How To Stop Killing Your String of Pearls Houseplant - Senecio Rowleyanus Care Guide

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If you have ever owned a String Of Pearl's houseplant you will know they are very tricky to keep alive!

In this video, I’m going to explain why they are so difficult to care for, and most importantly what you can do to drastically increase your chances of keeping these awkward little suckers alive!
So why do String of Pearls seem to keel over more often than any other of your houseplants?

It’s not that there is one main thing that you might be doing wrong but possibly several! That’s why they are so tricky to look after because they need a very specific set of requirements to be happy and thrive. I wouldn’t say any of these requirements are difficult at all so don’t worry about that but you do have to get most of them right to be able to be successful with these guys.

The first and one of the more important things is incorrect SOIL TYPE and this can sometimes come from the nursery or houseplant store like this so you’re often off to a bad start before you even get home. If the soil is soaking wet at the store be careful, this is not a good sign! String of Pearls are succulents and as such, they don’t like to be too wet, and certainly not in the winter if the temperature drops where you live. They are often planted into soil that is too heavy and so retains too much water, we need a FREE Draining mix for these guys because they have quite small roots that are prone to rotting if they stay wet for too long so the first thing is to make sure he water drains through well and doesn’t get boggy or stay saturated for too long, this isn’t too bad in the summer as the warm weather will probably dry the soil out quick enough but in the winter if it stays wet when the plant isn’t growing much at all then the roots and also the main plant if in contact with the wet oil will soon start to rot and it’s all over! The best soil to use is a cactus soil mix, you can buy them in most houseplant stores and garden centers. If you make soil up yourself use plenty of drainage media, small particulate gravel, perlite etc. Ensure a rally open free draining mix.

Next is watering, for the same reason your String of Pearls will rot in heavy soil it will easily rot if you water too much, so be sure to water well and then leave it to nearly dry out before you water again. In the winter this is much more important as there will be less light and less heat which means the plant will not be growing much at all and therefore not taking up anywhere near as much water compared to the summer so once again keep an eye on it and only water once the soil is good and dry. A great way to tell when you need to water again is to pay attention to the individual pearls, once they get dry they start to split open like a bean, when you see that happening check your soil and re-water. If you have your pot on a dish and you can water from the bottom so it draws it up from the base this will also help not to get too much of the plant too wet when watering.

Next, let’s talk about Light your string of Pearls will need plenty of bright indirect light, but the harsh direct sun will scorch it so it won’t like being sat on a hot south-facing window sill in the full summer sun, just back a bit from the window so it gets the bright light is ideal.

Lastly is fertilizing – succulents don’t need nearly as much food as broad-leaved houseplants so this is another area that can cause an issue, don’t feed as often or as much as your other houseplants, I would recommend half the usual strength if using general houseplant fertilizer and at least half as often. If you feed once per month every two months will be fine for these guys and even less will be ok. If you have a specific cactus feed then you can use it at normal strength because it will be formulated for them anyway.
So..

If you can get all of these slight tweaks lined up then you should have a happy healthy String of Pearls!

Give it a go and let me know how you get on!