Growing string of pearls succulent in water

I love string of pearls succulents (Senecio rowleyanus).  There is something special about their almost spherical leaves with little windows, and the crazy way they grow out of their pot and drape over the side that I love.

I started two tiny cuttings a while ago and have expanded my stock significantly since then by planting more cuttings.  They are a delightful and surprisingly simple plant to grow.

Unfortunately my two year old shares a similar fascination with these plants too.  He likes to rip off the longest strands and hide them around my yard or in boxes.  While I would prefer he didn't do this, and would prefer to have longer strands growing, whenever he pulls parts off I use them as cuttings to create more plants.

Small string of pearls plant

Normally when I take cuttings of string of pearls plant I remove the lower few leaves (its leaves are the round pearl things), then I stick that lower part in soil, and that is all.  In a few weeks the cutting has roots and the top is actively growing.  Very simple.

So far, even using cuttings that have been ripped off by the baby and hidden in the yard for a few weeks, I have had 100% strike rate.

String of Pearls cutting ready for planting

Recently I heard of another method to grow string of pearls cuttings.  Instead of putting the cutting in soil, you put it in a glass of water.  I root plenty of other cuttings in water like this but not succulents.  Being a succulent, and having such great success simply planting cuttings in soil, I had not even thought of rooting them in water.

I was intrigued if the cutting would grow or if it would simply rot.  Curiosity got the better of me so when the baby pulled off a strand I gave it a go.  I think that it is fun learning new things.

The water method of rooting string of pearl cuttings is much the same as the soil method I currently use.

I take the cutting and remove the lower few pearls as normal.  Then, instead of planting in soil, you place the lower section in water.  Common sense tells you that only the lower part goes in water, the top section with leaves remains above the water level just like most other cuttings.  To be honest, I can't think of any cutting that you would totally submerge other than fully aquatic plants.

I have an egg cup on the kitchen window sill where I grow a few cuttings.  A jar would probably work better, but the egg cup takes up so little space.  So I put the end of the cutting in the egg cup, and the top is draped out of the water towards the window.  As the egg cup is so small it has to be topped up with water each night which ensures less algae growth and more oxygen is in the water.

Strangely enough all went well.  In a couple of wees roots started to form and the cutting was ready to be planted in soil.

String of pearls cutting actually grew roots in water!

I expected it to rot, but it grew roots pretty fast

Not only did roots form, the tip started to grow longer.  This indicates that the plant is alive.  Towards the end the cutting started to put down more roots in search of soil.

Growing longer and forming more roots

At this stage the cutting was ready to be planted in soil.  If you grow string of pearls plants in water then this is the time to plant them in soil.  Once again curiosity got the best of me.  I started to wonder how long the string of pearls cutting could survive in nothing but water.

String of pearls is a succulent, and succulents are adapted to growing in dry places, growing a succulent in water feels strange.  It was worth giving this a go simply to learn more about this fascinating plant.

String of pearls roots getting longer

String of pearls water roots

Surprisingly enough all has gone well so far.  The roots have gotten pretty long.  The plant is growing longer and seems reasonably healthy.

So far the only issue is lack of light as I am growing it in the kitchen where it is bright but there is little to no direct light.

Internodes are a bit long as the light levels are too low

I figure sooner or later my string or pearls cutting growing in a glass of water will start to rot.  When that happens I will cut off the rotting section and plant the rest in soil so it can root and grow normally.  Hopefully that works so I have not lost anything in trying this.  It is fascinating though.  I wonder how long it can actually survive in water like this.

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Update from April 2019: I started the string of pearls cutting from the pictures in water back in late August 2018.  It is now April and it is still going strong.  Who would have thought!  It is not as large as ones of the same age that I grew in soil but still looks healthy.  So far its only issue is not getting enough sunlight because I have had it growing on the kitchen window.

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Update March 2021: my string of pearls cutting in nothing but water died after two and a half years.  

It fell out of the water and I didn't put it back in for a few weeks.  The stem got bruised/broken from having something heavy placed on it, making the roots die.  I tried to put it back in water in hopes the roots would grow again, but they didn't, I think it had been out of water and crushed for too long.  Had I noticed earlier I think it would have survived,

I think this would have kept growing forever if the plant had more sunlight and it didn't fall out of the water.  

This cutting didn't rot, it never flowered but it kept growing longer and branching.  It lasted two and a half years in nothing but water!

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If you want to grow a string of pearls plant I sell string of pearls cuttings as well as small string of pearls plants through my for sale page.  At this stage I only have the regular green variety, I plan to have the large variety and the variegated string of pearls plant for sale day too.