August 19, 2026
If you've read our original story about the retired plant whisperer behind our new generation of potting mixes, you already know Dr. Y doesn't do "good enough."
We learned that lesson again with Hoyas.
A dedicated Hoya mix has become the second most requested custom mix we've ever made, so naturally it was high on the list of formulas we wanted to make official.
There was just one problem.
Dr. Y wouldn't approve it.
The original formula had been sitting in development for more than a year.
We made it. We grew in it. We changed it. We made it again.
The plants looked amazing. The roots looked good. The mix was chunky, airy and drained beautifully.
We thought we were basically there.
Dr. Y disagreed. Something was missing!
Precisely what was missing apparently wasn't something she was prepared to explain until she'd figured it out herself.
Then she mentioned Indonesia.
At this point, we've learned that when Dr. Y casually mentions another country, it's probably best not to ask too many questions.
She lives in Australia. Indonesia is relatively close. And apparently the fact that our Hoya mix had been irritating her for a year was sufficient reason to go investigate.
So off she went, without actually telling us what she was doing or where she was going. I wish you could have seen our accountant Sandra's face when I finally figured it out and casually mentioned that we'd be picking up the tab.
(Apparently, developing potting mix now requires a travel budget. Note to self: find something growing in Italy that desperately needs a new potting mix. :-P)
Hoyas aren't plants that evolved in bags of potting mix.
Many grow as epiphytes or lithophytes, with roots occupying remarkably open environments where air is abundant, water arrives and disappears, and small pockets of organic material provide moisture without surrounding the roots in a permanently wet mass.
Dr. Y specifically wanted to see what was happening during the dry season.
And that turned out to be the missing piece.
Seeing Hoyas in situ made something click.
The formula didn't need to become wetter.
It needed to become better at maintaining usable moisture while preserving an enormous amount of air around the roots.
That's a subtle distinction.
But apparently it was important enough to require a passport.
I was actually waiting for an email from Dr. Y about a completely different potting mix we're developing.
Instead, I opened my inbox and saw:
Hoya.
She was done.
After more than a year of refusing to sign off on the formula, Indonesia had given her whatever she'd been looking for.
Naturally, we dropped everything and made a batch.
Then we overnighted it to a handful of Hoya growers whose opinions we trust.
We didn't tell them what they were supposed to think or what they were receiving. We just wanted reactions.
They were remarkably similar.
"Whoa. This just feels right."
If you've grown plants long enough, you understand exactly what that means.
Mix #60 is built around Orchiata bark, with pumice, perlite, coconut husk, gritty tree fern fiber, biochar and horticultural charcoal.
But as Dr. Y has taught us repeatedly, an ingredient list isn't a formula.
The proportions are the formula.
This mix is intentionally dominated by large, structurally stable particles. Water can move through it quickly, while the bark, coconut husk and tree fern retain smaller reservoirs of moisture throughout the root zone.
The objective isn't to keep Hoya roots wet.
It's to give them access to moisture without taking away their air.
That's the entire philosophy behind #60.
We know some Hoya growers love bottom watering and self-watering pots, so this is worth explaining.
Mix #60 is not a naturally aggressive wicking mix.
That's intentional.
The large particle sizes and enormous air spaces responsible for its drainage and aeration also reduce the continuous capillary pathways that pull water upward through finer substrates.
If you're using #60 in a self-watering system, use a physical wick extending into the mix. We may explore a dedicated wicking version in the future, or upon request, but Mix #60 itself is considered complete.
Once water is physically delivered into the root zone, the moisture-retaining components can do their job without sacrificing the structure that makes #60 what it is.
From the feedback we're receiving from our test group, absolutely.
Dr. Y would never allow us to release a formula she hadn't signed off on, so yes, the trip to Indonesia was worth it.
Part of the reason she agreed to work with us in the first place was because our vision was something she'd wanted to pursue herself for years. Much of commercial formulation comes down to creating a mix that is effective at a commercially viable cost. We gave her something she rarely had during her career: the freedom to build the mix she actually wanted to build, the build meant to give the plants what they need and not what they would tolerate.
And now that we've seen the finished formula, we're very glad we did.
This is, after all, the same woman we asked to create one perfect soil who disappeared and returned with 105 formulas.
(P.S. It's now up to 166 mixes)
In hindsight, we probably should have known a Hoya mix wasn't going to be resolved with a few afternoons in the greenhouse.
And Dr. Y?
She's already working on something else.
Sandra, our accountant, has recovered beautifully from paying for the Indonesia trip and has finally stopped yelling at me... it's a win-win!
We're just hoping whatever Dr. Y is working on next doesn't require another passport.
Actually...
She's been way too quiet lately... Why is this starting to feel expensive? :-O
Comments will be approved before showing up.
November 05, 2025
What do you get when you give a retired plant guru her dream project…? If you said “a whole bunch more work for yourself,” well, you’d be spot on! :)
March 25, 2025
Hi, I'd like to buy one of your Dreamweaver x Necromancer!
