Hi Fluffyturtle,

Yes, it's regular store bought cinnamon that can be purchased in the spice isle at any grocery store. I just sprinkle it on affected leaves but I don't see why you couldn't rub it on as well.

Those tiny black dots on the reverse side of your Hoya kerrii may be nothing to be concerned about. My Hoyas stay outside year round and some of the leaves have all sorts of dots and spots on the leaf surfaces. Years ago a hoya grower in Hawaii told me that when plants are in greenhouses or growing outside, it's common for them to have small imperfections. So, the tiny dots on your leaves may be nothing to worry about. I'd suggest keeping a watch to be sure those tiny spots aren't growing larger but I wouldn't worry too much.

I'll have to go outside in a little while and take some pictures of my hoya leaves to share. They are far from pristine looking.

I did go outside earlier today and took pictures of some of my Hoya leaves to show how un-pristine they can be; these plants live outdoors year round in a screened pool enclosure.

Hi! I have the same spots on my Hoya callistophylla as user natydali was reporting. Wondering, what it can be. I ordered the Hoyas from Thailand to Germany in August and one week after I unwrapped them they all of a sudden started to show these halo like red spots.

Did you come up with some new information?

I will start a fungicide treatment, although I suppose that these spots were caused my the stress the plant experienced during the shipping.

I sure hope that leaf has a piece of the node attached, otherwise, it may be a leaf forever.

Spending time in a dark box and coming out to an entirely new environment is stressful, even for plants. Don't worry about the current leaves (leaf), worry about future leaves. It may take awhile for to decide to grow.

Hi Daisy, I checked it carefully and I am quite sure the there is a small node but I guess as well that it may take some time for it to grow new leaves.

Thanks for replying!

btw, this Hoya cutting was planted in a coco husk propagation disk, a fibrous and hard to open kind of thing. I wonder if I should try to take my cutting out from there. I feel it is better to put some sphagnum moos under it so it will be able to regulate moisture itself, but not very sure. Any ideas?

I will put this question in the right topic on this forum additionally. This is about diseases I guess ...

Hello, I live in San Diego CA and I always enjoy reading this forum.
This time, I'd like to ask some advice for my hoya kerrii. I purchased this 2 months ago with 3 bottom leaves and 2 leafless stems. I hang it with my other hoyas in my backyard, bright indirect sunlight. It was doing good until today. The soil is a mixture of orchid soil, bark. leca and perlite. Since it been hot and dry lately (90s) I water them every 4 or 5 days. Today, I was surprise to see a big spot in one of the leaves. I must have not notice it yesterday since I check on them almost everyday. I immediately sprayed it with Bonide ready to use liquid copper fungicide thinking it was cause by fungus. will this save my plant?

Might be a water burn from water sitting on the leaf in hot sun?

Magpie26,
Thanks for the reply.
it does not have a direct sunlight but maybe soil too moist? so it is not fungus or bacteria then?

It just looks so localized and the other leaves looked okay. The spot reminded me of a burn. I have seen leaves burned from drops of water sitting on them before. That's why I mentioned it. I don't have much experience with fungus. Cinnamon is supposed to be good for that. I think the others would suggest you check the roots.

You could be right too Magpie26. I misted the plant yesterday because it was hot- 95F. Maybe a burn. I hope the other leaves will not be affected. I will monitor it and i will post updates. Thank you.

Hello folks! I too have a problem with my Hoya Kerrii. I've had it for a couple of months now, with the two top-most leaves being new growth during that time. I'm noticing a couple of small issues with the plant after I slightly watered it (~0.1L) a few days ago. The plant is in a container with drainage holes, but it might have suffered a lack of air circulation around its roots as I used a decorative pot around the container. We're headed for the dormant season here, so perhaps it was imprudent of me to water it. The mix itself is from the nursery, but it is very light and filled with chunky material, so I didn't think it necessary to make my own soil mix.

First off, I'm noticing a couple of dark spots on the stem of the new growth. The tissue connecting the leaf to the stem is also unusually black, which has me worried. One commenter pointed out that this might be due to temperature fluctuations, but my Hoya remains indoor and is not in a draft, so I don't suspect this to be the cause. I should mention that at this time, both the leaf and the stem feel firm still.


Secondly, it developed a suspect black spot on one leaf, which showed up pretty quickly in ~2 days. It showed up today, so I can't comment yet on how it's developing. The rest of the leaves are fine and have no damages or suspect spots.


Neither of these two issues look to be too serious, but I'd like to make sure that I'm not accidentally overlooking a fungal infection. Is it wise to preventively apply cinnamon or another fungicide in this case, or is it better to wait?

Any advice is welcome, and thank you in advance!

Hi all,

I figured it would be worthwhile to follow up on my above post, for any other panicked Hoya Kerrii owners that might stumble upon this thread, since there are so few threads with follow-ups on treatment. My suspicion that the dark spots are a fungal infection caused by overwatering turned out to be correct. The dark spot developed slowly but noticeably over the course of a week. I then sprinkled store-bought cinnamon over the first infected leaf. This noticeably stopped the development of the dark spot, so I washed it off after 5 days. This turned out to be too soon, as the rot soon spread to two other leaves. I then sprinkled every single leaf (top and bottom) as well as along the stem, put it back in a sunny spot, and let it be. The rot stopped spreading and the first leaf started to scar over along a vein. At the time of writing I still have residual cinnamon on the leaf, but it seems like the rot is gone entirely at this point. Side-note, it is the dormant season for the plant currently, but it handled the entire ordeal like a champ. So for those of you that notice black spots on the leaves, try putting on a fungicide and letting the plant take care of it while you minimize watering. I hope this helps!

Yay. Good for you.

Good work @Bixbeat Yes, it is indeed the time of the year when this plant is not really too actively growing, so at times, longer watering intervals is a must.