Just prune off the gangly stem tight to where the foliage is still compact. You'll soon see new branching in the axils (crotches) of leaves closest to your pruning cut. Pinching plants is used not often enough by growers to keep plants compact. There really is no better or easier way to maximize ramification (lots of branches and leaves) than pinching.

Al

You're on the right track, root it as a cutting in the same pot but wait to see if the peduncle develops first. The old stem will shoot and continue as a single vine, the cutting will help give the pot a fuller look.

Alternatively you could curl that stem around in the pot and pin it down with a bit of wire. It'll root into the soil and produce the same effect as the other suggestions.

Thank you! The more compact parts looked better than the other ones in the store, so I was hoping it would be okay to clean it up.

Update/question about this plant: the leaves started looking wrinkled a while ago, initially after it had dried out for too long- but it hasn't improved since and some leaves have fallen, so now I'm worried about root rot (stems are fine above the soil). Not sure if I should repot in new mix, drench with fungicide (though it's already wet), cut my losses and take stems as cuttings, or just leave it alone and wait. Any advice?

Well, I was thinking that the leaves remaining wrinkled while the soil was wet could be due to root rot, which phosphorous acid fungicide could help control, at least in theory... I do think it's wet all the way through (generally watered from the bottom). Yeah, it's still in the original soil, which seems pretty resistant to drying- would it be worth the amount of root disturbance to switch it to gritty mix?

Those aren't the symptoms of root rot, don't think fungicide is relevant here at all.

Dry wrinkly leaves while mix is wet indicates a drainage problem &/or wet & dry spots in the mix. Something is preventing some of those leaves from getting wet, bottom watering is only continuing to wet the already soaked mix, so I'd stop that.

Root disturbance shock is overrated; it's more important to get to bottom of & resolve uneven water takeup. I suspect there's some dried up ball of peat way down deep inside the rootball. If my plant I'd take apart the rootball to find the problem. Otherwise, the whole thing could dry up the same as the wrinkly leaves there & die from that.

I would definitely get rid of the old soil and start fresh. Sometimes it makes it possible to see if there are stems that are beyond saving. You could also determine if you need to just take cuttings. I just did that to a couple of mine that were looking sick. I discovered that the soil at the bottom of the pot was not draining and was too wet even though the top felt dry. I put them in smaller pots with better drainage.

I have found this plant really likes to dry out in between watering. I had that happen to a couple stems of mine prior to letting it really dry out. Now it is a growing monster. Here is mine:

LadyLotus,

How gorgeous, let me cede the floor to you. Can you share pls what kind of mix you've got that in?

Have you any specific suggestions pls. for Allison beyond what I've suggested?

Wow, beautiful!!

Thanks for the advice- I transferred it to a chunkier mix that should dry better. One of the stems is done for, but hopefully the others will make

I hate to give advice as I don't follow a lot of the things that are usually mentioned in these forums. However, what works for me...I use inexpensive potting soil either Promix or Schultz. I generally add a lot of perlite to the mix and that is it. I don't add all the gritty items that are discussed. I think the reason I may have success with this mix is because I don't water that often. I don't water on any sort of regimen, if I see leaves beginning to wilt or I think of it I will water. I would say I probably water once every three weeks or once a month. I do try to use rain water whenever I can.

My experience with Hoya compacta they do not seem to like to be wet or have damp soil.

This lackadaisical process works for me and might not work for others. Good luck with your plant. When I have bare stems, I will cut them off and push them into the soil beside the mother plant allowing it to root making my pot look fuller.