String of Hearts Complete Care Guide
Today we are bringing you another easy-care indoor plant, ideal for a new plant owner!
The Ceropegia Woodii, commonly known as String of Hearts, is an evergreen tuberous perennial with long and beautiful hanging stems with heart shaped leaves.
It is native to Southwest Africa, which will give us some clues in understanding what the best conditions are for this stunning plant.
One of my favourite characteristics of the String of Hearts, which makes it such a good plant for beginners, is that they are very forgiving if you forget to water them.
So then, how do you take care of a String of Hearts?
WATER SCARCELY
The String of Hearts resembles the same nature as succulents. Water every 10-14 days and allow the soil to completely dry out inbetween drinks.BRIGHT INDIRECT LIGHT
The String of Hearts is very versatile. It can survive in shadier spots but prefers to live in a bright, indirect sunlight spot. This is where you'll see the most new growth.PET FRIENDLY
Good news for pet owners! The String of Hearts is a non-toxic plant. In addition to this, it is also a natural air purifier.VERY EASY TO PROPAGATE
The String of Hearts is known for being one of the easiest plants to propagate. Trim your plant and follow our handy tips below!
WATER SCARCELY
As mentioned above, the String of Hearts resembles closely to the nature of succulents. So much so, that lots of people think that they truly belong in the succulent family and I don't blame them!
Just like succulents, the String of Hearts stores water in its leaves and vines so prefers being watered scarcely opposed to too regularly. We can definitely say that they are semi-succulents
- even if they are not technically!
We recommend you to water your String of Hearts only when the soil is completely dry. It has very thin roots that can stress very easily if over watered, causing them to rot.
As guidance, I water my String of Hearts every other week during the growing season (Spring/Summer) and I reduce the watering to once a month during the dormant season (Autumn/Winter).
BRIGHT INDIRECT LIGHT
On our last blog we talked about the Snake plants versatility. Well, here we are with another extremely easy-care indoor plant! Super low maintenance and unlike the Snake plant, it is a fast grower which makes it a great hanging plant!
It doesn't even require any fertilisers. (Although, if you still prefer to feed it some, remember that its roots are very thin and a strong fertiliser can burn them easily. Reduce the fertiliser to the minimum of its strength before proceeding, using a gentle alternative).
Regarding the lighting conditions, the String of Hearts will live and grow happily almost under any light. However, you will see the most new growth in a spot that receives bright but indirect sunlight.
IMPROVES AIR QUALITY
The String of Hearts is not just a pretty face!
Some plants have certain health benefits, one being removing certain volatile toxic pollutants naturally from the air and The String of Hearts is believed to be one of these plants!
You can check out our range of air purifying plants that we have in our Shoreditch store or online under our Green Living section.
VERY EASY TO PROPAGATE
There are a number of ways to propagate a String of Hearts. Today, we are going to focus on Water Propagation.
The first thing that you will need to do is to cut a few vines, all the while making sure that they have some nodes in them. The nodes are the place where the leaves meet the stem.
Then you are ready to submerge your cuttings into water, as seen in this picture, ensuring that you have at least one node in the water.
Now it is a waiting game! Not all the vines will sprout necessarily, but the ones that do can be repotted when the new roots measure at least 1cm long.
The best time of the year to propagate your String of Hearts is the growing season (Spring/Summer) so give it a try and let us know how it goes!!
If you are a pet owner, you will be happy to hear that the String of Hearts is believed to be non-toxic to pets.
We hope that you found these Plant Care Guide helpful!
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions via our Social Media channels. You can visit us in our Shoreditch plant shop once we reopen but in the meantime, we are delivering house plants to UK residents. Check out our plant collection online now, featuring the beautiful String of Hearts!
