Not a trick of the light. The leaves are yellowing so there are darker patches. I do let the soil dry out between waterings. But the depth of the pot could be playing tricks on me. The plant was doing fine then it started declining rapidly, particularly on the one stem. The other stem appears to be solid green still. I'm not sure if I should just go ahead and unpot it and repot the two stems separately in smaller pots with the type of soil that I have used for other hoyas (orchid bark, lots of perlite, and small amount of potting soil).

I would separate them. I think the healthy one has a better chance if it's alone. Make sure the pots are only slightly larger than the root balls.

Denise in Omaha

Thank you, Denise. I needed that second opinion beyond my own. I've only had hoyas for a little over a year and quickly became obsessed (easy to do). So I question all my judgment. But that is what I was thinking as well. And early this morning while not sleeping, I was even contemplating the pot and whether or not I was going to put it in something to let it trail or something to let it trellis.

I can pot the sickly one up by itself as well and just see what happens. One never knows, it may perk up. Oh how I wish it were closer to Summer here! I'd pot it and put it outside and it would probably be happy.

Update: Lunch hour today, I unpotted the whole thing. I found that the individual stems were indeed individual. In fact, they were inside what appeared to be those fabric plugs. I removed most of the existing soil and pulled off what I could of that fabric, then repotted each plug separately. The better looking one I put in a small hanging pot and the not-so-great looking side went into an even smaller (based on its root ball) terra cotta pot. I used a light airy mix of some Ocean Forest potting soil about 1/3 to about 2/3 orchid bark mix. Threw in some extra smaller grade perlite and some worm castings for good measure. The soil around the roots was pretty wet so I probably won't water these for a week. Crossing my fingers! Maybe both parts will survive and I can give one away. If not, well, I tried my best.

The "bad" part rapidly declined despite my valiant efforts. I have what's left of it in water to see if it will grow roots. But it's not really looking promising. The other half looks fine so far. I really don't know what happened. Never seen anything go downhill that fast that wasn't a poinsettia. haha.

You will quickly find that this australis (ssp. tenuipes) is NOT a trailer and is an aggressive climber. Hope the good one takes off now!

Denise in Omaha

Thank you for the information, Denise. I will be sure to give it some structure. So far, the second half is looking fine. I give it some encouragement every day!