How To Care For Plants

How to care for a String of Pearls

Curio rowleyanus (syn. Senecio rowleyanus)

Care facts verified
String of pearls (Curio rowleyanus (syn. Senecio rowleyanus)), the species that wants bright light, including some direct sun
Photo: Agnieszka Kwiecień, NovaCC BY-SA 4.0source

String of pearls trails its bead-like leaves from bright light and a shallow pot of gritty soil, storing water in each tiny sphere so it only wants a drink when the beads begin to look slightly flat. Its shallow roots rot fast in wet soil, so underwatering is far safer than overwatering. It is toxic to cats and dogs.

Care at a glance

Light
Bright light, including some direct sunA bright windowsill with a few hours of gentle morning sun keeps the beads plump and the strands full. Deep shade leaves gappy, leggy stems.
Water
When the round beads start to flattenRoughly every 2 weeks in summer, monthly in winter. The beads are its water gauge — plump means fine, slightly shrivelled means water now.
Soil
Gritty succulent mix in a shallow potCactus compost plus pumice or perlite; the roots are shallow, so a wide, shallow container suits it.
Humidity
Average to dry air is fine
Temperature
18–24 °C (65–75 °F)Keep above about 10 °C (50 °F); it is not frost-hardy.
Difficulty
ModerateEasy to grow but quick to rot — the fine line between dry and wet trips up beginners.
Pets
Toxic to petsToxic to cats and dogs — the ASPCA notes that ingesting this Senecio causes stomach upset, mainly vomiting, and lethargy. Hang it out of reach.

Where it comes from

Native rangeDry, rocky ground in south-western Africa (Namibia and South Africa)

Propagation

String of pearls roots almost effortlessly from stem cuttings. Snip a healthy strand a few centimetres long, lay it on top of dry gritty mix, and press the bare section of stem (with the beads removed) lightly into the surface. Roots form at the leaf nodes within a couple of weeks; mist occasionally rather than soaking.

For a fuller pot, coil several cuttings around the surface and pin them down — each contact point can root, so you build density quickly. You can also drop a cutting into the same pot as the parent to thicken thinning strands.

Common problems

  • Beads shrivelling and going soft

    Likely cause: Confusingly, both extremes look similar: dry, wrinkled beads mean thirst; mushy, translucent ones mean overwatering and rot.

    Fix: Check the soil — bone dry means water; still damp means stop, and repot into grittier mix if the stems are turning to mush.

  • Long, bare strands with widely spaced beads

    Likely cause: Not enough light, so the plant stretches between leaves.

    Fix: Move it to a brighter spot. Trim leggy strands and replant the cuttings on top to refill the pot.

  • Strands dying back from the centre

    Likely cause: Crown or root rot from water pooling around the shallow roots.

    Fix: Take healthy cuttings from the outer strands, let them callus, and start a fresh shallow pot; the original crown rarely recovers.

Frequently asked questions

Why are the pearls on my string of pearls shrivelling?

Shrivelled, wrinkled beads usually mean it is thirsty — give it a thorough drink. But if they are soft and translucent rather than dry and puckered, that is overwatering, so check whether the soil is wet before reaching for the can.

Is string of pearls safe around cats?

No. The ASPCA lists it as toxic to cats and dogs, and pets are drawn to the dangling strands. Hang it well out of reach; ingestion can cause vomiting and lethargy.

Why won't my string of pearls grow long strands?

Thin, slow, gappy growth almost always means too little light. Move it somewhere brighter with a little direct morning sun, and propagate cuttings back into the pot to fill it out faster.

Should I plant string of pearls in a deep or shallow pot?

Shallow. Its roots are fine and surface-running, so a wide, shallow pot of gritty mix dries out at the right pace; a deep pot holds wet soil around the roots and encourages rot.

Sources

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