The primary pests of Hoyas are

Maybe someone else will have an idea what it was, but just wanted to ease your mind a bit in the meantime.

And since we were discussing unpleasant bugs, let me just share with you a super cute picture I found while I was looking for pictures of scale: {{gwi:985570}}

Sorry, I meant to link to the blog post instead of the solo image (that was rude!), so I'll just link you to a whole set of bee photos by our friend in Munich here.

That IS a cute picture, greedyghost!!!

I decided to start Neem-ing all my new purchases and I gave one round to the rest of my indoor plants, as well. My Jade seemed ecstatic after! I really like it so far.

I came to the decision because the lacunosa I bought from Lowes ended up having mites. Thank goodness it was quarantined! Also, I went on a mission to find a Crassula 'Gollum' on Mon... and I went to 3 Home Depots and 2 Lowes to find one that didn't have OBVIOUS bugs.

Nice to hear from you again, PPG. ^_^

I do like the isolating and neem strategy and it has saved me a lot of headaches. Unfortunately something has slipped by me somehow (soil mites? root aphids?) and I am driving myself crazy doing battle with them. ._.' It's never ... *quite* over! I sorely regret ever having let down my guard.

WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?! I don't know. -_- I just. don't. know.

I have soil gnats. They suck. Does the larva really eat the roots? I've heard that neem gets rid of them too... We shall see.

With soil gnats and Hoyas, I'd just let the soil dry out really well and they'll die off on their own. Soil gnats aren't really a common problem for Hoyas since most of them don't like to be kept damp. Neem will work, too, pretty much instantly, if you're impatient (it affects different insects in different ways). I've heard conflicting reports on the roots and I'm not sure who to believe, but I don't think you really have to worry about them damaging the roots unless you have an insanely major infestation the likes of which would shock everyone here. Which, I'm sure you don't.

They're not really in any of my Hoyas... just one soggy-soil loving palm thing I have. But when I water my other plants... you can see them waft out of the palm planter with glee. I usually just dry it out if they start to get bad.

PS. Googling: Indoor palm thingy plant