Everyone like green plants. As for me, String of Hearts are the best true love in my life. A vine with heart-shaped leaves cascades down it, creating a dynamic length that can serve as a focal point in your house.
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History & Culture of String of Hearts
The plant’s future as a houseplant in numerous homes, conservatories, and offices around the world began with the first string of hearts recognized by the late 1800s. Yes, it is obvious why. The patterns that the string of hearts provides in gray on the green are both intriguing and lovely.
In cooler climates, this plant is typically grown indoors, while in warmer ones, it is typically grown outdoors. Although a string of hearts may have disappeared from public consciousness in the late 1900s, it did make a significant comeback with the emergence of online plant blogs and photo collectives.
For its aesthetic appeal and trailing appeal, a string of hearts is prized today. It’s a plant that can be grown in a tabletop pot for some extra decoration or in a hanging basket for a dramatic effect. The same factors have made this plant a hot topic in contemporary interior design.
Here are several ways for growing a String of Hearts plant, a small action can make a big success.
When to: Propagate String of hearts
Any of these techniques work best in the early spring or summer for propagating string of hearts.
This is due to the fact that they will root and produce new starts much more quickly during their active growth period, which is during the warmer months. Summer is the best season to propagate.
How to: Propagate Cuttings in Water
My string plant was propagated frequently using this technique. It’s a fairly easy process, and I’ve had good luck using it. It’s also a great method if you want to maintain the length of your SOH while adding more fullness.
- Set up your propagation station
If you’re an experienced propagation specialist, you can just do it like mine. If not, just a few glasses of water is enough. You decide whether something is clear or not. I like to have my clear so I can watch the roots spread.
- Take your cuttings
Cut a few strings of hearts from the existing plant using your clean shears. You should only cut a few pieces of your plants. Before cutting, check it to see if they’re not all tangled. To give you a few options for exposing the nodes, I prefer to make the cuttings at least 2 to 3 inches long. It can make the String of Hearts tidier.
- Prune the hearts, exposed the nodes, and place cuttings in water
You should remove the heart leaves from the portion of the plant that will be submerged in water. This will make those two hearts’ attachment nodes visible. After that, the roots will start to emerge from this node, which will now be submerged in water. Keeping the hearts become tidy and clean.
- Place in bright light and monitor
The best light for your string of hearts is probably light that comes from the west side. This area is not only warm, but it also receives a lot of bright indirect light. Finally, the String of hearts must be flourished.
- Monitor growth and change the water
Every week or whenever the water in your propagation station gets dirty, try to change the water immediately. In order to keep the nodes submerged in water, you should top off your water supply. The node will dry out and die if it is exposed to air. You ought to observe roots starting to grow after a few weeks. Before putting the roots in my soil mixture, we need to wait until they are at least 2 inches long.
How to: Propagate Using Aerial Tubers
Some small, rounded growths may start to form on older String of Heart plants. These bulbils, also referred to as aerial tubers can be used to spread new growth. If your String of Hearts has tubers, try this method of propagation as it is a fairly successful one.
- Find the largest tuber
From the base of the heart-shaped leaves, some tubers should protrude throughout the vines. Look for the biggest one in your plant.
When it comes to spreading a tuber, you have two options: leave the tuber attached to the vine or make an effort to get it off. Or leave a little of the plant on the tuber if you remove it.
- Press your tuber into your soil mix
The tuber shouldn’t be covered entirely in soil. Simply place it on top of the soil and press down until only the top half of the tuber is visible and the bottom half is buried in the soil. If you want to leave the tuber on the vine, you can simply lay it on the soil in a second pot next to the first plant.
- Keep the soil damp
The soil should always be damp to encourage growth, but you can’t water it too much. After a few weeks, the tuber should start to form roots, and fresh vines should start to emerge from the top. To keep the soil moist, spritz it with water from a spray bottle each day.
The tuber can also be successfully propagated in water, and it can be simply placed in a propagation glass with water, much like the first method of propagating cuttings in water.
How to: Propagate in Soil
Cuttings could also be planted directly into your soil mixture instead of first going through the watering process as a means of propagation. This approach hasn’t worked as well for me as I’d hoped because these guys don’t have a good survival rate when they’re really young. That is why I prefer to wait until they have a strong root system before putting them in soil.
Make a few cuttings that are at least 2-3 inches long and cut the hearts to expose the nodes in a manner similar to the above method. To improve the likelihood that they will take root in the ground, it is wise to create two nodes.
1. Place in soil
The exposed nodes should be the only ones planted in the soil; the remaining string should hang over the pot. On top of the soil, you can also bury the remaining string. This will contribute to a fuller appearance. I mix the soil with about 50% potting mix and 45% cactus mix, plus perlite and orchid bark for drainage.
To aid in promoting the growth of the roots, you could also soak the nodes in a hormone that encourages rooting.
2. Water your soil
The soil in your pot shouldn’t ever become completely dry. To aid in fostering the desired rooting, it should always remain slightly damp. The soil should be able to retain enough moisture with a good misting once a day or so.
I typically won’t plant these cuttings back to the mother plant because they have different watering requirements than cuttings and need moister soil to grow. Usually, I’ll take a brand-new pot and plant the cuttings there.
Every plant is needed to be taken care of it. When we always try our best to do it, not only can practice our operational activities， but also can cultivate our taste, make our hearts become more and more pure and clean, and deeply love the plants gradually.