RB,

It looks like plain old dehydration to me. The black spots could be part of that. What's your soil mix? I've never grown any in the cocoa baskets like you show here, but I do grow some succulents in them because I never have to worry about overwatering them - they dry out really fast. So if all three were growing in cocoa baskets, it could be they aren't getting enough water. I think the black spot could be attributed to part of that whole dehydrating process. When they're like that and you DO water, it can create rot because the damaged roots aren't taking up water, or at least not properly.

Is it one of the variegated carnosas? I find them particularly susceptible to dehydrating for some reason. I had both my 'Krimson Queen' and 'Krimson Princess' do this in the last year. I managed to salvage some of each as I took cuttings as soon as I noticed.

Denise in Omaha

I agree with all of Denise's observations 100%!

That is the look of a Hoya that is dying from ordinary root damage. Sometimes they do get that kind of rotted leaf look, especially if the humidity is high.

I do think variegated plants are a bit quicker to fail once they develop a problem. I've had to save my KP from a moment like this, too.

I have tried growing Hoyas in coir baskets and it didn't work for me. Of course, I'm also an infamous under-waterer, so that wasn't a match made in heaven.

See if you can score some decent cuttings from somewhere on the plant. The plant won't be able to survive unless you help it grow a new set of roots. That is to say, take what living vines you can from it, and start it over, throwing away whatever looks too far gone. You will probably need to soak the cuttings overnight, because everything I can see in the picture looks very dehydrated.

You mention that you've tried to take a cutting in the past and failed. Maybe you can tell us more about your methodology and what went wrong, so we can improve your odds this time.

Take heart, I don't think there is a single person here who hasn't had a Hoya of theirs look like that. I know I have. And we're all still (mostly successful) Hoya growers. :)

This post was edited by greedyghost on Fri, May 2, 14 at 10:55

Oh no! I did change my soil not too long ago! I had to change my epiphyllum mix because they were too wet and I used that same mix for the hoyas. It's a mix of potting soil, perlite, orchid bark, sulfur, and bone meal. The plant still has a lot of good leaves on it. Do you think I can save it by repotting or should I just take as many healthy cuttings as possible?
What soil mix do you recommend?

Yeah, I see now that your close-up photo was just showing us the worst of it.

There are two possibilities, as I see it. It's not clear from the photo, so you'll have to look more closely yourself.

Possibility 1:

Your plant is actually a pot full of many smaller plants, instead of one big plant. (This is typical for EA plants) In this case, you might have some whose roots have failed and are looking like your first picture, and others who are still in good health. In that case, you would just need to try and re-root (or throw out) the vines that look like they are dying, and leave the healthy ones alone.

Possibility 2: Your plant is actually one whole plant, and you just can't see the problem yet in the whole plant. What you would see in that case is that all the oldest leaves and vines, close to the root ball, are shriveling and dying, but the newer ones toward the ends are still looking unaffected. Trace all the vines back to the soil and see if all or only some are looking like they're in bad shape. If it's all one big plant, you would need to take cuttings and re-start, because left alone eventually the whole plant will show dehydration and death.

My guess is you have an EA plant and it's "Possibility 1." I think your potting medium is good, so I wouldn't worry about re-potting. Just determine what you will need to re-root and go from there in the same medium.