Probably you under or overwatered it at some point. It sounds like the root system has been compromised. If the roots dried out, or became rotten, it no longer has the capacity to take up moisture and nutrients, no matter how often you water or fertilize.

If it were mine, I would immediately take cuttings (cut off the healthiest looking sections) and stick them in a new pot of soil to root. Make sure a node or two (the knob where the leaves come out) is under or in contact with the soil line.

If it is very desiccated, you might want to soak the cuttings in room temperature water overnight, before you pot them up. It can also help to put the pot in a large freezer bag, or put a bag over the pot, to help temporarily elevate humidity and prevent further moisture loss, while they root.

Fungus gnats are the bugs you saw. They show up when the soil stays damp too long. They won't hurt the plant, but their presence is a sure-tell sign of overwatering, at least in the case of Hoyas, most of which like to dry out pretty well between waterings.

Good luck! And don't be too hard on yourself - it happens to the best of us.

This post was edited by greedyghost on Thu, Apr 11, 13 at 16:26

I have this problem with compacta, too. I've restarted both my standard green and my variegated. I think there is a very fine line with this one between watering too much and watering too little.

GG is right - restart it to salvage your heirloom plant, and I would definitely put it in a bag or humidity dome to help the leaves rehydrate.

However, I will disagree that fungus gnats are harmless. They live in the soil and they will damage the roots eventually. I used to think, too, that they were farily harmless, but a commercial grower in my cactus club says they can be deadly to your plant roots and you should do whatever it takes to get rid of them. Check out the link below for one solution.

Denise in Omaha

Here is a link that might be useful: Bug Stix