This guy is the cutting donor, and usually hangs in the kitchen window – we ventured to the sunroom for the photoshoot.
This project falls into the category of “let’s just try it and see”. Most of my propagation efforts involve a modicum of effort and some “why not”, and in most cases, that’s good enough. So I’m only encouraging myself at this point. Anyhow, on to the good stuff…
We have a beautiful String of Hearts (Ceropegia woodii), sometimes also known as chain of hearts, hanging in a north window above our kitchen sink. It absolutely loves this spot. However, trying to do dishes with vine leaves trailing into the sink makes the job harder than it should be. So as not to discourage the main dish-doer in the household (not myself), I need to trim this exuberant specimen on the regular.
Test Propagation
I gave Mr. String of Hearts his first haircut in the mad rush of a kitchen cleanup (decidedly not in gardening mode), but didn’t want to just toss the trimmings. So I filled a glass with tap water and stuck a few strands in it. About 2 weeks later, teensy roots appeared on one of the submerged nodes.
After about 2 more weeks – because I’m lazy and doing kitchen things every time I looked at them – I removed the sprouting vines, dropped them in a small mason jar filled with potting soil and placed them back on the window sill. And they are still alive! And growing!
Second Round Propagation
Emboldened by my first success, I jammed an entire fistful of trimmings from the second prune-job into a lowball glass full of water. This brute force effort seemed work just as well, with rootlets sprouting from a good portion of the vines. I suppose I could have gotten better results with more preparation (rooting hormone? grow lights?). But I’m not too worried about it – given the way this plant grows, I think we’ll soon have String of Hearts coming out of our ears.
How to Propagate String of Hearts – Step by Step
This how-to shows a combo of photos from both the test and second-round propagation. My ultimate goal is to have several specimens to hang in the sunroom, which is now (sadly) devoid of plants. I plan to update this post with photos of (hopefully) flourishing String-of-Heart babies in the coming months.
Step 1: Place trimmings in water
Ideally during the growing season, cut a few (or many) vines and stick them in some water. Place this in a bright, but not too hot, window sill.
Make sure you have at least one node submerged. This is where the roots will appear. Wait about 3 weeks, or until you see at least 1/4″ of root length.
Step 2: Prepare rooted cuttings
Rootlets! This is about the length I allowed the roots to grow before potting up the cuttings. I hadn’t cut the leaves off before submerging this one in water, and it worked out ok.
Trim off the leaves if there are any. Optionally, take a photo of your work on a grimy, 60-year old potting table surface that is impossible to clean.
Step 3: Plant cuttings
Fill an indoor pot with damp, regular potting soil and place the cuttings. If you tend to over-water, you might use a cactus mix instead. I keep my plants thirsty, so regular potting soil works for me.
I hollowed out individual holes with a pencil – this way I can more easily pull them apart later. If you want one big plant, I imagine you could place all the cuttings together in a single clump.
Place the rooted cutting in the hole deep enough for it to be secured when you fill the hole back in, at least an inch and a half. Optionally, take a terrible photo with your phone because you let both nice-camera batteries run out of juice. Fill the hole in and tamp lightly.
All done! I took an obligatory outdoor pot-in-hand photo because the sunlight was nice thanks to regional wildfires that filled the atmosphere with smoke…yay?
Step 4: Let them grow!
Place the potted cuttings on a bright – but not hot – window sill.
You may get some dieback of the ends – just clip those off. If any cuttings die back all the way, pull and discard them to prevent mold growth.
This is apparently not the only way to propagate this easy-care plant – I’ve read about using the tubers that develop on the vine but I have yet to see any. And no seeds came from the one lonely flower our plant produced this summer. Until then, the rooting method seems easy! Stay tuned for updates on how the cuttings are doing. Learn a little more about String of Hearts here.
Update: Spring 2019
I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 years since my original post, wow. Anyhoo, I’ve had decent success with the propagation and thanks to a suggestion from a lovely commenter, I’m sharing some photos! There have been some dramatic twists and turns (see photo captions below for details), but I’ve ultimately ended up with 3 separate potted plants. I honestly think I could have many more now if I had put in the effort, but my attention seems to wander a bit with so many plant varieties out there to buy and try. I hope your propagations are doing at least as well (or better) than mine!
My most successful propagation! This one is inside on a south-facing window. I’ve trimmed it at least once, maybe twice since potting.
I had the questionable idea to put my original string of hearts (and one propagation) into the sunroom right before winter. Well, it’s a bit chilly in there and you can see how wimpy these look compared to my inside specimen. The temps in this room can dip to the mid 50s or even lower (I don’t go in there to check it at 2am!).
Also, the hanging planter string broke at one point, spilling its contents all over the counter, which I didn’t find and fix for probably a week. So these guys are hanging in there despite the abuse, and in fact I’m trying a new propagation method where I simply bury the vine ends under soil in another planter. I’ll let you know how that works! (Hopefully in less than 2 years).
Update: Spring 2023
WELL happy post-pandemic! My original string of hearts propagation is still going strong – in fact I should probably repot it. In fact, I should have repot it two years ago. What’s interesting are the 2 gigantic tubers that have formed at the base and seem to be rising out of the soil surface. I will try to remember to photograph these tubers when I actually get around to repotting. As for the south-facing window planter, it’s still going strong! A note on the first photo: In 2021 I emergency-rescued some sempervirens (Hens and Chicks) that the local squirrels had ruthlessly dug up and stuck in with the string of hearts, so now they are companions!
Holy tuber! These things are huge. BTW, the strings are a bit unimpressive because I trimmed them back for spring. They have sprouted new leaves and are ready to go for the season.
Here’s the south-facing window planter, recently trimmed for spring and putting on new growth.
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Thanks for the information regarding propagation of chain of hearts, which came from your dilligent exploring. Love my plant and looking forward to new from old. Maxine.
You’re welcome Maxine! Good luck with you propagation!
I’ve JUST received my first string of hearts and I can already tell that this is going to be one I want to give to friends. Thank you for this post – especially the photos. Most helpful!
Hi Erin! Congrats on your new string of hearts! Great idea to propagate this plant for friends – my baby string of hearts have been growing (a little) even throughout the winter, so I think they will be good candidates for sharing!
Hi Lorie, i recently bought a variegated string of hearts . You mentioned that we should try to propagate it when its season….whats the best season to do it then? Thank you.
Hi Pinky, great question – for my location I think spring and early summer (March to June) would be the best time, when the string of hearts is actively growing.
I have a chain of hearts that belonged to my grandmother’s then my mother and now me. It’s at least 60 yrs old. I find the best way to propagate is to pick up any leaves that fall off and just stick them in the potting mix. Works for me!
Wow, 60 years old – that’s amazing! Sounds like a green thumb runs in your family! I’m going to try your method with my next set of cuttings. Anything that makes plant propagation more efficient is a bonus in my book!
May you please further explain how you do that from the leaves?
I do not have a tree of chain of hearts but rather few strings randomly distributed over the garden that just came out of nowhere and i love how they are looking n really wish i could propagate some at home, yet afraid to cut a lot off the few strings available n i lose both
Great post Lorie, thanks!
Sticking cuttings in water isn’t the most obvious method of propagation for succulents (as far as I know), so it’s good to be able to see what you did and how well it worked. I am doing the same for some long strands that I had to sever from their tubers (gone suddenly soft). Keeping my fingers crossed…
I also use fallen leaves to the same end, but I don’t dare stick them in potting mix – I find that keeping them in a mix of perlite and vermiculite is best.
Thank you Barb! Good luck with your cuttings in water! I recently propagated a second batch of trimmings that way and transplanted them into a pot just last week. So far they seem happy!
So fun to read; love the “optional” self-deprecating comments. I’m going to subscribe! — Sylvia in N. Calif.
Thank you Sylvia!
Hi Lorie,
I have a beautiful very long chain of hearts, recently a few of the chains leaves have gone a bit wrinkly but others are perfect!
Could u please help me with what is going on & how to fix this problem? Thankyou!
Hi Susan, this has happened to me when the soil gets either too damp or too dry. Sometimes the string of hearts strands will “climb out” of the soil and dry out because they basically uprooted themselves. If you see anything like that, I’d top dress the plant with more moist soil. If that’s not the problem then my next troubleshooting step would be try and repot the plant. When you pull the plant out, look to see if any of the soil is overly wet or overly dry. You can then repot with fresh soil and adjust your watering accordingly. Thanks for commenting and let me know if this helps!
I love this! Not so long ago I knocked my string of hearts ( that were planted in a large teacup) flying there was bits of plant and soil everywhere.
The plant was unharmed and is growing nicely again.
At the weekend I got another string of hearts that is very small and also a string of pearls to plant together to hang from a shelf. Today I have potted them up so I’m hoping for a nice display come summertime.
I will definitely be trying your cutting technique, I’m so glad I saw your page.
Thankyou.
Thanks for your comment, Ellen! I bought a string of pearls myself back in Autumn. It’s hanging in there (no pun intended) but clearly doesn’t love the winter weather. Your idea of planting a string of pearls together with a string of hearts is a great idea – I’m hoping mine bounces back in spring so I can divide and plant it with a string of hearts like you did. I’d love to hear how your combo looks come summertime!
Hello, do you have an updated post for the propagated String of Hearts? This post made me laugh out, btw . Thank you!
Hoi Bing (first name with both words)
Hi Hoi Bing, great idea to post an update – which I just did, thanks to your suggestion! I’m glad the post made you laugh 🙂 I try to inject some humor into my hobbies, they are much more enjoyable that way!
I’m assuming by taking cuttings from the plant that it will branch out more?.??
I bought my first plant of string of hearts this spring so ?I’m ready to experiment.
Hi Darlene! Great question – yes my ‘donor’ string of hearts started to branch from the point I took cuttings, so I’d recommend snipping the vines somewhat close to the soil or the pot rim so that the new growth looks natural. Good luck with your propagating – let me know how it goes!
thanks for your lovely sharings Lorie 🙂
You’re welcome!
your plants are looking good! I just took a few cuttings from my own string of hearts as it was getting lengthy, hoping now the weather is getting warmer, my cutting will root and grow! 🙂 this post was very helpful, thank you
You’re welcome, Georgia, good luck with the cuttings!
Ohhhh your plants are so pretty! I just rescued a big string of hearts plant today that has alot of stems at the top with leaves but whoever had it previously gave it a serious hair cut, so no hanging strings but seems to be healthy otherwise with some new growth.One thing I noticed is the leaves on my plant are so small compared to yours , would this be a lighting issue? Too much light maybe as the leaves are very close together so maybe it was brought up in direct sun light? I love this plant but would love for the leaves to be alot bigger and just a little more spaced out. Will the leaves continue to grow as the plant matures? any tips or suggestions ?
Hi Stephanie, that’s interesting! My String of Hearts that sits on a west facing window sill has a few vines draping down the interior wall. The leaves on those vines get very little light, and they are pretty large and spaced out. So if yours is doing the opposite, it could be getting too much light. I’d love to know how the growth changes on yours if you change the lighting!
Hi there every one,i have just repotted my string of hearts after it being in the shade house for about ten years in the same pot and same soil,It hung down to the ground and would be at least 3 meters .I have given it a new hanging basket and made about ten new plants from the little bulblets and also the stems that have been popped into fresh soil so here hoping they all grow .Thanks Tina
Wow, 3 meters, that’s impressive! Good luck with the new plants and thanks for sharing!
Hi,
I’m propagating my string of hearts in water but I have noticed that he root is thick and short and its been in the water for nearly 6 months
Hi Katrina, that’s interesting – I wonder if they are getting the right amount of light? Are the vines you are propagating trimmed short? If not I would try that. Since you do have some roots, you might go ahead and try to plant them into some potting soil (kept evenly moist) and see how it goes. Good luck – I’d love to know what works for you!
Hi Lorie, great post! I just got a single string of hearts vine, felt a bit uncomfortable asking for more vines. It’s quite a long vine, I’m wondering if I cut it in a few pieces, leaving a few leaves on each piece and put them all in water, is there a chance they might all root? Thanks in advance! x
Hi Mo, I think there’s a good chance they will root, I’d try it out – keeping a few leaves on each piece like you suggested is important. Good luck!
This was exactly what I was looking for – new to this plant, and learning from more experienced gardeners – I love your sense of humor too! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
I just did a search and found this great string of posts (see what I did there?!) I bought a very, very, very tiny string of hearts plant (in 2”x2” paper planter for SIX ridiculous dollars) that has 3 strings months and months ago. I moved it to a very tiny cup with succulent recommended soil. I likely let it dry out too much weekly due to not watering and the cup probably being too small. I haven’t killed it yet so I am determined. It has been it in a west facing window in CO that gets after noon sun all afternoon. It’s barely growing and the leaves are so so so small – the smallest the size of a newborn baby’s pinkie nail. The largest the size is smaller than your upper front tooth, but there ARE new green leaves at the end of strings so I keep thinking it’s alright but… Last weekend I moved it into a tiny test tube full of water and have kept the stringy roots that like as fragile as a spider’s web in water. While new growth continues at the ends of the stems, all 3 of the stems closest to the center (that’s in water) look like they’re drying up and might just break off soon. When I’d first put the plant in the cup, I was shocked to find that picking it up showed the smallest strings that were the “roots” just sitting on too of the soil. I don’t think they are truly roots. What is happening?
Hi Caroline, it’s hard to say what’s happening without seeing a photo – I’d say if the stems closest to the roots are dried out, it’s only a matter of time before the ends dry out too. I wonder if the ‘roots’ you are seeing aren’t some kind of fungus/mycelium? Sometimes we can overwater plants after noticing we’ve underwatered them, which would promote fungus growth. I’d recommend using a larger pot – your plants will look kind of puny in it to start, but it’s much easier to maintain even moisture levels with a larger container. If the strings have in fact died at the base, (which it sounds like they have) I’d trim the living ends and place them in water to try and spur new root growth. Place them in a bright but not too sunny spot for a while and hopefully you’ll see some root formation soon. Hope this helps – good luck!
Thanks for the tips (loved some of your side comments ). Have been putting it off because I didn’t know where to start. Today is it – sun is shining and I’m ready to give it a go after reading your post! Thank you
You’re welcome! Thanks for your comment and good luck – happy potting!
I often find little pieces of plants (leaves, stems, etc.) that have broken off from the mother plant on the floors in the garden centres and take them home and root them (after asking permission which they always give me). I always say “Try it and see what happens.” Often, if you just have a tiny leaf and put a little rooting hormone on it and stick it in some moist potting soil, they will grow. Nothing like free plants!
Hi Janna, that’s a great idea! I’ll have to pay extra attention to the floor next time I’m at the garden center 🙂 What a great (and economical way) to propagate new plants!
Thanks for the tips! I’m trying to grow one from cuttings I took from my daughter’s plant, so had sentimental reasons for wanting it to be a success. I’m off to the garden now to make some changes!
You’re welcome Jenny – good luck with your new cuttings!
Hi! I have a SOH but it only has a few strings in the pot and they have grown to about 18″ long quite quickly. However, the top of the pot looks empty and I want it to look as full as yours! Can I trim some of the strings, root them and then stick them back into the same pot? And where on the string do I cut it? Thanks in advance!
Hi Kate! Sure, you can stick rooted strings back into the pot! You can trim the the existing vines wherever you like, just past any leaf (the remaining vine will continue to grow, branching at the nearest leaf). I would root only short bits of vine though, not more than 6 inches long, so if your trimmed piece is long I would trim it down further. I think having fewer leaves to support helps the vine root more successfully. Hope this helps, good luck!
Thank you so much for this!
Got some cuttings this week & have put them in some water (fingers crossed )
You’re welcome Maryam, good luck with your propagation!
Instresting read. I have had my string for about a year now and its about 50cm long strings.
My idea is to put them in a 2 meter pipe with holes in it and mount it to my wall so I will have a wall of string hearts to cover the whole wall to the ground. Hope it works.
That sounds really interesting – I bet it will work, and look really cool when it’s all grown in!
Hi! I have just trimmed my chain of hearts over the weekend and threw some trimmings in water and it looks like some rootlets are forming, so that’s exciting!
are your planter pots with thick volume of strings due to repotting these cuttings back into the same pot, or will the plant develop more like this? I have a small plant which has only a few strings and i’d love for it to bulk out a bit to look like yours. Should i use my rooting cuttings to achieve that do you think?
THis has to be the first house plant i haven’t managed to kill so I’m excited about growing more! 🙂
Hi Leah! The few strings you have should multiply and thicken over time but if you wanted to speed up the process you could plant a few more strings into the same pot. Congrats on your string of hearts – happy propagating!
Hi, it’s two years later.. can we get a further update?
Thanks!
Hi Toni’ann, I just cut back my indoor propagation (shown in the 2019 update above) and it’s busting out some fresh new vines! I decided to hijack 2 of the sunroom pots for other plants, so sadly those propagations are no longer with us :). Those particular vines didn’t seem to care for the chilly sunroom atmosphere, so never thrived.
Thank you for this! I’m waiting for my SOH cuttings to arrive via mail and this was just what I needed to find out what to do when they arrive
Do you think I should trim the ends to give it a fresh cut before giving them some root hormone and water to sit in?
Hi Nora, if the cuttings are long (say more than 8 inches) it might be worth a trim. If you do trim them, the growth will branch at the trimmed point. So they might need a cleanup once they get established and healthy looking. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the tips, the stories were entertaining. What is the update of the string of hearts?
Hi Daisy, I currently have 4 pots containing string of hearts in various stages of growth – I haven’t quite kept track of the shuffling but in general, the pots in locations with more light are doing the best!
Hi Lorie,
I purchased short cuttings (2 small variegated SOH and 1 regular SOH) a week ago and have been trying to propagate them. There’s a lot of information online and I’m not sure if I’m doing it right.
First, I put them in water to root. 1 variegated SOH is starting to root fine, but the other one seemed like it was starting to rot at the end, plus the leaves came off when in contact with the water after a few days (leaf was not submerged in water). This one also does not look like it has nodes where the leaves are attached. The regular SOH appears to be doing ok.
Second, I tried putting the seemingly failing variegated SOH in soil and placing soil around the stem/leaves. It was not root and a leaf popped off. I’ve now put it back in water but there are no nodes where the leaves came off.
How do you advise to move forward? I don’t want to lose the cuttings, as it’s quite pricey for what I got and it’s hard to find due to popularity.
Thank you! I look forward to your response. Take care
Hi Sally, sorry the cutting is giving you troubles! The point at which a leaf attaches to the stalk is a node (even if it doesn’t look like much), so that is where the roots will develop. I’d try to have at least 2 nodes submerged in water. I would use water (like you are doing) as opposed to soil since it can be tricky to keep soil at the correct moisture level. Also, you only really need to have 1 or 2 leaves at the end of the cutting to keep it alive, so I’d remove any leaves that are close to or touching the water since they will likely rot. Hope that helps, good luck!
Hi!
Can you propagate the SOH when it has the purple little bloom things still attached? It’s September 30th but Idk when they fall off (Do they fall of eventually? lol). I got my 1st SOH back around the middle of Summer or so. I’m ready to give my now 5ft String Of Hearts a nice cut so I can propagate & fill the top out, then let it grow long again (plus make a cpl of small/cute mixed succulent arrangements for our 3 girls & my mom).
SO I suppose my questions are :
– can I propagate no problem being there are some purple “buds” towards the bottom of my SOH ( + I feel they make those hearts stay small longer/not grow as fast ) vine?
– what should I do with the purple “buds” if anything?
Thank you in Advance!
Kayla
Hi Kayla, the purple flowers (aren’t they cute?) will probably drop off soon, but if you are taking cuttings for propagation I would pinch off the blooms so that the cuttings can put more energy into growing roots. Hope that helps!
Hi Lorie,
I live in North Queensland Australia and a friend recently posted me a box of succulents. They arrived today!
I got your page after I searched for ‘ChainOfHearts’ on my phone.
Thanks for the valued information.
I’ll let you know if I’m successful with propagation.
I love your relaxed, humourous approach to your Indoor Garden. LOVE YOUR COH’s! ~ Patricia ~
.
Hi Patricia, ooh a box of plants is the best kind of mail! Good luck with your propagations and thank you for your kind words!
PS:
Are you located in the USA?
Yes I’m in the US, in the soggy but beautiful northwest near Seattle 🙂 My husband and I had the great fortune to visit Australia last year and loved it – we were in Brisbane and traveled as far north as Agnes Water, which looks to be still quite far from North Queensland. Australia is a big place! Enjoy your summer 🙂
Hi Lore,
thanks for the post.
I was wondering if it is okay to plant them in a pot with no drainage holes below it? Would this be bad for the plant?
Thanks,
Keerthy
Hi Keerthy, thanks for visiting! I have my String of Hearts in pots without drainage holes, but I tend to underwater my plants and I think that’s why they do ok. So I think it’s fine but make sure to water them only when they need it. I always test before watering by sticking my finger into the soil (watering my plants is always a dirty affair haha). If the soil is very dry in my string of hearts I will water it. Hope that helps!
Hi!
I wanted to ask what is the ideal temperature for the cuttings to root?
I am from Pakistan and temp is like 40 to 43 degrees outdoors, should I root them inside?
Thanks
Hello! Yes I think temperatures that high would dry out the cutting before they have a chance to root. I’d try to root them inside in a bright window without direct sunlight. Hope that helps!
I’m trying your method. Let’s see what happens as I’m in the tropics. Thank you!
You’re welcome, good luck! (I’m jealous of your tropical plants, I wish we could grow them here – we can, I guess, but only indoors!)
As somebody whose just turned a corner from killing all plants that came into my care, this is a really helpful guide for a beginner. Thanks so much, I can’t wait to see what happens!
You’re welcome Laura!
Hi Lorie! I’ve just come across your chain of hearts post, and I’m second-guessing myself, as I just don’t know enough! I have a chain of hearts and a variegated chain of hearts. I plan to combine them both in a succulent dish, 7″ across and about 3″ deep, maybe 4″. Is this deep enough to allow the roots and plants to grow well?
Like another sweetie commented, I also love your humor!
Hi B.Belle, hmm I’d say that depends on the rootball size of the plants you are placing in the pot. If it’s fairly tight, then it may get crowded fairly quickly after which the growth may weaken and the vines will get sparse. If the plants are small and there’s lots of room for growth, then it should be ok for a couple years or three (after which I’d divide it – yay, free new plant!). It sounds like a lovely arrangement, I bet string of hearts will look great cascading over a shallow dish like that! Thanks for posting, and hope this helps 🙂