Can you post a pic?

Denise in Omaha

Not sure what happened to my post again (ugh). Sorry Denise, here are the photos.

Are the spots raised, or are they more like indented scars.

That milky ooze dries clear, btw, so while those dots might be damage, it's not the sap. Can you show us a closeup?

They are the size of a pin head and slightly raised but easily wipes off.

I did not know that about the sap, I've never noticed that before (Thanks, Denise). I feel compelled to do an evil experiment on my plants now.

totally just stabbed my subcalva all over and hours later the wounds dried white. Denise YOU ARE A GENIUS.

anybody want a subcalva? lol

Tawny, are you sure this has nothing to do with the fact that the subclava's been a slowpoke? The stabbing sounds juuuust a bit excessive...

Thanks Denise. This poor wayetii gets knocked around and I'm always setting the pot on some leaves (long vines) and hear the snapping/cracking of some leaves :-(

Tawny,

Denise beat me to it. Years ago I remarked that it often looks like Elmer's Glue, decidedly milk white. Certainly the Kerriis & the thicker stemmed Hoyas.

Monica,

Glad your mystery got solved.

Of course, not all Hoyas "bleed" the white sap. The carnosas, pubicalyxs, and some others have clear sap. I'm not sure why - they do all fall under the Milkweed family.

Denise in Omaha

White sap does seem to stay white for me --- which is the lead-in to a story of the hazards of getting older. I have a hoya that I decided needed to have better-drained soil. When I removed the old soil I was greatly disturbed to see a good-sized mass of mold all around the underground part of the stem, and into the surrounding soil.

So, desperate measures, cuttings of top, cleaning, sanitizing, repotting in new soil, much angst. Imagine my shock to see that a newly made cutting of top growth only, which had been totally clean just a little while ago, was showing a wad of the same mold, down at the base. Then, of course, I thought, gee, maybe I should put on my reading glasses.... And then could just barely see that what my brain was saying was mold was actually white sap. And so was the "mold" in the original pot.

The thing is, about every 3 years, I need a new pair of glasses, and use different ones for different jobs. Now, apparently, I need another pair of glasses just for hoyas!

That made me giggle, zigbud. At least you have getting older to blame, I seriously never noticed the *dried* white sap until I started making my Hoyas "bleed" for experimental purposes. Which makes me think that maybe I need glasses....

this is the white "mold" on two of my beloved hoyas. This one is a rope hoya. I have had them for years in the same location, they have produces beautiful flowers regularly, and now they are covered with this white fur-like stuff. Help! I have not seen any bugs of any sort on them.

It looks like mealybugs to me. Hoya Rope is one plant I won't try to grow because they are magnets for mealybugs.

I haved one& finally give up and throw it out. It was a losing battle against those piskey mealies.

I soak my compacta every month in an alcohol/dish soap/neem oil solution because of mealybugs! They LOOOOVE compactas. If I didn't like mine so much, she would have hit the trashcan lid on the way down to the driveway on trash pickup day a long time ago.

Heheheh, this thread reminds me of my black dragon. It is full of white spots, the house painters of the person who sent it to me were not very careful and splattered paint on the Hoya, hahahha.

LOL!

I was a tiny bit bummed when I saw the note explaining this, because the spots look really cool. :)

Yep, Julie, you've got an infestation of mealybugs there. They are nasty suckers and really hard to beat on compacta. My sister has an old one that suddenly came down with a case of mealies - she managed to salvage it, but had to quarantine it for a long time and worked for weeks spraying it down with neem oil.

Denise in Omaha

how about cinnamon? some one recommended it

Cinnamon is good for fungal issues.

Just mix 1/2 cup rubbing alcohol with 2 tablespoons baby shampoo in a spray bottle. Fill the rest of the bottle with water. Spray every single part of the plant and store it in a dim area with NO sunlight (sun will burn the leaves) until it is completely dry. You should also invest in a systemic insecticide, like Bayer Advanced Tree and Shrub (I buy the generic version-Compareand Save brand systemic off Amazon, same stuff, just cheaper). Follow directions on bottle.

You may need to repeat the alcohol/baby shampoo treatment weekly, for a few weeks.