String of Hearts
Ceropegia woodii
Through the year 🗓️
☀️ Summer now
Its happiest season: expect fast growth and flowers, and water a touch more often in real heat.
🍂 Fall
Taper watering as growth slows and give it maximum light to hold the silver pattern.
❄️ Winter
Near-dormant. Water only when the leaves start to soften, roughly half as often as summer.
🌱 Spring
Prune and propagate. Loop cuttings back into the pot to turn a stringy plant into a full one.
The details
Light & placement
- Light
- Bright indirect with some gentle direct sun; strong light keeps the silver marbling and purple undersides vivid
- Ideal PPFD
- 200–400 µmol·m⁻²·s⁻¹
- Grow-light distance
- 12–18 in below LED
Water & feed
- Watering method
- Soak-and-dry, semi-succulent style: water thoroughly, then let the soil dry most of the way. Plump heart leaves mean wait; slightly soft, taco-folding leaves mean water now.
- Fertilizer
- Balanced or succulent feed at ½ strength, monthly in spring–summer; none in winter.
Home & habit
- Soil
- Fast-draining succulent mix, or houseplant soil cut heavily with perlite; pH 6.0–7.0
- Humidity
- Low to average (30–50%); dislikes constantly humid, stagnant air on wet soil
- Temperature
- 65–80 °F; keep above 55 °F
- Mature size
- Vines trail 3–6+ ft
- Repotting
- Every 2–3 yrs; shallow pots suit the tuberous roots
- Propagation
- Vine cuttings in water or laid on moist soil; the little aerial tubers ("beads") also root when pressed into soil.
When something looks wrong
- Overwatering signs
- Yellowing, mushy leaves; collapsed strands; rotting tubers at the soil line
- Underwatering signs
- Thin, deflated, curling hearts; crispy dry strands
- Common pests
- Mealybugs, aphids, scale
Common problems 🩺
The usual suspects when String of Hearts looks unhappy. Most houseplant trouble is watering or light, not disease — see all plant problems if you are not sure which plant is the culprit.
Long bare strands with widely spaced hearts
Likely cause
Not enough light.
What to do
Bright light with some gentle direct sun. Trim the bare sections; cuttings root readily.
Mushy stems at the soil
Likely cause
Overwatering — it stores water in its tubers and needs little.
What to do
Gritty mix, and water only when the leaves start to feel soft.
Silver marbling fading to plain green
Likely cause
Too little light.
What to do
Brighter light restores the contrast, and often brings out pink tones too.
More like this 🌿
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