would try to remove the mushrooms in case the block the drainage

Dominic

The mushrooms are coming from the soil and should not hurt your Hoya, You can remove them but I would not worry about repotting.

Thanks to both of you....I'll remove the mushrooms and try not to worry about it...I am so not fond of fungus...

SR

The only thing I would watch for is root rot.

EA hoyas are grown in greenhouses in FL so they can control the amount of moisture the plants receive. The EA mix is "super" heavy and retains way too much water, IMO. I always re-pot to get the plant out of their heavy soil mix.

I would guess the EA plants are grown in this mix due to the fact that no one ever waters the plants where the EA plants are usually sold and the moisture-retentive soil keeps the plants in good shape (alive) longer.

Even without the saucer on the pot, that mix should not receive water every day and there is a danger of the roots not getting enough oxygen and rotting - I'd repot into a more open mix given the conditions the plant is growing in.
My .02
Mike

LOL and you are probably right but so often I see a mind numbed part time employee with water hose in hand, cell phone to the ear and water on full blast. Those EA Hoyas I've have experience with were so saturated at the store that they were doomed. 8 )) Most definitely right about that soil blend.

At our local Home Depot the plants are ALWAYS bone dry .. nobody ever waters them! But, at Lowes, the plants are always FLOATING in water! The pots are so water logged it's actually pooled at the top of the soil line! I keep thinking maybe the plant tender at Lowes has nothing to do and I want to suggest they run the two blocks to HD and water their plants! ^_^

LOL Lin---Sounds like a good plan!....I do think EA sends out their plants with every possibility in mind....if they're not watered at all in the retail store, they still retain enough moisture from EA to survive, but if they are watered, even excessively, they magically seem to have no problem with that either....I wish I knew what exactly was in that EA mix, because I have to say it seems to work for the plant no matter WHAT....

Anyway mushroom have been removed (and what a pleasant job that was) and we've had 3 dry days in a row, so hopefully things will improve in my hoya pot...

SR

I've heard that EA is going to be using a new soil blend that is not quite so heavy. Not sure when the new blend will start being used, but it is sometime this year...
Mike

I read that EA is going to change to a lighter potting medium ... finally. I have always removed all soil when I buy an EA plant because in my conditions it just was way too heavy and stayed too wet for too long.

I bought an EA lacunosa a couple of weeks ago at Lowe's that I think was in the new mix---anyway, it was quite light-weight for an EA plant and even wet it doesn't weigh near what the old ones do....It's doing very well under the walnut tree and making tons of new growth...hopefully I got one of the last baskets with the old mix....

SR

Okey dokey, then. I'll just jump right in and show how stupid I am! What's EA? The thing that comes to mind is Ethan Allen, but that can't be right...they do furniture, not plants..haha! ChuLin

ChuLin: EA stands for Exotic Angel, a brand of plants sold by Hermann Englemann: http://www.exoticangel.com/Varieties/ Greenhouse out of Orlando Florida. A lot of the big box store garden centers, like Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowes carry the EA plants.

Oh, thanks. I have gotten a few EAs from various places too; can't remember what at this point. At either Kmart or Walmart...one of the marts!