Variegated string of pearls tiny cutting

I have been growing string of pearls succulents (Curio rowleyanus also called Senecio rowleyanus) since late 2016 or early 2017.  They are a lovely looking trailing plant with spherical leaves with little windows. 

I wrote an earlier blog post on seeds of fake string of pearls, sadly they don't come in blue or red or purple or with multicolours.  I mentioned in that post how string of pearls com in green, green with larger pearls, or variegated.  

Late in 2023 I got a lovely variegated string of pearls plant.  It was small, and I took a few cuttings.  As well as this, a tiny part broke off.  It had one variegated leaf and a tiny part of stem.  

I planted this to see if it would grow.  Even though it only had one leaf and a tiny section of stem it did start to grow.  

Variegated string of pearls cutting

The single pearl and tiny piece of stem grew some leaves.  At the start none of them had any chlorophyll.  They were all white.  

There was a high chance that the tissue that gave rise to the baby plant was derived of all white, and may not have had any green.  If this was the case it would survive off the mother leaf for a time, and die when the leaf got too old.  They need some green to be able to produce food.  

After growing a number of leaves, it then produced a variegated leaf!  

This variegated leaf has some green, which means it is able to photosynthesize and feed the plant.  As it has produced one variegated leaf, there is a high chance that it will produce more.  If this is the case, in time this tiny plant should be able to grow into a large trailing variegated plant.  

Variegated mother plant

Sometimes variegated plants revert to all green.  Once they are all green, they don't become variegated again.  

If you grow a variegated string of pears succulent and notice a strand that is entirely green, remove it.  Being all green will be more vigorous than the variegated parts.  Plant the green strand in a different pot as a cutting and let it develop into a green plant - don't leave it attached to the mother plant or it will eventually take over and you will no longer have a variegated string of pearls plant.  

If you notice a strand that is all white, feel free to just leave it.  It will eventually die, until then it will look pretty.  Unless the mother plant is very weak it should be able to have a white strand without ill effects.  

Each leaf has some white and some green

I find string of pearls succulents to be surprisingly easy to grow.  They don't love full sun, and can't survive in heavy shade.  The variegated form is less vigorous than the green form, but they are both lovely.  

Even though they are a succulent, they tend to perform better when given decent amounts of water.  I keep hearing about people planting them in special succulent mixes, while this is probably best for them I find they perform well in equal amounts of potting mix and garden soil.

I sell string of pearls plants and cuttings through my for sale page.  At this stage I only have green ones for sale, I hope to have a few variegated ones large enough to sell in Spring.  If you are interested, you should have a look.