How to Rejuvenate a String of Pearls Plant

My String of Pearls plant, or Senecio rowleyanus, took a bit of a nosedive. Alright, truth be told, it’s a shadow of its former self. Fortunately it’s on the road to recovery and because it grows fairly fast, it should be looking all plump, sassy and filled out by next Spring. Read on to find out what happened and how I’m rejuvenating it.

looking into a beautiful Southern California garden with a gravel hardscape & bright blue patio set

This is the entry into my front garden. The aforementioned succulent grows in a pot on a patio at the end of the pathway.

The String Of Pearls was growing along happily as can be last year and I had to routinely prune its long trails up off the patio. You can see its glory days in this post here. Then, late last Fall, my neighbor cut down another large pine tree that filtered out some of the strong afternoon sun that streamed into the garden.

Fast forward, we had a very dry and very warm Winter followed by a copy cat Spring. This, along with my “neglect by habit”, caused the String Of Pearls to head south. Dried pearls are nowhere near as purdy as those fresh green ones.

4' trails of string of pearls succulent trailing over a large pot — *Here are my pearls cascading over & down the pot last Spring. I had to prune them up off the patio every 2 months in the growing season.*

a large ceramic pot with sparse stems of string of pearls trailing over it — *Here they are this October, boo hoo. A mere wisp of their former selves. You can see more of them in the video below.*

What I mean when I said “neglect by habit” is that I don’t water my succulents in the Winter (except for those on my covered porch). The days get shorter, the weather cools and the rains come so there’s need.

Plus, even plants in a temperate climate like Santa Barbara need to go through a period of rest when they’re not actively growing. But, our California drought has taken its toll, even on some of the succulents.

No time for crying. I took action. First, I cut out all the strands with the dried pearls except for one.

I took as many cuttings from this plant as I could from the strands that were growing on the ground or had branched off the main strand. I also took a cutting from a plant in another pot which you’ll see a few pics down.

a hand holds an unhealthy string of pearls stem & a healthy string of pearls stem — *I’ve cut the dried String Of Pearls out but left 1 strand so I could show you how different it looks.*

short & scraggly stems of string of pearls growing out of a pot — *Here are some of cuttings with those nice, plump pearls rooting in as you read this.*

As the icing on the cake to celebrate the onset of my plant’s recovery, I added and top dressed with my favorite amendment: worm castings. These are great for succulents because work slowly and last a long time.

Read why I think worm castings are the cat’s meow here.

a broken blue pot sits in a garden with succulents growing out of it — You can see the String Of Pearls peeking out from underneath my Aeonium Suncup. It’s very happy in the crack of this broken pot. I cut a couple of the strings which were trailing onto the ground & had rooted to use as cuttings to plant in the other pot.

close up view of string of pearls stems growing out of a pot — *These pearls are very happy underneath the cover of the Aeonium. Partial sun, protected from hot, direct rays, is best for String Of Pearls. See how nice & succulent they are?*

There you have it, plain and simple, even a well-seasoned plant person like myself can run into “horticultural issues” every now and then. I just wanted to share this in case something similar happens to you.

Fortunately, succulents are easy as can be to propagate by cuttings so I’ll do a video next Spring to show you how they’ve progressed. Phew … I’ve redeemed my green thumb in stellar standing!

4" pots of string of pearls succulents on a nursery bench — *This is what my String Of Pearls looked like in the greenhouse when I bought it as a little 4″ young’un.*

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About the Author
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Nell Foster

Nell, the founder of Joy Us garden, was born into a gardening family and grew up in Connecticut’s countryside. After living in Boston, New York, San Francisco, & Santa Barbara, she now calls the Arizona desert home. She studied horticulture & garden design, working in the field all her life. Nell is a gardener, designer, blogger, Youtube creator, & author. She’s been gardening for a very long time & wants to share what she’s learned with you.

www.joyusgarden.com/about/

36 Comments

Nell, I have bought at least 3 pots of pearls and baby toes and I can’t for the life of me keep them alive. I don’t know where to put them or how much to water them. I’ve tried everything. I just bought a 3 in 1 meter to see if this helps with sun and water. I live in southeast GA. I’ve tried to sunniest window, I’ve tried the unsunniest, I’ve tried a coffee table with windows that get light but not a ton….but they still die. They start to shrivel, then turn dark, then just flat out die. I keep all my succulents inside because I’ve tried putting them outside and they don’t seem to like the weather.

Hi Dana – Indoors succulents like a lot of light bur no prolonged hot, direct sun. If they are turning dark, sounds like they’re too wet. The soil they’re planted in might be a heavier, richer soil than they’d like. In the winter I water my succulents every 3-5 weeks. Hope that helps, Nell

Hi! Lovely post!

I just got a plant and I’m worried that i had over watered it and it’s dying.

Some “stems” connecting the pearls are black and shriveled.

I’m worried that they’ll all die.

What can I do now?

I keep killing my SOP! They are in a southern facing window. It has well draining soil. They all shrivel up and then die! Any suggestions?

Hi Ann – You’re either watering it too much or too little. I don’t know how often you’re watering it. You want to water the plant thoroughly, let all the water drain out (you don’t want it to sit in water) & not water again until the soil is dry. In these winter months, that will be every 3-6 weeks. Nell

HELP! I just noticed my beautiful SOP are dying. I’d like to save what I can. Just cut and repot? Should I use anything other than just good ol cactus soil? I picked this plant up about 2-3 weeks ago at an amazing nursery and have not watered it but it’s still wet and clearly rotting.

Hi Taylor – Succulents, & other houseplants, need less water in the winter. Yes, you can cut them off & repot. Either plant right away or let them heal off for a day or 2. Use succulent & cactus mix. Nell

Hi Adeline – Sometimes you can’t save a succulent which has been over watered. You might need to transplant it into fresh mix. Let it dry & ease up on the watering in the future. Nell

Hi Nell,

Thanks for this post, I found it very useful. I live in a tropical island with plenty of sunlight year round (30 degrees and above), and my balcony garden faces the western side, so my plants tend to dry out in the afternoon sun. I keep my SOP inside, near a bright frosted window. It was growing beautifully but is now having some dried strings. Any idea how I can revive them?

Aisha

Hi Aisha – You’re welcome. Once the strings start to dry, there’s not much you can do about it. If there’s any green left on the strings, you can cut it off & propagate it. I’ve found that SOPs needs watering more frequently than other succulents because of those thin stems. I cut mine back selectively to rejuvenate it. Nell

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