r/StringofPlants

My variegated string of hearts is in a southeast facing window, and the bottom of the strings have small, shriveled leaves. Does anyone know why? Too much light, too little light? Google says southeast is the best window light but maybe it’s too much..

I consistently water it and let it get pretty dry between watering. I’ve been fertilizing with a mix of superthrive foliage pro and calmag.

I just repotted it into circle soil cactus & succulent mix, so I’m hoping that helps. The roots looked fine and there was no root rot. I’ve had it at least 4-5 months and it’s hardly grown /: I’ve only been fertilizing it for a couple months tho

I’ve had this specimen for over a year. It sits under a grow light. Water when it’s dry (bottom) let it drink and empty out any left over. I use diluted fertilizer with each watering.
I’ve repotted it once to have it in a more flat round set up.
Growth is slow/stagnant, and it’s always a little crispy at the ends.
But it’s always flowering???

Do you think some humidity would help it

Just showing off one of my newest additions from my most wanted wish list.

Advice to maintain and keep her happy and healthy

hello! this is my string of pearls! i’ve had her for over a year now. i found her at home depot while i was working there, she was actually gorgeous and healthy.
she is still in its original pot but hanging in a north facing window in my bathroom.
i water her with distilled water when the plant itself starts to feel really light. i sometimes alternate between bottom and top watering (never saw a difference between doing both) in a saucer until she can no longer take in anymore water.
(same method i use for all of my plants or if the leaves start to droop or curl)
i have been using liquid all purpose fertilizer as well just not as consistently as i probably should (life is lifing a little too hard) and only when i bottom water.
her soil is her original soil she was living in before i bought her.

note: these pictures were taken august 7th, 2026, so i have watered her since then i know she looks a bit dry in the pictures 😅

the advice i’ve followed so far since having her on how to take care of her and keep up with her appearance:
taking the stray vine of pearls and kinda loop it around the base and then mist it until the vines start growing into each other? essentially?
no tap water as she is way too sensitive to the tap water here.

my questions: should i repot her already? how do i go about it?
i know string of pearls do not handle repotting that well but i wanna do it the right way so she doesn’t give up on me 🥲
how do i make her look more…lush? more full? i see dozens of pictures of other string of pearls online and they’re humongous and long and so full looking and i wanna achieve that for my girl 🤎

dms are open, criticisms are open, all kinds of jokes are open. thank you so much for your time 🌹

I've been struggling to keep String of Pearls alive but I am determined to figure it out!! :)

Currently potted in 1:1 cactus mix and mineral grit. It wasn't doing well with the substrate I had before this one (more inorganic than organic) so I repotted on 8/12.

I watered it 8/15. The pearls are still super deflated. Today is 8/17. I checked moisture and there's maybe 10% left at the bottom of the pot. Roots are small, doubt that it will reach the stems.

I only bottom water. Leaves have rotted on me in the past with top.

I don't see any rot in the pot but they are starting to dry out. I believe they were super dehydrated from the inorganic based substrate I was using before.

I am afraid of overwatering and rotting them as I have with other strings.

It's at an East window and gets great morning sunlight with indirect the rest of the day.

Thanks for your help!

Everything I’ve seen online says you need a node but I tried putting just 4 single leaf cuttings from my string of hearts plant into these little containers and they all rooted.
Oh ya and it took just about 3 weeks from cutting to showing first sign of root

Got a bunch of clippings in March on Etsy, and I swore the Rubies had mealy bugs.

Did the alcohol treatment, haven't seen any in a few months - then BAM.

Bout to pitch this, and I'm 99.99999% sure this is mealy bugs, but I'm looking for someone else's opinion before these end up in the compost for no reason.

Mealy bugs?

Update - video of alcohol going onto white. Watch video and lemme know if you still think it is not bugs?

Update update - an overwhelming amount of you said NOT mealys. Rubies have been rescued from an impending firey death. Thank you all!

Hey guys,

So a neighboring plant has thrips and I want to treat all the plants with systemic imidacloprid. (Im also spraying every 6 days rotating horticultural oil and insecticidal soap spray)

My questions are

1. ⁠I have Bonide’s tree and shrub 1.47% imidacloprid soil drench and the houseplant systemic granules. I’d love to be able to do a soil drench because working it in to my trailing plants like this SOP seems like a nightmare.
2. ⁠-Anyone have success using the liquid systemic on plants like these and a philodendron splendid? What dilution rate did you use if so?
3. ⁠If I must use the granules, what are the physical mechanics of working it into the soil plants like these? The label says to work it into the top 1-2 inches of soil and I have also read that it’s important to distribute the granules evenly and I don’t even know how I would get them to the soil when the top of the plant is full of pearls, same with the turtles.

To anyone who read this thank you so much!!

Plants are indoors under strong grow lights for 12-14 hours a day. The amount of light they get is PPFD around 450-500.

I water when almost completely dry.

ETA: the SOP definitely got some pest action going on and I realize it lol. And yes there are drainage holes in bottom of container the SOT is in. I made a bunch.

Also I have thoroughly read instruction on granules, just not sure how to distribute evenly and work into soil when there’s a giant clump of leaves that I can’t really move at all to get the granules under lol

First picture was when I got these 2 cuttings (though the longer one I didn't realize already had roots until after I pulled it out 😭). About a month-ish later, the roots on that one shriveled up completely while the unrooted cutting was now fully rooted and putting out new growth. I cut up the other one into 3 strands with pearls on them and eventually got rid of all the lone pearls. The last picture is from a few days ago.

About five weeks ago I put those 4 cuttings in soil after I propagated them in water until they grew some roots.
(They were 5 cuttings at first, but one of them ripped out of the soil and already died.)

I spray them with water every 1-2 days to keep the soil moist so they can adapt easier with the change from water to soil. After a week or so I also started to water them regularly.

Two of the cuttings absorb the water just fine. One of them also struggled at first, but managed to adapt after three weeks or so.
The other two (2, 4 on the picture) seem to refuse the water, the leaves are shriveled all the time, bend very easily and don’t seem to improve.
(Same with the one that already died, except the leaves also already started falling off. That’s why I decided it was not worth putting it back in the soil after it ripped out.)

I’m afraid if I keep on spraying them and keep the soil moist that I risk root rot in the two that are doing great.
But I don’t know what else I can do to help the other two adapting and keep them from dying.

Thanks in advance!💕

(Edit: For the soil I used a cactus and succulent mix)

(Also: As helpful as some of the suggestions might be for next time, at the moment I’m mostly looking for advice on what to do with this plant right now. But still, thank you <3)

I am a fairly new plant mom and I’ve had her for over a year in a 4 inch pot. I didn’t realize that she was so rooted. Should I repot her?

Do you have a favorite?

Small Brooklyn apartment. It’s not much but it makes me happy

Can I repot these yet? My boyfriend ordered them for me about two weeks ago. I’ve watered them twice and I want so badly to put them in cute pots. I just don’t know if it’s time and don’t want to kill my new babes!

I’ve done some research but advice is always welcomed!

I got a new SOP on July 8th and was seeing a lot of aggressive growths while keeping it indoors! I was super happy!

But by July 17th I started observing black powder like substance on it when I went to water it. This was the second time I was going to water it. That was my first mistake. I set it outside in the sun to dry up a bit and the next day, the house help saw that I had new plants and watered it! And that was it! I could see it rapidly disintegrating right In front of my eyes. I could see and feel the black translucent pearls that would just blast at the lightest nudge! My heart was exploding each time just like the stressed pearls. This was my 2nd time owning SOP and you could guess what had happened to the first one🥲

I didn't want to loose it the second time too! I made up my mind to save it no matter what and sprang into action! By July 25th, I had repotted the remaining pearls (after removing/cutting out all the rotten pearls stems and roots) into succulent and cactus mix into 3 different pots. This is when I saw that the initial nursery pot was full of cocopete - No wonder they were very much over watered!

Then I waited for 4 and a half excruciating weeks! During that period, I lost one pot when I watered it for the first time after repotting when I observed that the soil was fully dry - after a week or so. (I hadn't watered it after I repotted). This pot had the most of the rot adjacent pearls and roots.

Now with just two pots, I was more anxious and the "doing nothing and waiting" part was not doing any good for my mental health either! Finally, yesterday - Aug 13, I observed that the slit on the remaining pearls was almost non existent and the pearls starting to wrinkle. And when I went to water it, I was overjoyed! I found I smol tiny baby pearl!

I Just had to share my journey here since this platform helped me in reviving my SOP. Please everybody send all the good vibes you can muster to my SOP! May it prosper in good health and abundance!

Pic 1: new growth

Pic 2: Final two pots remaining

Pic 3: initial 3 pots after repot

Pic 4: when I started finding mushy pearls and black powdery substance after over watering

Pic 5: when I newly bought it.

Also any advice you feel apt is always welcomed!

Thank you!

It literally appeared after I watered my SOH.😦

Can anybody please help me?

Thanks!

She matches my room perfectly

So. I gave her her own teapot, and let her vibe.

She's living her best life.