Morning. Lamora, Rubbing Alcohol is also used to kill Mealy Bug. Mealy is the worse plant bug around. These gross creatures aren't effected when sprayed w/my home-made insecticide. If you ever suspect Mealy, 'I guess Scale, too, now that Rina said it worked for her,' spray ASAP. I use Fish Emulsion as a preventative and insectide against Scale. My HR was a baby, too..lol. It'll take time, but worth the wait. BTW, I order plants online. Some nurseries send a free gift plant per order. Can't recall if it was last year or the year before, but one nursery sent a green, HR..I normally don't keep duplicate plants, but decided might as well hold on to the freebie in case something were to happen to my older HR. It too is about 6"..does yours have one or more stems? Lamora, have you considered getting an inexpensive shop light or aquarium light? They average 2-6' long.. All you'd need to do is insert hooks and S-hooks in the ceiling. Buy two large chains, 'sold in most hardware stores.' Attach the hood fixture to the chain with additional S-hooks.. It's really simple to make and if you're on a budget, doesn't cost a fortune. Another option..I wanted a shelf w/lights sooo bad. We went to a hardware store, bought a plastic shelf, 19.99. Dh attached 3, 4' light fixtures on the undersides of each shelf. We added fluorscent light bulbs.. Voila, a new plant stand under 40.00. Extra lighting makes a big difference. If you decide to build or buy a stand, include a timer. Lights go on and off at 'X' times. Toni

I am new in this pursuit and will appreciate any help I can get. In return will exchange other plants like epiphyllum cuttings or other perennial plants. All my hoyas are cuttings and they are too small for exchange yet. Most of which I have purchased from PLG this month. I have Hoya carnosa 'Rubra' H. australis procelain wax plant H. bella H. bella variegated H. polyneura H. compacta 'Hindu Rope' H. silver pink H. cinnamomifolia H. serpen

katrun,i have a hindo rope plant to trade for your austrails hoya.could i please see a photo . it may be a few days before i can get back to a computer. plmk,molly

It won't shock your plant to take cuttings, though I do understand your reluctance! But the mama plant will be ok, maybe even benefit from some pruning. A roughly 5" or 6" cutting would be fine, you just cut right where above where a set of leaves ends, then on the cutting you need to strip a few sets if leaves from the bottom, maybe two or three, whereas you may only need one bare node to plant it soil. With hydroculture, you need a fairly long bare part of the stem to keep the cutting anchored in the aggregate. You don't really want a long leafy part above the top level of the aggregate, that is too much for the new roots that will be growing to maintain. Once the cutting gets rooted, it will concentrate on growing. If you put the cuttings in a glass of water to let them get started developing some roots, that helps. And when you do plant them in the clay aggregate, you keep the water level a little higher at first to help them to not dry out until they have really rooted well. It was pretty easy with my carnosa I just did last month. The first week or so, some of the leaves were too soft, I could tell they were not getting enough water, but after raising the water level a little more, everything is fine. I just have to keep an eye on it, cause once the roots are enough to support the plant, the water level will not need to be so high, and could possibly do more harm than good. I will look for a few hydroculture links for you, the lady in canada grows all of her hoyas this way, and she is very helpful.