I have had my Hindu rope plant for 43 years. Suddenly, for some unknown reason, all the leaves have wrinkled. I water it weekly. Fertilize it in spring. Only repotted 3 times. Now, on a daily basis, leaves have just fallen off. Please help me figure this out. My grandmother gave me a small slip the week of my wedding and I don’t want to lose it.
A photo of the plant may help in identifying the problem. Without knowing what the problem is, if the plant is still is relatively good condition, I suggest you propagate a number of cuttings as insurance against loss: Wax Plant (Hoya) Production Guide.
I don't know what the problem is but I would ease the plant out of the container to inspect the root ball then decide what to do based on what I find. Check the moisture level in the soil and irrigate accordingly. What is the condition of the roots? Is there any rotting? Hoyas prefer to be root-bound but is is overly so and thereby needing a larger container? Is the soil severely compacted making it difficult to irrigate properly? These are the things that come to mind. The soil that can be seen in the photos appear to be dry and crumbly.
Shortly after all the wrinkling began, I repotted the plant using a mix of potting soil, sand, and perlite. I don’t know what rotting roots would actually look like but they seemed fine to me. I have started a few cuttings but nothing has happened yet. I’ve cut some pieces off and thrown them away because they had become so bare. I noticed that the stems were hollow inside. I’m beginning to think that the plant is just too old and there’s no fixing it.
I hope your cuttings make it - this looks like an unusual hoya with those hairy stems and leaf backs. I have just looked it up - Hoya carnosa 'Compacta' or 'Krinkle Kurl', not something I've ever seen with those curly leaves, but apparently not all that rare. There is a woman on YouTube who is going on about how slowly her cuttings are coming along, and a commenter noted that she has been waiting five months for signs of growth on hers. There are a couple of spots in the first photo that look a little like webbing, but I don't think spider mites would cause the leaves to wrinkle like that with so little other evidence. I don't know much about fungus gnats, saw them mentioned. It wouldn't hurt to put pieces of cut potato cut-side down on the soil and see if you find any feeding larvae: Getting Rid of Houseplant Gnats.
