String of Plants: 14 Prettiest Hanging Plants For Your Home
Many plant lovers love the appearance of string plants because they grow in a unique way to other plants. Instead of growing straight up, their stems grow long and trail down with leaves growing at regular intervals.
I love my trailing plants and always want to add more to my collection, so I’ve been researching these beautiful plants and their many varieties for a few months. Today, I’m going to introduce you to 14 fantastic string succulents to adorn your home with.
1. String of Hearts
Ceropegia woodii is a popular succulent because its gorgeous little leaves grow in pairs along the stem. They are deep green with white veining and a distinctive heart shape. There is also a variegated version with white patches across the surface. The underside is a pale purple shade, so this plant is stunning from every angle.
I got my String of Hearts from a generous friend. All she did was make a short cutting from her existing plant and put it into a little container of water. I took it home, put it in a bright spot with indirect sunlight, and let the roots grow. Then I popped it in some soil, and it carried on growing happily. It’s that simple to propagate!
2. String of Pearls
Also known as String of Beads, Curio rowleyanus is another popular string plant on my wishlist. I think it should be called a String of Peas because the round leaves look, in appearance and texture, exactly like a bunch of fresh peas. There is also a rarer, variegated version of this string plant if you manage to find one.
Houseplant enthusiasts seem to have concluded that String of Pearls is one of the easiest string plants to grow. If you are a beginner, this is a great one to try. The reason it’s so easy is they only require watering once a week and a spot with bright, indirect sunlight.
3. String of Turtles
Peperomia prostrata is often confused with a String of Hearts because of how similar the leaves are with their deep green hue and white veining. But the String of Turtles has round leaves that resemble a turtle’s shell rather than a heart shape. Luckily, these plants are commonly found in most countries as houseplants, so you should be able to get one if you’ve just fallen in love.
These plants love humidity, so I recommend investing in a mister if you get your hands on one of these beauties.
4. String of Dolphins
Senecio peregrinus is one of my favorite string plants because of how sweet the shape is! The curved cylindrical leaves taper at the ends and have two little ‘fins’ at the base, making them look exactly like a pod of dolphins leaping from your pot.
I especially love when the strings get really long, and there’s a graduation from big dolphins to baby ones at the end.
Like many string plants, these plants are super low maintenance and only require watering once a week and a little indirect sunlight.
5. String of Bananas
Senecio radicans often get confused with a String of Dolphins because of their shape. But without the ‘fins,’ these leaves look more like bananas than dolphins! If you’re growing them from a cutting, these plants can grow quite sparse, which is the case with many trailing plants. I remedy this by taking cuttings of my existing strings and propagating them by planting them straight into the soil.
These succulents might even flower with beautiful white and pink blooms if you get the conditions right.
6. String of Buttons
Crassula perforata is different from the other string plants in this list. These plants have triangle-shaped leaves spiral around the stem, look like stacked on top of one another. They grow tall like wobbly towers beside one another until their weight gets too much, and they begin to trail. You may have to buy a more mature plant or put some time into growing one so it trails because it can take a while.
It’s worth mentioning that this plant is toxic to pets and humans, so be careful when handling them.
7. String of Tears
Curio citriformis are delicate hanging plants native to South Africa. They often get confused with String of Pearls, but their round leaves are tapered on one end to create that distinctive teardrop shape.
If you get a juvenile plant, it will look like a pot full of strangely shaped peas until they branch out and trail. I love watching that process happen.
The best place to grow these plants is on a sunny windowsill to get plenty of sun for a few hours daily.
8. String of Watermelons
Senecio Herreanus is a novelty-looking plant native to Namibia. These unique plants set themselves apart because their leaves look like tiny watermelons! The skin is deep green with a hint of red and plenty of white veining, which is reminiscent of the inspiration fruit.
These plants may look edible, but they are toxic to pets and humans, so be mindful of where you place them in your house.
9. String of Frogs
Most plant people I meet are also frog people, so this wonderful ficus pumila quercifolia is the best of both worlds!
This sweet little plant has oak-like leaves which resemble little frogs at this scale and shade of green. These plants both trail and creep, so why not experiment by trailing them along your wall with hooks or letting them grow along your bookshelf? Using plants in interior design is one of my favorite tricks (and it helps me make more excuses to buy plants!).
10. String of Nickels
Also known as a String of Coins, Dischidia Nummularia is a string plant that grows beautifully thick and dense. The leaves are almost perfectly round and slightly thicker than a regular leaf, which hints at its status as a succulent.
These plants love the bright morning sun with some shade in the afternoon. I recommend hanging a basket of String of Nickels in an east-facing window for it to grow its best.
11. String of Rubies
Looking at a picture of String of Rubies, you can see where Othonna Capensis got its name. The oval, juicy leaves range from green with a red base to fully red like a red wine grape! If you polish off the white residue on the outside of the leaves, they will shine like rubies, but they look just as beautiful in their natural form.
If you want your String of Rubies to have intense color, make sure to give it a lot of bright indirect light. It will also benefit from some hours of direct sunlight in the morning. With more daylight, it will produce a deeper purple reddish color.
I love seeing this variety displayed with regular green plants as a nice contrasting color to make your plant collection look more dynamic. They grow fast and bloom with daisy-like flowers all year round.
12. String of Arrows
String of Arrows (also known as a String of Spades) is from the same species as String of Hearts, Ceropegia Woodii. It’s obvious why they get confused when you see them side by side. The leaves have the same deep green shade with white veining, but the String of Arrows leaves have more elongated, pointed ends compared to the rounded Hearts.
Like String of Hearts, these string plants are easy to care for and only require watering once a week.
13. String of Needles
This crazy tangle of a plant is a Ceropegia linearis, or a String of Needles, so named because of their very thin needle-like leaves. The leaves can range from entirely green to green with tinges of deep purples.
Since the leaves are so delicate and spread apart, this plant can look scruffy. But when it gets really long, it creates a beautiful cascading tangle hanging in a window.
String of Needles is also easy to take care of and prefers the ‘drench and drought’ method of watering, which involves letting the soil dry out completely before watering again.
14. String of Fishhooks
The String of Fishhooks is the same species as another hanging plant on our list. This time, you guessed it, it’s the String of Bananas, Senecio radicans. The leaves are very similar with their cylindrical shape and tapered ends. Still, the Fishhooks curl upwards more dramatically into the hook shape. The color is also a bluish white rather than vibrant green.
These plants make great gifts for beginners because they only require weekly watering and grow fast, which is gratifying to watch.
Conclusion
Well, now that you are fully versed in string plants and all their varieties, do you love them as much as I do? I certainly hope so. Whether you want the classic String of Pearls or the more unusual String of Watermelon, there is a string plant out there for you!
