GrowingHQ
HouseplantsucculentDemanding

String of pearls

Curio rowleyanus

A trailing succulent whose spherical leaves store water and photosynthesise through a translucent window on each bead. It wants far more light and far less water than its delicate appearance suggests, and is most often killed by kindness.

Position
Bright with direct sun
Water
low demand
Drainage
Free-draining
Grows to
10–20 cm × 60–90 cm
Frost
Frost tender
Difficulty
Demanding

August

Nothing to do

No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.

String of pearls’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.

ActivityJFMAMJJASOND
Take cuttingsMay. June. July.

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
18–26 °C
Soil
Peat-free compost, Sandy
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 pearls — position

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: String of pearls — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: String of pearls — temperature

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: String of pearls — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Curio rowleyanus — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: String of pearls — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

The beads are the water store; a limp strand is thirsty.

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.

SoilVerdictWhy
Heavy clayWorks, with one conditionString of pearls 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.
SandyPrefers this soilSandy suits String of pearls 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 alkalineGrows well hereString of pearls grows perfectly well on chalky and alkaline without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
LoamPrefers this soilLoam suits String of pearls 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.
SiltyPrefers this soilSilty suits String of pearls 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 acidWorks, with one conditionString of pearls 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 rockPrefers this soilShallow over rock suits String of pearls 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 soilWorks, with one conditionString of pearls 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
60–90 cm
Rooting depth
10 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
1 litres or more
Minimum depth
10 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

Shallow-rooted, so a wide shallow pot suits it far better than a deep one.

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.

MethodSuitabilityWhat it needs
Indoor potWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

WindowsillWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

ContainerWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Indoors, or outdoors in summer only
Open groundNot suitable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Tender: will not survive a British winter outdoors.

Growing it

  • WateringWater thoroughly and then leave it completely alone until dry. Frequent small waterings keep the surface wet where the fine roots are and rot them.
  • ProtectionGive it the brightest position available. In poor light the gaps between beads lengthen into bare string, and that stretch never closes up again.
  • FeedingVery little: one dilute feed in spring and perhaps one in midsummer. This is a plant with fine roots and thin trailing stems, and a strong feed pushes soft growth that shrivels at the first mistake. Stop entirely in September. The commonest problem is not hunger but a bare, leggy top — which is old age and low light rather than nutrition, and is fixed by taking cuttings and starting again rather than by feeding.
  • PropagationPropagate in spring or summer, and do it routinely rather than as a rescue — a string of pearls goes bare at the crown after two or three years and the reliable way to keep one looking good is to start replacements. Lay a length of stem on the surface of gritty compost, pin it down or simply weight it, and it roots from the nodes where the beads meet the stem. Nip off a few beads at the contact points if you want it faster. Keep it barely damp; these rot readily in wet compost.
Where this guidance comes from
WateringSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Succulents — watering

Checked 2026-08-13

ProtectionSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Curio rowleyanus — light

Checked 2026-08-13

FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Curio rowleyanus

Checked 2026-08-13

PropagationSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Curio rowleyanus

Checked 2026-08-13

Four ways to make more plantsFour propagation operations compared, each showing where the separation is made and what must be present on both sides of it. Division: a clump cut between crowns, with roots and at least one growing point on every piece. Stem cutting: a shoot cut just below a leaf node, because the node is where roots form, with the lower leaves removed. Runner: a plantlet already rooting where it touches the ground, severed from the parent only after its own roots have taken. Offset: a young shoot at the base of the parent, separated with its own roots attached. In each case the cut is marked and the part that must be retained is labelled.Divisioncut between crownsroots on every piececut below a nodeStem cuttingroots form at the nodestrip the lower leavesRunnerlet it root firstthen sever the linkOffseta shoot at the basetake its roots with it
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.

What goes wrong

Start from what you can see

Safety and edibility

Cats and dogsPainful or persistently unwell; veterinary advice worth taking

Listed as harmful to cats or dogs

String of pearls is listed as harmful if eaten. A Senecio, and the genus is one where the sap causes both digestive upset and skin irritation. Eating the beads causes drooling, vomiting and lethargy. The trailing habit is what makes it a practical problem rather than a theoretical one: it hangs at exactly cat height.
source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

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

Checked 2026-08-13

Affected parts: all parts, sap.

Curio rowleyanus — moved out of Senecio, and listed under the old name.

  • Pets and livestockpetschildrenReported as toxic if eaten, causing digestive upset. The trailing habit puts it within easy reach of cats, which is the practical risk.
    source

    Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

    • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Curio rowleyanus — toxicity

    Checked 2026-08-13

    Hang it well clear of cats rather than trailing it from a low shelf.

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.