You should still replace the media. I find that soaking the rootball in warm water for 5 minutes, in my mudroom sink, loosens the old media enough to simply rinse off. Don't worry about getting ALL of it, but get as much as you can.

Lol. I don't have a mudroom sink. I will use a bucket outside... Man you are lucky to have such a nice set-up.

I rarely use that sink. Usually use a rubbermaid, but for rinsing, it works like a charm.

In another discussion someone said when you take EA plants out of their media, they die... So what do you think is it too root bound? Should I leave it or replace it?

I have always taken my EA plants out of the crappy soil. Still alive, here.

I had similar concerns about removing my EA Hoyas from their media, but followed @aurorawa's advice of repotting into a 50/50 orchid/perlite mix. So far, my plants don't seem to have noticed the change (it's only been a week though, so hopefully I didn't just jinx myself). I did wait a couple of days before watering because the original potting mix was drenched and I wasn't able to remove all of it from the rots when I repotted.

I dont want to start an all out war on here, but.....

If you leave it in the soil it is perfectly fine. all you have to do is let it dry out between waterings. If you lift the pot now it will be heavy, when it dries it will be very light. I would personally leaves it but others have and are welcome to their own opinion on the soil that EA uses. They did recently start using bark chips in their soil. I have 2 hindu ropes from EA and non were repotted and they are fine. Its up to you.

Oh my! I have it soaking in warm water but it's so tightly bound it won't budge. Now I will never get it to dry out nor can I get the old Media out to replace it unless I cut some of them off. I feel like I just killed it. Wow

Just set it on a towel to get the moisture out. Do it a couple of times and it will be ok.

These plants can be successfully grown in that soil.

You can tease or (gasp) cut the roots to loosen them.

Yes, they CAN be grown in that soil. But they shouldn't. I've lost too many EA plants because the soil went bad. Literally. It stank. And it is because they are so over-watered in the stores. They can't recover, even if dried out on a towel, if the soil has gone sour.

hmmm I have TONS of EA plants and have never had an off putting odor coming from the soil. I guess it depends on it the store waters everyday or if the get lazy and neglect the plants. More than 75% of my plants from them are actually brought on the day or the day after they hit the stores. I go to the lowes in my area every week.

My lowes is LAME. The only Hoya I ever see are carnosa classic and KQ, I do have an EA KQ that will be repotted next spring. Have had it about a year and a half and it is doing ok. Granted, I did convince them to discount a nice Nepenthes for me, so there is that. Just wanted to vent because it seems like the box stores in the rest of the country get such lovely plants... hard to find violets, Hoyas, orchids, and other things I am chasing. The houseplants are always greener on the other side, hahaha.

I hate EA soil. I do find they will do fine for some time - even up to 2 or 3 years - in the EA soil, then all of a sudden, they go into decline. So on the rare occasion I find a decent EA plant, I take some cuttings to start, then asap, I repot the mother plant. Often times, it means whacking at the roots, which isn't ideal, but I'd rather get them into my soil so they have a good chance of long-term survival. Most of them will recover from a root pruning, though it may take a season for them to start growing again.

Denise in Omaha

So should I cut the bottom inch or 2 off or cut it in half? Its bound so tight you can't even see down to the soil from the top

Hold on the picture didn't post

Let's try again

Wow that was frustaing! I only had to try it 6 times. Wheeew! I'm OK

For what it's worth my experience with EA plants has been poor....if kept in the original pot and allowed to dry out they do well for a couple of years, then collapse and die....if turned out of the original pot you find yourself with approximately 12,000 individual rooted cuttings whose roots have wound around and through each other into an impenetrable mass---it's been almost impossible to remove the original soil to any extent, and when rinsed and re-potted they usually quickly die..

I'm sure there are exceptions to this, but I've pretty much given up on the big EA baskets...If there's one I just can't resist I think of it as a temporary guest, to be enjoyed for a short while....some of the smaller baskets do tend to last longer and do better, but I wonder if anyone has successfully grown one of these plants for, say, 5 years? If so, I'd like to hear how you managed it....

Not me, Shelley. 2-3 years has been the max. I do have a few old EA plants, but only because I repotted or restarted from cuttings.

Kim, I would go ahead and whack away at the roots. It's ok to cut the whole rootball in half. Put your mix in the bottom, maybe tease out some of the roots that are left after the whacking, which should pull a little more of the old mix off AND give it some roots to go down into the new soil quicker. Pruning roots never hurts succulents, but Hoyas tend to sulk, so be ready for that. Don't water too much for the first few months, and it might help to put hydrogen peroxide in your water (2 Tbsp./gallon) as this will oxygenate the roots.

I'd look at it this way - if it doesn't make it, you gave it your best try. If it does make it, you'll have a healthy, happy plant to enjoy and the pride of saving it. But just leaving it to the fate of EA soil is sure death eventually.

Denise in Omaha

P.S. The photo of the variegated Hoya confused me!

Denise in Omaha

I was asking if that was a disease and could it be saved? It was only $1

Oh I see what happened Denise,when I was asking about the photo of the variegated one it didn't post, I just wanted you all to look at those spotsAnd tell me what it is