Don't worry, it'll be fine. I'd go ahead and cut off the broken vine, doesn't really matter if you go back to the closest node, but I probably would. It may not develop a new vine there, but it will throw out a new one somewhere. I have four cats and I'm constantly finding plants crashed to the floor and it's rarely fatal (to the plants, at least!! Sometimes I want to ring some little necks! LOL!) Just found my crassicaulis on the floor of my bedroom - I was really more worried about the very interesting cache pot I have it in than the plant itself. Thankfully, both were fine. Grrr...little buggers!

Denise in Omaha

Thanks, Denise! I was quite worried. I have a couple of cats myself, so I am familiar with the knock over and run and act innocent routine! They haven't touched my hoyas yet, as they are either mounted in wall sconces or hanging, but they mangled a couple of fine adenium specimens! If they were not so darn cute...

Yeah, it'll be fine. It'll have a "WTH just happened!?!?" pause for a while, but then it will keep right on ticking. In all of my experiences like this that I noticed (which is not at all to say "always"), it just sends out a runner from the last live node in a week or a few. Especially this being pubicalyx - they grow fast.

How is it broken though - totally in half, hanging by a thread or sort of a hard sharp bend with no or barely broken skin? If the skin is barely or not at all broken, and the break is not on a VERY young stem, you might want to try giving the stem a "cast" and hope it heals.

I did not know plants could do that, until I noticed once a dieffenbachia (not a hoya) leaf that had been hard-bent in one place that healed! There was obvious scar tissue on the mid-vein, and no yellowing at all, so juices were definitely flowing fine. I had not fixed it in the right position though, as I thought the leaf would probably yellow and die off, so the healing was at an awkward angle. It was a good learning experience though.

Then in my last hoya shipment, a cutting (hoya globulosa) arrived with one of these hard bends in the stem, but no break in the skin. I could just cut it there and have 2 cuttings to root (both had leaves, so it would probably have been ok), but I thought I'd fix the bend in place, so it does not wiggle and does not bend, and hope that it heals. I've been watching that cutting particularly close. It's too early for final verdict though - it's only been three weeks. Once I see new growth above that bend, I think that'll be the good sign I am looking for.

I'm still conflicted about it though. Even if it heals, the place may be weakened (maybe. maybe not, as scar tissue may make it stronger). If it is weakened, it may still end up breaking there, and Murphy's law says it'll happen months or years later when I am not watching and have forgotten about that injury, and so I may end up losing that vine - a much larger vine by then - because I won't know anymore to watch it closely.

So, if you are not in the mood for such experiments, you can cut off the vine. Try rooting it if it has leaves - or not. But there is definitely no danger to the plant or to the rest of that vine before the break.

Has anyone had experiences with hoya vines healing like this though?

It was hanging on by a thread, so I just cut it back to the closest node.

One of my meliflua's vines had a hard bend when I got it and I just tied it to a bamboo stake to keep it from looking all pathetic and help it take on a more aesthetic appearance. That was 3 years ago, and it is still strong! It has a permanent tiny kink there, but it looks okay now!

For "casting" or repairing, I would think it depends on the severity of the bend/cut/break and whether any tissue has been compromised. I would have rooted the pubicalyx stem that broke off, had it anything but leaf buds.

> It was hanging on by a thread, so I just cut it back to the closest node.
> I would have rooted the pubicalyx stem that broke off, had it anything but leaf buds.

Yeah, I would have probably done the same.

Looks like my globulosa might be ok once the hard bend heals. I checked on it the last time I watered, and it looks absolutely fine above the bend. I did not test the bend itself to see if it healed, afraid to make it worse, but the top of the vine is visibly not more dehydrated than the bottom.

I might mark the place of the bend by some sort of label or something, just to be aware of that place - not because I am afraid it's gonna die or anything, but out of curiosity about how things develop longer term, not just in the short perspective. If I ever take cuttings, the place of the bend may be significant - I think I would prefer for it to end up under ground or discarded.