HouseplantsucculentStraightforward

String of hearts

Ceropegia woodii

A trailing succulent with fine strands of small marbled heart-shaped leaves, growing to a couple of metres from a high shelf. Being a succulent rather than a leafy trailer, it wants a bright position and to dry out fully between waterings — the opposite of how a trailing plant is usually treated.

Position: Bright, out of direct sun
Water: low demand
Drainage: Free-draining
Grows to: 10–20 cm × 100–200 cm
Frost: Frost tender
Difficulty: Straightforward

August

Take cuttings

String of hearts’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

Activity	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Take cuttings					May.	June.	July.	August.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light: Full sun, Partial shade
Frost: Frost tender
Grows best at: 18–25 °C
Soil: Sandy, Peat-free compost
Soil pH: 6–7.5
Drainage: Free-draining
Water needs: low
Drought: good tolerance
Waterlogging: poor tolerance
Heat: good tolerance
Wind and exposure: poor tolerance

Where these figures come from

LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: String of hearts — position
Checked 2026-08-13
FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: String of hearts — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: String of hearts — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: String of hearts — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Ceropegia woodii — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: String of hearts — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

Soil	Verdict	Why
Heavy clay	Works, with one condition	String of hearts will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Sandy	Prefers this soil	Sandy suits String of hearts as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Chalky and alkaline	Grows well here	String of hearts grows perfectly well on chalky and alkaline without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Loam	Prefers this soil	Loam suits String of hearts as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Silty	Prefers this soil	Silty suits String of hearts as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Peaty and acid	Works, with one condition	String of hearts will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rock	Prefers this soil	Shallow over rock suits String of hearts as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Made ground and urban soil	Works, with one condition	String of hearts will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height: 10–20 cm
Mature spread: 100–200 cm
Rooting depth: 12 cm

Where these figures come from

Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

In a container

Minimum volume: 2 litres or more
Minimum depth: 12 cm

Where the container figures come from

Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

Method	Suitability	What it needs
Indoor pot	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Windowsill	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Container	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13	Indoors, or outdoors in summer only
Open ground	Not suitable source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13	Tender: will not survive a British winter outdoors.
Hydroponics	Not suitable source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13

Growing it

PropagationCoil a length of strand onto the surface of a pot of compost and hold it down. The small tubers along the stem root where they touch, and the strand can be cut free once established.
WateringLong bare strands with widely spaced leaves mean too little light. Watering more does not help and usually finishes the plant off.
FeedingA dilute balanced feed once a month through spring and summer only, and nothing from September. It is a slow-growing succulent vine with a small root system and it is easily overfed; the tubers it forms along the stems store what it needs. Where a plant is growing thin and pale with widely spaced leaves the answer is more light, not more feed — this is a plant that wants a bright windowsill rather than a shelf.
TransplantingRarely, and in spring, into a pot barely larger than the last — it has a small root system for the length of trail it carries, and an oversized pot of damp compost is the usual way one is lost. Use a gritty free-draining mix. While you are there, the small round tubers that form along the stems can be pressed onto the surface of a pot of compost and will root where they touch, which is far the easiest way to thicken a thin plant.

Where this guidance comes from

PropagationSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Ceropegia — propagation
Checked 2026-08-13
WateringSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Ceropegia — care
Checked 2026-08-13
FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Ceropegia woodii
Checked 2026-08-13
TransplantingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Ceropegia woodii
Checked 2026-08-13

The rule is the same in all four: the new piece needs both a growing point and roots of its own. A cutting is the exception that has to make its roots afterwards, which is why the node matters so much.

Safety and edibility

Cats and dogs

Listed as non-toxic to cats and dogs

String of hearts appears on published non-toxic lists for cats and dogs. That is a statement about the plant's chemistry, not a guarantee: any plant eaten in quantity can upset an animal, so it is still worth discouraging heavy chewing.

source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — toxic and non-toxic plant list — American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: Ceropegia woodii — non-toxic plants list

Checked 2026-08-13

Pets and livestockpets
Not known to be toxic to cats or dogs.
source
Sourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Ceropegia woodii
Checked 2026-08-13
No particular precautions needed, though trailing strands invite play from cats.

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.