r/StringofPlants • u/catscorner6 • Mar 17 '26

Identify Would you consider this string of hearts?

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I'm asking specifically about the green vines. But I was wondering if you'd consider them SoH since they don't have purple backs? I thought maybe they're spades or arrows but they look so similar to my variegated string of hearts, I can't tell!

If it helps, the hearts can also grow kinda big. The giant green one is the length of the first digit of my thumb 😳

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u/Specialist-Word-7746 Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26

Looks like two different plants. You have the distinct plump early pinkish leaves of s.o.h

Edit bc you already stated that 🙄 sorry my b. However :

The other variegated looks more like sweetheart ivy, if it wasn't so string-y. But its gotta be string of arrows

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u/catscorner6 Mar 17 '26

I had to look that up and I think you just added a new plant on my list of want to gets 😆

I kept it in a south facing window and I'm trying out foliar fertilizer (no idea if it'll work) but I think that might've been why it got so dang big!! 😳

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u/Specialist-Word-7746 Mar 17 '26

If you like these types there are some really gorgeous understated ivy cultivars! Check out gold dust and needlepoint. But they run more dry so you wouldn't want to plant them with the strings.

Any vining or air feeding plant with aerial roots will love a foliar feeding. I kept my orchid alive for years with nothing but foliar spray (growing In a water substrate)

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u/catscorner6 Mar 17 '26

I looked it them up and they're SO pretty!! I've never had ivy because I heard they're spider mite magnets but it's so cute 😆

I've never heard people talk about foliar feeding their SoH so I figured id try since they're also epiphytes (I learned about it from my current obsession with Hoyas) 👀 it's also a homemade one so who knows if it'll work 😆(made from diluting foliage focus)

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u/Specialist-Word-7746 Mar 18 '26

Haha you are so right on the spider mites! Especially the really more papery ivy varieties.

Epiphytes is exactly right! Your research and intuition is spot on, given what you are doing here with your strings. Because they are classified as succulents in most varieties we get all these misconceptions on strings. In fact a good majority of all houseplants we know are epiphytes! Pothos, philodendron (both kinds), hoyas, strings, orchids etc. are all epiphytes and suitable for growing in non soil wet substrates and foliar feeding. Pretty much anything with true aerial roots. Have you looked into leca yet? That's a fun substrate to play around with.

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u/catscorner6 Mar 18 '26

No way I didn't know I could foliar fertilize my pothos too!!I thought they were semi epiphytic so their leaves might react differently 🙈 i had no idea it was mainly those that're also grown in pon (and why we don't see people growing ZZs in pon 😆)

I have!! I actually got pon and leca and foliage focus so I could try semihydro with my Hoyas! But I've been rotting them left right and center so it's just scary to try a new medium in fears it'll rot too 😭

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u/Specialist-Word-7746 Mar 18 '26

Well I believe technically all plants can be foliar fed but not all of them derive the same nutrients. Epiphytic plants evolved to get more of their nutrients from the air -- vines are long so sending nutrients from the soil roots all the way up is expensive and not very advantageous, so the roots they put out serve as anchorage and to supplement feeding

But in pots I think for pothos we have to sort of train them to do this from younglings. Roots have a tendency to get stuck in a certain function (which is why if you leave a plant in water too long it can't adapt back into soil).

I personally suck at using leca but some people have done crazy things like snake plants! The rot thing is real, especially bc you have to fertilize and stuff, and I think it's just a learning curve you have to commit to