String of pearls (Curio rowleyanus) is sold to first-time houseplant buyers at every garden centre in Australia, and most of them die within six months. Mine has died three times. It’s currently very much alive, and I think I finally understand why.

This is what I learned the hard way. If you’ve got a sad-looking string of pearls right now, there’s a good chance you can bring it back.

Why string of pearls dies

The plant comes from arid south-west Africa, growing as a ground-cover in dappled shade between rocks. The pearls (which are leaves, not fruit) store water. The stems creep along the ground until they hit a damp spot, then root.

The conditions in a typical Australian apartment - bright but not too bright, occasional watering, room-temperature air - sound like they should suit it. They mostly do. But three things go wrong over and over:

1. The pot is too big and stays too wet
2. The plant is hung where it gets too little light
3. People water on a schedule rather than reading the plant

The first time mine died: rot from the bottom up

Bought a beautiful trailing plant from a nursery in 2021. Hung it in my kitchen, watered it weekly, watched it slowly turn to mush from the bottom over about eight weeks. By the time I noticed, the entire base was black and mushy and the plant was hollow inside.

Diagnosis: I’d watered consistently, but the roots couldn’t dry out between waterings because the pot was too deep and the soil was holding too much moisture. The bottom of the soil was permanently wet, the bottom of the plant rotted, and rot spread upward through the stems.

Lesson: shallow pot. Sandy mix. Water only when the leaves go slightly soft.

The second time: light starvation

My second plant lasted about a year, looking progressively sadder before I admitted it was dying. The pearls got smaller. The stems got longer between pearls. The colour shifted from a deep grey-green to a pale yellow-green. Eventually it just stopped.

Diagnosis: not enough light. I’d hung it in a kitchen with a north-facing window two metres away. Plenty bright enough for me to read by, nowhere near bright enough for a sun-loving succulent.

Lesson: this plant needs to be within a metre of a bright window. South-facing in the southern hemisphere is best, with morning sun if you can get it. If you don’t have that spot, this isn’t the plant for you.

The third time: cold damage

Brought a third plant home in winter 2023. Hung it in what I thought was a perfect spot - bright light, good airflow. What I didn’t notice was that the spot was also right in the path of cold air from a poorly-sealed window. Through July, the plant got blasted with cold draughts every time the wind shifted.

The pearls turned translucent at first, then dark, then dropped off in clusters. By August I had bare stems and a sad pile of pearls in the saucer below.

Diagnosis: cold damage. String of pearls is hardier than people say in terms of cool nights, but cold draughts are a different thing. Anything below about 8°C with airflow will damage the plant.

Lesson: check your “perfect spot” in winter. A spot that’s bright and pleasant in summer can become a cold-air channel in winter.

What I’m doing now that’s working

The current plant has been alive 18 months and is genuinely thriving. Here’s what I changed:

Pot: terracotta, shallow (only 8cm deep), with multiple drainage holes. The walls breathe so the soil dries faster.

Soil: I mixed my own. Equal parts cactus mix, perlite, and coarse sand. Drains in seconds when watered.

Position: within 50cm of a south-facing window, no curtains, gets a few hours of weak direct sun every morning.

Watering: I press the pearls between my fingers about once a week. If they squish slightly soft, I water. If they’re firm and round, I wait. Through summer this is roughly every 7-10 days. Through winter it’s every 3-4 weeks.

Watering method: I bottom-water by sitting the pot in a saucer of water for 15 minutes, then drain completely. No water gets onto the pearls or the crown of the plant. This single change made the biggest difference.

Feeding: weak cactus fertiliser at quarter-strength once a month from October to March. Nothing in winter.

Signs your plant is happy or unhappy

Plump, firm pearls = correct watering. Soft, slightly wrinkled pearls = needs water soon. Mushy or translucent pearls = overwatered, root rot likely.

Tight pearl spacing along the stem = enough light. Stretched stems with widely spaced pearls = too dim, move it brighter.

Pale green to yellow colour = either too much sun (rare in apartments) or nutrient deficiency. Deep grey-green colour = healthy.

New growth at the tips of the strands = plant is happy and actively growing.

Propagation - the silver lining of repeated failure

Even when string of pearls is dying, you can usually save part of it. Cut healthy lengths of stem (15cm or so), let the cut ends dry for 24 hours, then lay them flat on damp succulent mix and weight them down lightly with a small stone.

Roots form at every node along the stem within two to three weeks if conditions are right. This is how I got my current plant - a friend’s was dying, I rescued five healthy strands, and within two months I had a full new plant.

Whether you should bother

Honest answer: this is not a beginner plant despite being marketed as one. If you’re new to plants, start with pothos, philodendron or zz plants. Build your reading-the-plant skills on something forgiving, then graduate to string of pearls.

If you’ve already killed a few and you’ve got the right spot, try again with the changes above. There are useful resources like the Australian Succulent Society for more advanced succulent care if you really want to go deeper.

Mine’s still alive. After three failures and a lot of dead pearls, I think I finally know what this plant wants. Patience and a shallow pot. That’s most of the battle.