Lately, on various Hoya forums, I’m seeing a lot of interest in an athletic field ammendment called Turface for growing Hoyas.  Here are a couple of words of warning about my experiences with it.  Also, thrown in is my experience growing Hoya multiflora in semi-hydroponics.

I should probably not say anything, but I can’t help myself.  Here is my experience with both multiflora and Turface.  Multiflora grows like a weed for me when grown conventionally in a moist, loose, peat-based mix.  For fun, I tried growing it in semi-hydro with hydroton; it grew one leaf, flowered once, stalled out, and quit growing while the multiflora growing in regular mix tripled in size.  The plant in semi-hydro eventually went downhill, and I threw it out.  All I will say about Turface is that I bought six bags (300lbs) of it, and I have since spread it on my driveway.  The biggest problem with Turface is that it is heavy, and it keeps the plants too wet.  I once rotted the roots off from 15-20 plants using it.  That is my experience with Turface, and my word of warning.  Your results could be different, but proceed slowly with this product.