The string of hearts is a great way to show the one you love how much they mean to you. After all, they do have your heart on a string don’t they? Or perhaps you just need the right plant to tell the universe, “I’m ready for love!” Either way, you will surely enjoy this houseplant. Just like a slow burn at the start of a long lasting relationship, these trailing vines are slow growers but worth the wait. Patience in any relationship is the key to success. It’s also likely to provide great reward when your plant gets long enough to propagate! Anyone else hearing the famous nursery rhyme, “first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in a baby carriage,” or is it just me? Well like plenty of newlyweds don’t be nervous when you see a small round ball growing on the vines of your string of hearts. Those are delightfully referred to as pearls! So really a string of hearts can eventually double as the gift of pearls for your loved one. Now that is pretty sweet. OK how about we get away from these corny analogies and onto some plant care.
These beautiful houseplants are great for bright locations that are out of direct sunlight. Too little light will prove insufficient for healthy plant growth while direct sunlight will burn the leaves. They are an easy-care plant overall. They want to dry out completely between waterings which is nice for the forgetful waterer. If you are doing everything right you will be rewared with flowers!
As mentioned earlier they grow little tubers (shown in the picture below) that look menacing but in fact are not. You can wrap the vines back up into the pot and place these tubers on top of the soil and they will begin to root out in time, making your pot fuller and fuller. If you like to propagate your plants and enjoy a good experiment you can try both methods of propagation at the same start time and let the race begin! One method would be to take a cutting of a vine with a tuber and place it in its own small pot with the tuber nested into but still on top of the soil and wait for it to root. You may need to pin down some of the vine after you have swirled it around the tuber in a circular fashion on top of the soil. As for the other method, simply take a cutting and cut end into a vessel with filtered or distilled water. Then wait for roots to appear! Once you have a good amount of root growth you can plant the new prop in some soil and voila you have a new plant!
