I bought this lightly rooted cutting in July. It arrives in a clear plastic mini cup with chunky soil and that's how I've kept it. It has not grown whatsoever since arriving 4 months ago. Recently while looking into the soil through the clear cup, I thought the roots looked brown. So unpotted today to check for rot. It has had no other outward symptoms other than not growing. It's clear some of the roots are rotted bc of the fine stringy appearance. However there are also sections of root that still appear plump and white, and there are many areas along the stem that look like potential for new root spots.

I'm unclear where to go from here. I potted it back up into a teeny tiny terracotta pot with my hoya mix (20% potting soil, 20%perlite, 20%leca balls, 20% orchid bark, 20% earth worm castings) and put it into my "humidity section." Do I leave it alone and watch it, or will the rot spread to the healthy parts? Do I trim the stringy parts and repot like that? Do I cut the stem and attempt to prop? I've never propagated a hoya cutting in my life. But I do have leca available. This was a VERY expensive cutting and I feel like I only have one shot at fixing this .

Did the little cup have drainage? Can you post a photo of the tops of the leaves?

DaisyI said:Did the little cup have drainage? Can you post a photo of the tops of the leaves?

The little clear cup did have drainage yes, one hole poked in the bottom and 3 holes poked along the sides. I watered it about once every 10 days since I've had it. It sits inside in a South facing window with fans in the room. Attached is a picture from the top. This is how it looks currently, since I repotted it back up without trimming off any thin threads. I'm leaning towards trimming off everything and attempting to re-root in leca or perlite. But I've never once been successful with trying to root a cutting so I am very scared to attempt this with this very pricey cutting. But I guess what do I have to lose if it's on it's way out any way lol

I don't think its dying. I would move it to a shadier spot though.

How do the leaves feel?

Your not going to loose it as long as you do not over water it. Gunung- Gaiding likes hot and humid. Do not put it in shaded area or they will not grow for you.

But what about the thin thready fine roots? As I was unpotting it the protective sheath was literally coming off with barely touching it. I thought this was a sure sign of rot. It does look good on the leaves. The leaves are still very stiff to the touch. Should I trim off the thin threads roots or leave it alone now? Thanks so much for y'alls help.

If the roots of your Wax Plant (Hoya 'Gunung Gading') were rotted, they'd be black and soggy. In my opinion, the soil and roots appear okay. The size pot you have it in looks like the perfect size but being terra cotta, it will dry out more quickly than plastic, so you'll have to adjust your watering routine accordingly to ensure that the roots are staying sufficiently moist. You don't want it to be constantly wet but you also don't want to allow the roots to stay totally dry for very long.

Potting, unpotting and potting again causes undue stress and I'd advise allowing it time to acclimate to it's new pot and soil. Give it a location of warmth, bright light but very little direct sun and high humidity. Over the next few months, your little plant will most likely be concentrating on filling the pot with roots so you probably won't notice a great deal of growth until next summer when it will probably take off!

I've never grown Hoya 'Gunung Gading' but as Cora mentioned, it's one that likes warmth and humidity. I'm curious as to what you mean when you say that you put it into your "humidity section". You can place the pot atop a pebble tray and keep the pebbles moist by replacing the water as it evaporates. Misting plants can cause fungal issues, especially if the air is very still with a lack of sufficient air circulation but a fan can be run on low to help move the air around.

I meant "shade" as "not direct sun." I don't know of any Hoyas that would be happy in unshaded south sun.

This summer I put all my hoyas inside my greenhouse with no shade. Although, most of the day it get shaded by the tress they get full sun 20 minutes at time specially around noon. Then shaded the rest of the day. It has 5 vents and double door. One of the Hoyas that love in that situation was my gunung-gaiding.

I have some cutting of gunung -gaiding inside a tub with heat mat and rooted in no time.

Thank y'all for your help. I'm going leave it alone for now and maybe back it off the direct sunlight? My humidity spot (lol) is just the shelf right up next to my warm-air humidifier. I was thinking about putting it inside a glass dome for even more humidity but I thought maybe the lack of air flow inside the dome would be asking for trouble?

No, don't use the dome. Your Hoya needs air flow or will quickly mildew.

Ditto to what Daisy said about not using the dome ... that will only cause fungal issues.

Hoyas require bright light conditions and although there are a few that will take direct sun for short periods, turning the leaves pretty shades of red, most will fry in direct sun. I've had a few types over the years with nicely colored leaves from a lot of sun but I've also had a few that have fried from too much sun.

Beautiful hoya pics, Lin. You've really had quite a variety of them. I've only grown the Carnosa.

Thanks Karen, I don't have nearly as many as I used to but I do love them. I'd love to plant them in the ground to see if they'd climb the oak trees and have considered doing it with a few Hoyas and Philodendrons but my husband tends to not pay attention with the string trimmer and I KNOW that they'd get chopped up, so the few I have are still in containers by the pool.

Hoya are epiphytic. 'Plant' them in a tree.

DaisyI said:Hoya are epiphytic. 'Plant' them in a tree.

Yes, they grow epiphytically too but I'm afraid if I plant them in the crooks of some of our tall oak trees, the squirrels will destroy them. It drives me crazy when squirrels are trampling some of the big staghorn ferns in the trees! We have hundreds of squirrels on our property, some trees with three or four squirrel nests. I sit and watch them bite off small twigs from the oak trees and run up into the canopy to build nests. Years ago I had issues with them destroying my orchids. Tree Rats! They are cute little critters and it's fun to watch them chasing each other up and down and all around the trees but they aren't so cute when they destroy my plants.

You are correct, you need to prune off any dead roots. Then rinse with peroxide 3% solution. Just pour it right over the roots. If there are healthy roots left, you can either pot it back up in clean potting mix, or root in perlite of leca as you said.

Gunung gading does like humidity. Regular household humidity is not going to make it happy. If you do repot, place the whole thing in a clear plastic bag while it is recovering. Open every other day or so for fresh air. DO NOT SOAK the soil before it goes into the bag. Just barely damp.

This one has long been on my wishlist, so I am hoping yours pulls through!

TiaLee said:Then rinse with peroxide 3% solution. Just pour it right over the roots.

Please do not pour peroxide on plant roots. It will kill the fine hairs on the roots.