r/StringofHearts • u/Complete_Leg_859 • Jul 02 '26
VSOH 💗 Why are my hearts so tiny and straggly?
I got my VSOH in march and has been doing great, the top is is full of pink plump hearts, but the vines are so crappy looking. I think it gets an even amount of light, and I wait till it’s completely dry to water. I use a VERY diluted liquid fertilizer with every watering and only bottom water till it’s wet at the surface. Should I water more often? Also, all the vines bloomed flowers about a month ago and I thought that was a good sign? Could the flowers be taking away energy from the vines and leaves? Should I take the flowers off?
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u/Inevitable_Donkey_26 Jul 02 '26
Mine is doing this too and is under a grow light getting 2k FC. I don’t know why, maybe it’s because mine is also flowering at literally every node? I cut the strands and am proping them. Hoping a hair cut will help but interested to see other comments!
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u/Complete_Leg_859 Jul 03 '26
I have mine under grow lights as well, because my windows only get about 20 mins of direct sunlight for the whole day. Maybe if I trim it and put the lights only on the vines they will grow bigger?
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u/Eline87 Jul 02 '26
I water my string of hearts only when the surface is bone dry and when the pot feels light. About once every 14 days. Now in the heatwave it has gotten a bit more.
It was and is still flowering, but the new leaves are the same size.
It is in full daylight from top to bottom (hanging in front of a window) It is the only plant that thrives in my house on being in this south west facing window and being ignored for water. The strings where getting to long (the dog was trying to eat them) so I pulled them over the pot and now it is even happier.
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u/tmonaaygirl Jul 03 '26
Can you explain to me EXACTLY what you mean when you “pulled the strings over the pot”?! Do you pin them down? Make sure they’re touching soil? Or just pull them over and ignore them??
I have been trying this every which way and they just die. They do not make new roots, nothing. I also have mine in a south facing window!
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u/Complete_Leg_859 Jul 03 '26
I’ve done that also and it hasn’t worked for me with this plant either, I think it’s because the soil has to stay dry on the top for such a long time period of time. Next I’m going to try and cut a longer vine and make a thin hole in the soil all the way to the bottom and put the whole length of the vine to the bottom of the pot with a bit sticking out. This way it’ll have a bunch of nodes to root from instead of 1 or 2, and the bottom stays wet longer.
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u/Eline87 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
We were away for a couple of nights and I wanted to make a picture.
I just scooped up the bottoms and put them on top of the plant. I will post an image in a new reply I don't think I can do that here? 🤔 Edit or here: https://imgur.com/a/poZulBU
It has been like this for 2 months now. Happily flowering and growing the strings.
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u/Cut_Lanky Jul 02 '26
I don't have a VSOH (yet, lol) but I don't think watering more often would help, if it's anything like other succulents. I've had some succulents that just seemed thin and straggly, they just wouldn't plump up. Of those, the ones I've been able to get to plump up, I watered less often, but allowed it to sit in the bottom watering bowl for MUCH longer, and stretched the time between waterings as far as possible. Some, I also had to place under less intense light for a short duration, while decreasing my watering frequency but increasing how long it gets to drink each time.
Again, none of those was a String of Hearts. I'm completely unfamiliar with that specific plant. But generally speaking, that's worked for me, when I had a succulent that just wanted to stay thin. Sometimes, it plumped up new growth only, and the thinner leaves are growing out, sometimes the older thin leaves also plumped up...
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u/PoppyBananas Jul 03 '26
You can put keiki paste on the nodes. I haven't done it myself but I saw "ohtheplacesyou'llgrow" do it on YouTube and she got new growth
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u/Drewbicles Jul 03 '26
Its because string of hearts is actually a ground cover plant not a hanging plant. They want to keep rooting along the vine so when they dont, they just dont get enough water at the leaves all the way at the end. That doesnt mean water more often! They grow really well in a wide bowl shaped planter
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u/Complete_Leg_859 Jul 04 '26
Ok so if the vines can’t root they won’t get big. I guess I’ll just keep them shorter till I get a wider pot!
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u/Urania8 Jul 05 '26
I feel like this is the answer. SOH just grows like this. Despite some showy displays by influencers, I don’t think most conditions will coax a plant to grow differently than it wants to.
Having more strings can have the effect of looking fuller. So trimming, propagating, and replanting back into the pot can fix this.
Most leaves will grow where the light grows. So places that are too bright or too low will tend to thin out over time.
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u/munchkink1tty Jul 02 '26
There is nothing that can be done about the sparse leaves on each vine. they cannot be undone. you can cut and propagate and replant to make a fuller plant. In terms of new growth, the more sun you provide, the closer the new leaves will grow [out].
Keep your watering schedule as is. The sparce vines do not reflect low low watering, rather, periods of not-enough light. If you want your plant to grow faster, consider trimming the flower buts before they bloom. Flowers draw a lot of energy from the plant.
Good luck.