Learn about the string of hearts plant also known as the Rosary Vine. How to grow it and how to propagate some for your friends.
A while ago my daughter brought me some cuttings of her string of hearts plant.
This string of pearls growing in a teacup from a blogger challenge is growing pretty well for me so I was excited to be an owner of a string of hearts plant.
The scientific name for this plant is Cerorpegia woodii. Another common name is Rosary Vine because you often find these little beads growing along the stems.
Those beads are actually little tubers that you can place on the soil to propagate the plant. See the big round tuber in the front of the pot above.
How to Propagate String of Pearls
- Take a few cuttings from an established plant.
- Set them on top of some good quality well-draining soil that you have watered.
- Use some regular garden wire to pin some of the stems to the soil.
- Set the entire pot in a plastic bag and close it.
- Set it in a bright window and check it in a few weeks to see if it has rooted.
- Once rooted and showing some growth remove the pot from the bag and set it in a bright spot someplace where it has room to trail.
How to Care for a String of Pearls Plant
- String of hearts plants like good lighting, preferably in a western or southern facing window.
- This plant is a succulent vine native to Africa, so do not overwater. Make sure the top is dried out before watering. Water deep, about once every other week or less, making sure it drains thoroughly and does not sit in water.
- You can use half strength all-purpose fertilizer if you want but I’d only do this during the spring and summer which should be the active growing season.
- Some say that the vines will eventually need a haircut. When they do make sure you take advantage and propagate the cuttings into new plants to keep or give away.
One interesting note about this particular plant. My daughter purchased her string of hearts plant from Glasshouse Works in Ohio.
She actually gave me two varieties. One is the standard string of hearts with purple stems and purplish backs on the leaves.
The other is the same genus but a hybrid of sorts with more of a spade shape and green stems. They still look incredibly similar and are growing quite happily together.
I’m loving this little guy. Right now I have it on top of a window ledge in my office but I really need to make a twine hanger for it like the teacup planter. I just may have to re-visit some old macrame techniques to house these hanging beauties.
P.S. Other fun houseplants you may like are, Pilea peperomioides, Kalanchoe, and Monstera. You can find them and several more of my favorites on my Gardening Page.
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