Here’s the whole plant

Thank you so much for your response, Moonwolf!

You’re right— I’m seeing new growth on the side of one of the cut stems in the form of a bud. I hope it turns out to be a new vine.

There’s been a lot of activity over the last two weeks. I have been trying to figure out the right environment and provide what my plant needs to be happy.

I have kept it by the west-facing window, on a ledge which divides the staircase from my front door entrance and living room. This is the only spot where it’s free from hot & drying drafts coming from forced-air heat vents.

It’s still in the same soil and original pot. I’m scared to disturb the tender roots though I am back to wondering if the soil is providing enough drainage. Prior to seeing Moonwolf‘S response, I returned to the garden shop for advice. I came home with a liquid orchid plant food spray (0.02-0.02-0.02) and Pro-Mix premium orchid mix they recommended. My plant was watered immediately before leaving the garden shop two and a half weeks ago and again after 12 days. I took note that the plastic pot felt like it went from weighing about 2lbs to 3, after watering and with the excess drained. I lightly misted the plant with the fertilizer.

Thanks for your misting tip, Moonwolf! It’s really helped with growth and perking my plant up. There are what appears to be arial roots along the young but longest, almost 2’ long vine. These grow in series of two or three nodules and seem to dry up unless misted. One of the small leaves near the end of this stem has since fallen off, although it wasn’t dry. In the centre of the tri-coloured plant, the single, small, bright red leaf in the centre of it has grown, turning pink with green edges. It’s mis-shapen with a dented edge, and the tiny pair of leaves at the tip of this stem have been waning. This pair turned brownish, initially perking back up after misting with water but then the stem that these and the red leaf are attached to started to darken and ever-so-slightly wrinkle. The fertilizer mist helped last week. I don’t know if I should re-mist with fertilizer again? I’m worried about over-misting &/or over-fertilizing. Or maybe the pot is over-watered because the soil isn’t draining fast enough? (The weight of the pot has barely changed since last week’s watering.) May anyone provide insight on why the new growth keeps drying up?

Thanks for reading— Hoping the details help to receive further advice. I’ve included updated photos of the whole plant, the series of nodules, and the leaves on the tip of stems which appear to be drying out. (I’ll try not to write a story next time so that my comment doesn’t get erased with session time-out while tending to family!)

You're welcome! It sounds like you have it in a good location. I would only worry about over misting if you saw signs of mildew on the leaves. I would mist it without plant food from time to time as to not over-feed. Over misting you would only have to worry about if the plant wasn't getting enough air circulation and mildew was forming on the leaves. As for the soil, I would only worry if it dried out too fast, but Hoya carnosa likes to have a good soak and then let dry out before watering again. Not bone dry, but if the top couple inches are dry, then go ahead and water. Did you take the saucer off the bottom of the pot if it came with one? Hoyas like a chunky, fast draining soil that can hold some water (sounds confusing, I know lol). Is the ledge very high up? That could be causing the new growth to dry up. If it's getting good air circulation, I would mist it every day. Hoyas are tropical epiphytes, after all.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Okay, thank you! No mildew, lots of air circulation. It is higher up on a half wall. Should I mist more than once a day?

My plant came in a hanging pot with a single one hole in the centre of the bottom of the pot. In hopes of giving the bottom more air, I set the pot on top of a small steaming rack.

When misting, I noticed roots from two of the small plants barely covered by the soil. The soil isn’t chunky at all— It feels dense with something like moss mixed in? My thoughts were to mix the original soil with the orchid mix but I’m worried about stressing my plants while it appears to be struggling with new growth. What signs should I be looking for that the soil is insufficient? Thank you!

You're welcome! Old house plant books always say to mist plants early in the morning (and that goes for watering, too). You can top dress your plant with some orchid bark to help cover the roots. Sounds like you have a peat moss based potting soil. You can change out the mix if you'd like, but it should grow fine as long as you follow the rules for watering.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

I’ve been misting morning and evening when forced-air heating kicks on. I notice the mist evaporates within 15 minutes each time.

Great tip to make use of the orchid bark.. makes sense! (The bark chips are HUGE for my pot— I’m breaking them into smaller pieces lol.) Since the package says to soak mix 24-48hours, should I wait until next watering to top the soil with damp bark?

I’ll keep the soil mix as-is as long as my plant is happy :)

The pair of tiny leaves on the stem by the red-turned-pink leaf fell off, but there’s a strangely shaped new growth on that tip. I’m still trying to figure out why that stem fluctuates between looking plump/reddish to wrinkly/brownish? (Pic 1) The rest of this stem is smooth, albeit hairy, toward the plant base.

The rain clouds have gone away over the last few days and my plant is getting good, indirect sunlight now!

There doesn't seem to be any activity going on at the tip of my longest stem. The tip still looks green inside covered with dark brown edges, but lots of new nodules growing, dying, and re-growing further down this stem. (Pic 2) Any idea what this stem is trying to do? Thanks in advance!

Hope you’re having a great weekend :)

Hi Sharon! That stem will eventually get leaves on it- my hoya grows long bare vines every spring and then slowly grows leaves over the next few months.

Thanks for your encouragement, Renee!

I‘ve been catering to my plant by misting, rotating & relocating it twice daily to give it more sunlight. (My home is rather cool on BC’s southwestern coast... I think a Zone 4?)

To minimize possible trauma from all the movement, I added a hair clip to give my longest, skinny stem some stability.

Readers may cringe at this, but I couldn’t resist experimenting— I PINCHED the stems (on nodes where the leaves are/would be) a couple of weeks ago to see if this would promote new growth

Has anyone else pinched a Hoya before and what was your experience?

Good news is, my plant isn’t traumatized by all my fussing. So happy it’s developing new leaves now!

Thanks for your feedback, Renee!

Good news— My hoya is sprouting leaves on 3 different stems! Here’s an updated pic with the new growth circled in red:

It seems to be happy with my extra attention. I’ve been moving it from the east to west windows daily to let it catch as much light and warmth as possible. (I think I’m in Zone 8a, but my home remains rather cool with tall trees on two sides.) Since I started doing this, I noticed the new leaves literally grow a millimetre or two within an hour, versus days when it wasn’t moved. I also notice the pair in the bottom-left circle changes in colour from bright yellow-green to a dark burgundy-red with stronger & longer light exposure. It’s amazing how all the new leaves brighten up each time they are misted, too.

Aside from the above changes, I’m wondering if what I did when I first brought my hoya home helped? I confess now that I couldn’t resist experimenting to promote new growth... I pinched the stems at the nodes where there are leaves (or felt there could be, if there were none.) Has anyone else ever pinched their hoya before, and what was your experience with this?

Appreciate your input :)

I bet it's loving all the light you're giving it. The only time I wouldn't move it is when it starts developing a peduncle with flower buds. Moving the plant can cause buds to drop/blast.

You're doing everything right so far, it seems. But yes, any time that you take a cutting from the plant, it'll grow back a new vine or two from the nearest leaf nodes.

Brad AKA Moonwolf