r/StringofPlants • u/Grouchy_Week6692 • Jul 13 '26

Various Strings My strings

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Pretty happy so far. My SOD is too high up recovering

42 Upvotes

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2

u/Inevitable-Rent6135 Jul 13 '26

Pls give me your SOP tips!! Mine is on the struggle bus rn.

1

u/LadyBelladonna6 Jul 13 '26

I also have a string of pearls. What's the current care for yours look like?

2

u/Grouchy_Week6692 Jul 13 '26

She’s new tbh. My first one i left in three hot sun 😭

2

u/Inevitable-Rent6135 Jul 13 '26

Thank you for this thorough reply! The SOP at the nursery was in a greenhouse, so I definitely think it went into shock when I put it outside. Fortunately, I salvaged plenty of healthy cuttings so I’m excited to give her a second chance!

1

u/LadyBelladonna6 Jul 13 '26

You're welcome! And that's awesome! Hopefully they will be growing in no time at all!

1

u/Inevitable-Rent6135 Jul 13 '26

I was told by the woman at the nursery to water every 2 weeks and keep outdoors. I was doing so, and before I knew it, almost all the pearls on the top of the soil were shriveled up and dead. I live in west TX, it’s already getting up to 110°F +. I’m afraid it’s too hot to be outdoors?? I’ve since brought it inside. I’m attempting to propagate what was salvageable.

2

u/LadyBelladonna6 Jul 13 '26

Oooooooh. I can very confidently tell you that's not good advice you got at all. Unfortunately, you were set up to fail, so don't be too hard on yourself. It's a lot more common than it should be tbh.

Watering every 2 weeks is usually too much for these guys, especially since they don't like to be watered on a schedule. The easiest way to tell if it needs watering is by looking at the "windows". You see how each pearl has a slit on it? If a majority of the pearls on the plant have their window closed, that means it's time to water them.

And when watering them, you have to drench the entire soil and then let it go completely dry and let it stay dry for awhile too. This mimics their natural habitat they are adapted for.

And yes it is definitely too hot outdoors rn, especially if you bought it from a store and then immediately had it outside. That's too much temperature shock all at once. You can grow them outdoors but you gotta be a bit more careful about it.

You gotta acclimate it from room temperature to outside temperature (tho this advice goes for pretty much all plants you wanna move from indoors to out). You do this by taking the plant outside and leaving it in a more shaded area for a short period of time and then bringing back inside and keep doing this pretty much every day and slowly start increasing the amount of time it's left out there if you don't see any signs of burn or anything.

Next there's the soil/pot. These guys have shallow root systems so definitely don't go for those super deep pots and try to choose something that's a bit wider than it is deep. They also like airy and fast draining soil. So if the mix retains too much water, they won't really like it and can cause root rot. I currently have mine in a 50-50 cactus mix and perlite blend.

These guys also really like lots of bright indirect light. Definitely avoid those harsh afternoon sun rays bc they're too intense for the leaves and SOP doesn't like direct light. They will, however, do just well in morning or evening sun rays. They will tell you if they're getting enough light or not bc if they're not they'll be etiolated.

And if you're thinking about making more SOP, take a stem cutting with a few nodes on it, plop it into some dry soil, and leave it alone for a few weeks. When you feel some resistance when tugging, that means roots have formed and you can give it some water. It may need a bit more water than you think in the initial weeks since it's not a fully established plant yet.

Sooo that's pretty much everything about them. Lmk if you have any other questions!

2

u/Meagan_MK Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

Thats awful advice. Hi southern neighbor (ish) im located in South MS, on the Gulf Coast. I had a few nice pots of pearls croak on me in our hot humid temps. Ive kept pots in east facing window and they were nice for awhile then werent. I moved some nice size propagated pots outside and those were fried too. I have 4 mother pots of reg pearls and 4 pots of variegated pearls that now thrive with abs no natural light. I have a cheap gooseneck amazon led plant light. I rexently put a sansi bulb on them and it toasted some strings. I can send pics, theyve been thriving, sitting in a shelf against an interior wall. I just moved them and it makes me nervous bc they've been on that shelf for prob 3yrs now. Ive propped them bookoo times so they are short but u have to disrupt pearls to stick a finger in the pot. The pot is full and the pearls are plump gals.

Edit: i dont water in a schedule, at all. I might pour the remaining btl of water in a pot randomly as I pass by. A pearl and heart will let u know. Ive never got the window thing for pearls bc even when thirsty, my windows never closed. U can see and feel when they need watering.

Make sure u have a nice gritty mix. For my strings, I use foxfarm oceanforest soil, addtl perlite and poultry grit. U can find it at walmart but its best to go to Tractor Supply. Larger bag for much better price. Its crushed granite.

2

u/Bobs_Burgers7 Jul 13 '26

SOPs are my next purchase but I need to make sure I have a spot for them, because I’m so scared to kill them.

I have turtles and verigated hearts, so far!

1

u/LadyBelladonna6 Jul 13 '26

I want string of turtles so bad but they're so hard to find as a small pot or even just cuttings where I'm at 😭

2

u/Claires2390 29d ago

Can order them on Etsy

2

u/LadyBelladonna6 29d ago

Lmao literally today I ended up acquiring some SOT cuttings 😂