Hey Mentha,
I get the occational yellow leaf but haven't noticed the whole stem. I have lacunosa but don't pay much attention to it since it is not one of my favorites. Hopefully someone else can help you...

shanna

I had a nice big plant that did well all last winter but by the spring it was a mess of yellow leaves and now it looks pretty sad. I tried keeping it dryer and it did not help much. I tried to take cuttings and they did well for a time but then they started to drop leaves as well. So far this has been the Hoya I have had the most problems with and I suspect root rot or some kind of fungal disease. My plant started out as a slightly over watered and partially yellowing plant from WalMart so that may have been part of the problem. If I loose my plant I will have to start over with some healthy cuttings and see if that makes a difference. I did best with my plant in a clay pot and it was only after I repotted into a slightly larger plastic pot that things started to go wrong.

Mike

Hi Mentha,
Lacunosa likes to be kept on the wetter side conpared to other Hoya's.
If you still have it in the original EA soil mix theirs has a lot of peat in it. If allowed to dry out its hard to get it wet again. The water doesn't soak in to the core of the basket where the roots are. You will need to soak the basket in the sink for awhile to let the water soak up to the roots. You can tell when it is watered good by how heavy the basket will feel when lifted compared to how light it feels prior to soaking. When it is drier it will be lighter to lift.
Mike I had a lacunosa basket do the same as yours is doing. I pitched it and bought another and have had no problems with the new one. I do believe your assumption that it gets a disease that runs throughout the plant is correct because I couldn't keep cuts alive for long off that first basket either.
If you think about it if it had been just root rot normally cuts can be taken to save the plant off healthy looking vines still on the plant.
I hope I've been of help.,,,,,Debbie

I agree that lacunosa likes to be kept on the moist side. I never let mine completely dry out.

Since you've been keeping your's moist, then maybe it's too moist? Is it in the original EA basket? You might want to try taking the bottom saucer off...since I started doing that, my EA hoyas have been thriving.

Good luck,
Gabi

Here's a picture of one of my lacunosa cuttings from last year I was thinking the leaves were a little too green. It has just finished blooming for the third time this year. Mine is planted in Sunshine mix no.4 and the only fertilizer it has had is a shot of Shultz 10-15-10 earlier this summer. I have a tendency to let all my Hoya's dry slightly before watering (Bad Hoya Mom?) I also double pot all my small Hoya cuttings to stop them from toppling over.

{{gwi:987142}}

Annette

a little off topic....

my Hoya marked "Lacunosa" does not look anything like the picture just above! It's got fairly small longer sharpish leaves.

This is a cutting of lacunosa var. pallidflora from David Liddle last spring. The largest leaves are 2 1/2" long x 3/4" at their widest part. A

I didn't get it from EA, and I have it in my own mix, with no peat. I brought it in today and had to cut out over half the plant. It looked like it had frozen, with soft leaves and stems, which isn't the case. Do they like it warmer than other Hoyas?

lol, Shanna, I have to admit it's not my favorite either. I am trying to keep it alive though. It's almost as hard as the curtisii cuttings I recieved from two different people, both died.

oh, I didn't know there were different var. of Lacunosa! I wonder which one I have?

Mentha,
Sorry to hear about your curtissi cuttings, I hear ya though, I have a few cuttings that I don't think will make it either but I am waiting until I am sure before I throw them out. After talking about Lacunosa yesterday I checked mine and it was blooming, it smelled pretty but I had to stick my nose fairly close. I didn't notice the smell when I walked into the room.

shanna

Really Shanna? It fills up my entire living room when it's in bloom (which is constant!). I find that it is more heavily scented at night. Try seeing if it's stronger tonight.

Gabi

Gabi
I will definately pay attention tonight. It is hanging in a north window in the bedroom my dog stays in.

shanna

My lacunosa also does not have a strong smell day or night. I have to be standing right beside the plant to be able to smell it.which is to bad because it is such a nice smell.I sure wish I could have a hoya that would bloom and be able to smell it when you step into the room. My mom has one and it fills her whole apt. She even has stopped using those glad plug ins.
Cindy

Cindy
I agree, I wish I could have a strong smelling hoya bloom for me too. What kind of hoya does your mom have?

shanna

Shanna, My moms hoya is DS70. I got it for her the same time I got mine.Her hoya has over 60 flowers blooming. They have been blooming non stop for about 18 months. Mine just sits there but now has started to grow so may be soon.
The thing is she dose not feed hers or let it dry out. She waters all her plants on sundays. I have began to give this hoya a bit more water and it has strated to grow. Hers is 3 times the size as mine.

Cindy

Wow Cindy. Your mom's plant is impressive.

Shanna

Thanks Shanna, It is a nice hoya so much that when I was visting her in june I just had to take some cuttings from her plant. I made sure the ones I took had peduncles so maybe I have frighting chance to have flowers to.

Cindy

Good luck with your cuttings Cindy, do you have a picture of it?

shanna

No, I keep for getting to take my camera and I will not be going to see her again untill march. I will try to take the camera this time. My cutting are doing very well. They are getting new leaves.

Cindy

I could have sworn I posted here last night, right after Going Green's post; but itÂs not here. How odd, wonder if it's GW or me (I upgraded to high speed Internet last Saturday, have had a weird computer anti-viral alert warning since -------- ack!)

Anyway, Lacunosa is one of my favorites, IÂve had one most of the last few yrs. 'til recently. I kept it more moist than average Hoya, but less moist than Multiflora. These want to climb or drape. I had made mine a small trellis of wooden coffee stirrers, even tho' I knew that would rot away after a time, but it looked charming draped upwards over a little mini-trellis.

I grew it Lacunosa & Curtisii very small, & the Lacunosa I grew w/ a wick inside to ensure good drainage. The wick didn't go anyway, it was just to draw moisture out the bottom, even in a fast draining mix. Trick taught by Al (Tapla) over at Houseplants Forum (he's the resident Ficus maven & often writes abt watering, mixes, drainage, etc.) It sounds odd, but worked, my Lacunosa was happy, but hadn't bloomed. I really like their small, dark, glossy leaves, they remind me of citrus. I'm esp. fond of the Lacunosa that has the 'dents' a bit like Krinkle 8. Maybe this is the 'Tova' difference, among Lacunosas, I don't know.

Thanks PG,
Gotta love Al, I have learned a lot from him. especially about ficus and watering in general. I have it in a SW pot, I guess I need to make sure I keep the resevoir full.

I don't know Mentha, a SW pot MAY be too much for it. Pardon my typo above, but I meant to say the wick didn't go anywhere, that is to say it was NOT leading into a reservoir of water. Rather it as left hanging on a pebble tray to give the moisture somewhere to go.

Thanks for the clarification, I do use a chunky mix though. It consists of 2/3 - 1 in lava rock chunks, perlite, and about 1/4 - 1/5 potting soil in comparison to the other two. It drains really well and is dry within a couple of days. I use this mix on most of my epiphytes. They seem to all like it except Rhipsalis pachyptera and this hoya. (R. pachyptera doesn't seem to like anything though.) I have the Hoya inside now and no loss of leaves or yellowing since I brought it into the warmth. I'm hoping it just got too cold and it's done yellowing.