String Of Pearls: This Fascinating Beauty Makes A Great Houseplant

I love, love these succulents! I grow String Of Pearls houseplants in my Santa Barbara garden, but did you know that this fascinating succulent makes a great houseplant? They’re easy to care for in the garden as well as in the home. They do so well as a houseplant because tolerate and thrive in the dry air in our indoor spaces.

Here’s what you need to know to keep your String of Pearls houseplant happy, healthy and growing strong.

I’ve done a video on how to plant them – that info starts around the 50 second mark.

Light:

This is first out of the gate because it’s very important when growing succulents indoors. The light needs to be as bright as can be. It can be direct light just as long as it’s not for all day. Also, you don’t want your String Of Pearls to be up against hot glass.

Water:

Another important point – easy does it. This plant does not like to be wet so water when the top half of the soil is dry. This may be hard to determine because the pearls can completely cover the pot & the soil. A general rule is to water every 10 to 14 days in summer & every 3-4 weeks in the winter. This of course will vary depending on the temperature of your home.

Temperature:

Speaking of which, they like it warm in the summer & cooler in the winter – just like most plants. My 3 String Of Pearls plants grow outside so they naturally get these temperature changes.

Fertilizer:

Once in the spring is fine. I use worm castings but you could use a balanced houseplant fertilizer. And, never feed them in the winter because they’re resting & it’s sleepy time for their roots.

Pruning

Not much is needed but you may have to do it to rejuvenate the plant or to control the length. If your String Of Pearls gets too leggy, then cut them off to stimulate growth at the top. You can replant the strings. I prune mine because they hit the ground. Yours will most likely grow much slower indoors.

Propagation

You do it by planting the strings or the pearls, which are the leaves. I’ve found that the pearls take longer to root than the strings do. The strings that I planted in the video took about 2 weeks to root in.

Pests

Mine have been fine outdoors but indoors I imagine they would be subject to mealy bugs, just like all succulents. You can mix up a homemade natural spray of 1 part rubbing alcohol, 8 parts water & a few drops of dishwashing soap. Spray this at 7-day intervals for 1-4 weeks, depending on how bad the infestation is.

Flowers

They are white and very small. In other words, infrequent & insignificant.

Here’s a head’s up – they’re toxic (like most other houseplants) so keep them out of the way of babies, small children & pets. Speaking of pets, my kitty Oscar loves to chew on plants but has no interest in String of Pearls. He likes his foliage crunchy, not soft and mushy!

Strings Of Pearls (Senecio rowleyanus for those of you who like to know the botanic names) is also called String Of Beads or Bead Plant. Fortunately for you and me, they’re a breeze to take care of. One thing for sure, everyone who see yours will want one too!

You can get a String Of Pearls houseplant for your very own HERE.

Happy gardening,

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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/

17 Comments

My “pearls” bloomed – and, though the little blossoms aren’t much to look at (kind of like a tiny white “bottle brush”) they do have a pleasant clove-like fragrance. I probably would never have noticed, but mine are planted in a succulent “wall garden”. And when caring for the plants – I smelled them, even before I saw the flowers. When I had them many years ago (when we lived in the north) as a houseplant – they did well but never bloomed. Seeing and smelling them was a nice surprise!

Hi Lilla – Yes, the flowers are very small & almost look like poofs of pollen. 2 of mine have flowered but I’ve never smelled them so that’s interesting to know. I planted Sansevierias in my garden & the 1st time they flowered was delighted with the citrusy sweet pungent smell. Yes, so nice to have a surprise like that! Nell

Hi Nell,

Thank-you for all your tips! I was wondering do you plant the string of pearls in a special cacti soil? What kind of soil do you recommend?

Thanks.

~Jennifer

You’re welcome Jennifer. I always plant my succulents in succulent & cactus mix because it is very light & drains well. It also helps you to keep from overwatering them! There are different brands on the market so I’m not sure what’s available in your neck of the woods. Nell

Nell, I really enjoy reading your tips and tricks. Interestingly enough, I’ve had a string of pearls survive outdoors in zone 8b here in north Florida. I would think the humidity of summer and frost of winter would do it in, but mine is thriving. For the risk takers among us that want to give this one a try in their yard, I’m guessing a string of pearls would survive outdoors in zones 8 and above. It really is a beauty cascading over a barrel planter wall. Thanks again for sharing!

Hi Kyle – We get down into the high 30’s low 40’s at the peak of winter here in Santa Barbara & my succulents all do fine outdoors. You never know what plants are going to adapt & adjust until you try. I just said that very thing in the post about Weeping Pussy Willow tree care – my client’s is doing just fine outside the recommended growing zones. I love String Of Pearls. Thanks for sharing how yours is doing. Happy gardening! Nell

hi, you didn’t explain about the amount of light that this flower needs inside. would you talk about it too?I’m really worried about my flower!it’s in the shade and I have no other place to put it

Hi Masha – Indoors, I’ve found it needs high light to do the best. High light – This is a west or south exposure with at least 5 hours of sun coming in per day. But, keep it out of the window because strong, direct sunlight will burn it. At least 5-10 away. Nell

Great post, I’m thinking of getting a string of pearls indoors to dangle from a wall-mounted planter.

The bit you mentioned about making a homemade spray to ward off pests sounds great. Is this mixture something I could use for all of my indoor plants, or does it only work with certain types?

The indoor plants I have are ficus lyrata, ficus elastica, kentia palms, croton, and some succulents, if that makes a difference.

Thanks

Hi T – It’ll work on all the plants you’ve mentioned. With a homemade spray, be sure to use it every 7-10 days for 3-4 weeks. By the way, plants with fuzzy leaves (like African Violets) are sensitive to many sprays. Nell

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