It looks bone dry to me, how much water do you give it? What kind of potting soil did you use? It's also not getting enough sunlight, it should be dark purple. Remove all the dead dry leaves. There will be more people giving you some great advice, I'm sure it can be saved :>)
Christine

Morning,

Dezzo, I'm going way-out here...minus soil, watering, and light.

Plants I had growing directly in ceramic didn't do as well or died.
I could be wrong...an opinion.

Gynuras need medium bright light...during winter, a very bright window 'even south,' and pinching help keep compact.

Remove dead foliage. Water but let dry between, 'a little' and spray around leaves.

Gynura, like most plants dislike soggy feet, but dote on a humid environment.

Just for good measure, check for pests. Mealy bug are notorious creatures who also like Gynura.

Good luck, Toni

Christine:

Originally I had been keeping it fairly moist, but when it started to look unhealthy I backed off on the water. When it still didn't perk up, I checked the soil and found it was still moist near the bottom while the rest of the soil was dry.

This lead me to think maybe it wasn't drying out enough, so I removed the soil and mixed it up to distribute the moisture, added some perlite for drainage, then potted it back up again. Then I watered it only slightly and when it still didn't perk back up, I gave it a larger drink which also didn't seem to help. Now it's back to being on the dry side again.

I'm trying to find the right balance for it, but nothing is working.

Toni:

Could you elaborate on your comment about ceramic?
Are you referring just to this plant, or all plants?
I've never heard of ceramic being an issue before.

I've been keeping it on the top shelf about 8 feet from windows, as it's the only real spot I can put it. It's a pretty bright location. I don't mist it as I was warned it doesn't like moisture on its leaves.

As for pruning, I haven't done that yet as I'm still just waiting for it to become happy and healthy.

I may have found a spot a few feet from a southeast facing window, so I'll move it there once I get the watering and soil figured out.

So far though, this one is a picky little bugger.

Correction.....

I just checked the soil with the moisture meter and it's reading as Wet at the moment. I forgot that I gave it another drink after the last drying out.

So, it's been wet for a few days now.
Not sopping wet, but enough to trigger the wet reading on the meter.

Thanks for all the info Paul.

The pot does have drainage, though I never give it so much water that the water comes out of the bottom as I find with many plants that leaves the soil too wet for too long.

I don't remember the condition of the roots as I didn't examine them closely.

I've moved it to another room closer to a bright window, so I'll see how it does there.

Morning All,

Dezzo. Re: ceramic pots.

I feel soil hold too much moisture.
Also, if a room is hot or cold, soil in ceramic pots tend to stay cold or too warm/hot.

But, the real problem is soil remains wet for prolonged periods, and 'may' cause root rot.

I like ceramic, too..as far as looks, but so far, most plants potted in ceramic have had problems. I finally re-potted to plastic and clay.

Maybe coincidence since our rooms are fairly chilly during winter and hot in summer.

A pot within a pot works, if a piece of styrofoam sheet is in-between.
Or, if a plant is in bloom, then set in ceramic temporary.

Just my opinion..Perhaps, others have had better luck. Toni

Just wanted to add my .2. :) Toni

Mine looked like this when I left for a week and forgot to water it right before. It looks very dry to me. I wouldn't recommend ceramic pots too - I love clay ones, but most of mine are plastic. I have feeling that painted ceramic pots might have some chemicals in the paint that are not good for plants, but I'm not sure. My purple passion grows in a clay pot and I have to water it fairly often, maybe once or twice a week, but I put just a little bit of water on the top.

always i see water issues lol

yes of course its water that gives life also kills

this plant got shocked water too much then dryness , dont do that just keep soil moist not soggy not dry

first of all get your plant out of soil by washing roots , then remove any dead roots , ( a dead root look mushy or so yellowish transparent , may look empty like a tube , dark colored , break mus easier than a white healthy root , after cleaning wash it with fungicide , and replant into new sterilized soil with plenty of perlite , like 1.5 cup perlite to 1 cup peat , water two times with fungicide along a month and keep the plant in a transparent closed box to raise humidity ( aerated daily to prevent mold and fungi ) for a week

or better than all of this cut the healthy stems put them into a glass of water till one inch roots grow then plant into moist soil , make sure to make the soil get within the roots not just covering some , then water every time u see the leave tip get leggy ( dont wait till all the leaves get leggy as this will be too dry )

sterilize old soil by damping with water the put into oven till surface dry then stir and put again into oven and your done

I am having the same problem with mine and just repotted it and found it was very root bound. Will have to see if this works.

Hi all! I have found these beautiful plants to be very fussy. I recently combined and repotted five small ones. I realized when I was doing it that a couple of the plants had lost a significant amount of their root system. Don’t blame me tho. I HAD to repot them. I have now had this same stressful repotting experience with this plant species TWICE. They go into significant shock after repotting. The first incident caused my plants to lose some of their low hanging leaves. They will droop and wilt like crazy. They will look as if they are for sure dying. But don’t panic. They are dramatic! I was able to save the plants the dirt time I repotted them. I took small pieces of sponge and wet them. Then I placed the wet sponge pieces on top of the stem base right at the soil level. My thinking was that if they lost too much of their root system, I had better figure out a way to keep the moisture right where plant needed it most. I will leave the little sponges on that area for at least an hour, sometimes longer. It just depends how bad it is. So much to my surprise, this worked! And worked well! Another thing that I have found super helpful is air circulation. I have some small wooden grates that I place my pots on. This allows air to flow freely at the pot base. Thus helping to resolve and/or prevent further issues. Just be consistent with your routine and make sure they never sit in standing water. They are very sensitive! While I love the look of this plant, I don’t think I will add anymore of this type to my plant family. They are far too temperamental for my liking. Good luck to you!!