Krimson Princess is a pretty forgiving hoya especially if it's large. I use a well-draining soil mix. So I use a mix of potting soil, lots of perlite or pumice, and some orchid bark. You want something chunky with quick draining. This will allow plenty of air around the roots and help to inhibit root rot.

I've never given egg shells to hoyas. I read a bunch about giving them to orchids and in the end decided not to do it. There was just too much debate that they were effective at providing calcium. But to each their own really. Do what works for you!

Thank you. I forgot that I also have a bag of orchid mix, premium. Lots of bark in there, and charcoal. I may try that. I would love to repot now but unsure if I should wait till spring.

If your Hoya is going to be in more advantageous circumstances where it can keep growing in the coming months (warmer, more humidity and more light), you might be okay to repot now, but if it was shipped at all, you may want to wait a few weeks to repot so that it can de-stress from shipping.

The important thing with Hoya soil is "light and airy." So as Popmama said, you should be good if you include some of that orchid potting mix (pine bark). You might want to add some perlite to make the soil even chunkier. Hoya roots are epiphytic which means "air loving" which also means that too much water will make the roots rot.

I usually like to do the "side-watering" method. You won't really find that term anywhere. It's just what I call watering on one side of the pot, then waiting half an hour for capillary action to spread the water throughout the soil. It may mean you have to water more frequently, but you're less likely to get root rot.

Again, every ones soil and conditions are different. Two people using the same brand of soil in different parts of the country can be watering at totally different intervals because of differences in light, temperature and humidity. You just have to watch your conditions.

In terms of knowing when to water Hoyas, the method I've found that works pretty well is the "bend method." I don't see a lot of people talk about this, but it's where the leaves which are normally rigid will get bendy when the plant needs water. Depending on what kind of Hoya I'm watering, even if the soil is bone dry, I might not water it because the leaves are really rigid. My standard green carnosa is usually like this.

It's challenging for those of us who love to water, but root rot is real with Hoyas so we have to be on guard against it.

Eggshells-wise, usually they are used for Hoya that like more alkaline soil. The three species that I have found really love more alkaline soil are, H. macrophylla, E. imperialis (not really a true Hoya but closely related), and H. cumingiana. For others I don't think it's a huge deal.

There are others that like alkaline soil I'm sure, but admittedly I need to do more research on which prefer higher ph.

Some have said Hoyas coming from Indonesia usually like eggshells because they're usually in more limestone-rich soil in the wild, but I can't verify that every Hoya coming from Indonesia will love eggshells.

I know that if ph is an issue, whatever plant you're working with will really let you know. I have a maidenhair fern that was literally *only* turning brown until I added eggshells to the soil and now it's flourishing. I haven't heard about carnosa (which Krimson Princess is a form of) needing eggshells though.

Great info, jrutowski! Happy to see someone with more hoya experience and great to know that some hoyas may appreciate the eggshells where others not so much. I have a macrophylla. Maybe I will try some. Do you think oystershells would be similar?

Oh my, I love this site. I was expecting a few lines of comment if lucky, but what I got was a master class in hoya care. Thank you all so much! I've printed it all out for future reference. And thank you JRutkowski for the side watering capillary action method, I will definitely do that. The orchid mix has lots of bark, light and airy, and perlite. Also considering worm casings, from reading online. Also been reading about fertilizer for Hoyas but each person swears by a different product. I'm in Toronto so cold here, so guessing I won't need to fertilize till spring.