String of Pearls Variety Comparison

String of Pearls is a lovely succulent.  They grow long trailing stems, most varieties have almost spherical leaves, some varieties have leaves that are still round but a bit pointier, and the flowers are always white and fragrant. 

I am growing a few different string of pearls varieties and thought I would write a comparison of how they perform for me, as well as take some comparison photos with them side by side to give a better perspective of what each variety is like.  

String of pearls can usually be found under the binomial name Senecio rowleyanus, although it is more accurately known as Curio rowleyanus.  The genus name 'Senecio' is the most commonly used genus, but has now largely been disbanded.  In the year 2019 the genus was split into Curio, Caputia, and Kleiniawas.  I believe there may be a few species of Senecio that remain in the original genus, but string of pearls is not one of them.  While the nomenclature doesn't really matter to growers I mention it as it can be helpful if researching these plants. 

Three string of pearls varieties

I wrote an earlier post on different varieties of string of pearls https://living-mudflower.blogspot.com/2018/08/string-of-pearls-real-and-fake.html.  There are a lot of people from Australia (and other countiries) selling fake seeds for these plants.  They photoshop images of real plants and alter the colour to make them look bright blue or red, then they sell the seeds for a low price.  They then post you seeds of whatever they have on hand, mostly they don't send not even string of pearls seeds.  By the time you realise you have been duped it is too late to do anything and you have already left positive feedback after they posted you the fake seeds really fast.  

String of pearls are only ever green or variegated.  There are no stunning blue string of pearls plants, not brilliant red ones, no deep purple ones.  I wish blue ones existed, but they don't, and they never will.  Sometimes when stressed they get a slight purple tinge, you can see this in the photos below, but they are still quite green.  

String of pearls plants are only green, or green and white, and anyone selling seeds of the fake ones is a thief who you should never buy anything from.  Hopefully my rant about fake seed sellers helps someone not be taken advantage of.  

Slight purple tinge over winter

Slightly purple, but still obviously green

String of beans (different species) gets purplish in my winter

I currently grow three of four different varieties of string of pearls (as well as a few other similar species such as string of beans).  The string of pearls are lovely plants, and very simple to grow.  I grow the typical form, a variegated one, a giant one, and lovely one called 'Angel tears' that is variegated and has pointier leaves.  They are all very different, and I like them all.

I will give a very brief description of each variety, add in a few pictures of each, then show some comparison photos.

String of pearls typical

String of pearls typical form

String of pearls flowers are white

The typical variety has green leaves and green stems.  It grows small, pea sized, almost spherical leaves, each with an interesting little window.  Over winter they produce small white flowers that smell much like cinnamon.  The stems can get very long if the plant is well cared for, I have several pots of them that are well over a meter in length.  

The typical variety of string of pearls was commonly grown as a house plant in hanging baskets in the 1970's, and then somehow became less common to the point that it was rare and difficult to find for a time.  These are succulents so don't need heaps of water to survive, but I find they grow fastest and look best when given extra water.  They grow reasonably fast, are very simple to propagate, and are very forgiving of less than ideal conditions.  

While string of pearls perform best when grown in soil, they can be grown entirely in water.  I grew one string of pearls in nothing but water for over two and a half years.  It certainly is not the best way to grow them, but they survive.  If nothing else, this demonstrates how easy these plants are to grow.  

String of pearls variegated

My variegated string of pearls

Slower growing, very beautiful plants

Variegated string of pearls is much like the typical version, it is the same shape and size, but has variegated with green and white leaves.  For me this plant grows a lot slower than the typical form.  Being variegated it is probably not as hardy as they typical form, but it is still forgiving of less than ideal conditions.  

The variegated form is less common than the typical variety, presumably this is because it is slower to propagate and is a little newer.  Propagation is still very simple, but it takes extra time as it grows slower than the green form.  While it is slower growing, it is also a lot prettier than the typical form.  For me it gets more variegation when given lots of bright indirect light.  When grown in too little light it would probably revert to all green.

Giant string of pearls, sometimes called 'Big Peas', 'Big Balls', or 'Perla Grande'

String of pearls 'big peas'

Giant form string of pearls

When I started growing string of pearls I wished the leaves were larger.  That is exactly what this variety is!  I am not sure if it is polyploid, but it most likely is.  This variety is similar to the typical form but larger in every way.  

The smallest leaves on this plant are about as large as the largest leaves on the typical form.  The stem is thicker.  The flowers are white and smell the same as the typical form, but are a bit larger than the typical form.  I have not grown this long enough to know how fast it grows or how robust it is.  

I only have a few pots of these, and they are all still getting established so I have not yet seen what this plant can do.  I really like this plant, it is bigger and more imposing than the typical form.  This variety is very rare in Australia, I am not sure if this is due to it being more fragile or simply because it is a relatively newer variety.  From what I have seen in the short time I have been growing the giant string of pearls, I assume its rarity is purely due to it being a newer variety.  

Angel tears succulent

Variegated Angel Tears

Angel Tears is a highly variegated variety of string of pearls, but with pointier leaves instead of the almost spherical ones of the typical form.  I only have two small cuttings, both of which are very small and are growing well.  

I have not grown it long enough to know how fast it grows or how robust the plant is.  I assume that it will be slower growing due to the reduced chlorophyll, and I am guessing that it will be slightly hardier than the typical form.  I assume the flowers will be similar to the typical form.  

There is a completely green version of this plant, which I am not currently growing.  I really like the look of the variegated form and have no plans to track down the green one.  Sooner or later this plant will probably grow a part that is all green, I can remove that and grow it on if I want a green one.  For me it has developed more variegation when grown under brighter indirect light.  I think it is quite pretty.   

Still small but growing strong

Comparison photos

When I first heard about the giant form of string of pearls I wondered how much larger it was to the typical form, and how noticeable this was.  I could only find two photos online that showed a comparison to the typical variety.  

Below are some comparison photos of the giant form next to the typical form, as well as the giant next to typical and variegated.  As you can see, the variegated and the typical forms are pretty much the same other than their colouration, and the giant form is larger in every way.

For now the giant ones I have are still getting established, so the comparison photos are not the greatest.  Once my giant form grows out a bit, and my angel tears gets some length, I will try to take some better comparison pictures.  

String of Pearls: Typical on left, Variegated middle, Giant on right

Three forms of string of pearls comparison

Giant on left, typical form on right

Typical, Variegated, and Giant string of pearls

I like these string of pearls plants.  You can see that I have a lot of the typical form, this is because I got this variety first.  I also have a few really long ones that I have not taken photos of, and a few that are growing in weird places.  String of pearls plants are very simple to propagate from cuttings.  Once you have one plant, if you like them you can propagate them and over time you can have as many as you want.  

String of pearls plants are surprisingly hardy considering how delicate they look.  As mentioned earlier, even though they are succulents I find they perform at their best when given ample water.  I would never leave the pot sitting in water, but I also would not do that with most other plants.  They don't love frost, and grow far better when protected from frosts, but can survive a few light frosts.  

I sell plants and cuttings of typical string of pearls through my for sale page.  Plants cost more because of the time and space they have taken to grow, cuttings are cheaper because I can simply remove them from a healthy plant.  String of pearls are very simple to grow from cuttings, and the cuttings I send usually have some roots to give them a head start.  

I plan to sell variegated string of pearls soon as I have a few little ones growing out, and would love to sell the giant form once I have grown it long enough to know how it performs so can offer growing advice.  My angel tears is so tiny at the moment that it will be a while before I would have enough to be able to enjoy it as well as have any to sell.