Should I Untangle My String Of Hearts? (Ceropegia woodii)

Ceropegia woodii, more commonly known as String of Hearts, Chain of Hearts, Rosary Vine or Hearts Entangled, is a popular houseplant native to South Africa. The plant gets its common name from its heart-shaped leaves, which are arranged in a spiraling pattern along the stem. (Hence the numerous heart-based aliases!)

Sometimes as your String of Hearts plant starts growing, the vines may become entangled as they grow close to each other. You may choose to leave the vines entangled that way if you don’t want to grow through the trouble of untangling them or risk damaging your plant. However, untangling the String of Hearts vines is recommended especially if you want your plant to give you that sought-after waterfall look that the Rosary vine plant is known for.

Why Should You Untangle Your String Of Heart Plants?

In all honesty, untangling your string of hearts plant is not easy and it is understandable if you decide not to bother untangling the plant because it can take a lot of time and effort to do this. However, there are a few reasons why you should consider untangling your string of hearts plant. For one, untangling the plant will help it to grow healthier because the leaves will be able to get more sunlight.

If you grow String of Hearts in your home, then you should probably know by now that this plant tends to grow very long stems. While the long stem contributes to the unique appearance of the plant, the way the leaves are attached to the stem makes it easy for them to get all tangled up.

It happens subtly and gradually and you may not even notice until the whole plant is a tangled mess. Before you know it, two or more stems have become joined together in several places, giving the vines a tangled and messy look. And if you're a plant parent that dislikes the messy-jungle-look then you won't like what you see.

When untangled, the plant rewards you with lush-looking locks of vines with silver-green leaves. All the leaves also get better access to light in their untangled state instead of when they’re tangled. You’ll also find it easier to give your plant proper care with the leaves untangled.

In the long run, untangling the stems of your chain of hearts does the plant a world of good. However, you have to make sure that this is done as carefully as possible to avoid breaking the vines in the process.

Will the String of hearts leaves will fall Off When Untangling?

Yes, this can happen but it's not the end of the world. You can easily propagate the leaves that fall off whilst untangling the plant. Just stick the node of the leaf back in the soil so it roots. Within a few wdays it'll start growing into another strand!

How To Untangle The Vines Of Your String Of Hearts Plant

Although it is possible to separate the long vines of the String of Hearts plant if they get tangled, this is often a long and painstaking process that must be carried out carefully. You can’t just pull the vines apart from each other as this may cause the leaves to get ripped off or damage the plant stems. It requires a lot of patience to gently and gradually separate everything.

There are no specific steps for untangling the vines. The main recommendation is that you do this as carefully as possible. Some growers have also recommended untangling the vines under your sink’s running water. This helps to reduce the pressure so that it doesn’t hurt your plant. Another approach is to spread your fingers to form a sort of hook claw and jiggle the plant to shake the vines apart as they vibrate. This can help separate them without causing any damage to the vines.

How To Keep String Of Hearts From Getting Tangled

Untangling the vines of String of Hearts plants correctly is a slow process. It can take up to an hour or more to detangle the entire plant. How long it’ll take exactly depends on the size of the plant and how tangled the vines are.

To avoid this stress, the best thing is to simply prevent the vines from getting tangled in the first place. A simple recommendation that might help with this is to keep your plant from high traffic areas or places where they’re likely to get knocked together by natural windows such as close to open doors, windows, and other drafty areas.

In addition to keeping your plant away from drafty areas, you should also ensure that your plant gets enough room to spread out without getting too close to each other. You should also keep them away from babies and pets that may interfere with them in some way.

String of Hearts Propagation Videos

One of the best things about this plant is that it is very easy to propagate. Here are a couple of different methods you can use to propagate your string of heart plant:

• String of Hearts Water Propagation: It's easy to propagate string of hearts in water, but you have be careful! Make sure that when taking your cuttings they are at least 3 inches long and place them into your favorite glass or vase with freshwater, removing any leaves on the bottom portion which will help prevent rotting while also keeping it fresher for longer periods between changing out plants! Watch the video below for easy step by step illustration

String of Hearts Soil Propagation : String of Hearts soil propagation  is pretty much the same was water propagation, except that you stick your cuttings in Soil instead of water. Anyways here's a video that does a better job of explaining this process.

Conclusion

Untangling the vines of your String of Hearts plant is one of the chores you should do if you grow this plant. While this doesn’t really interfere with growth directly, untangling the leaves will make the plant appear neater and more attractive than leaving it as a jumbled mess. Just makes sure you do it carefully without damaging the plant in the process.

I hope you found this post useful! If you want to learn more about the string of hearts plant, take a look at our other posts about this topic here:

• Lighting Requirements : Can String of Hearts Take Full Sun?
• Temperature Requirements: Do String of Hearts like Humidity?

You can find out about the different types of string of hearts plants, how to care for them, and what to do if they get sick.  

Thanks for reading!