You would be concerned if the pearls on your necklace are thin or balding. This is because the original pearls used in are not well developed. As a gardener, you don’t need to worry as there’s a simple cure for this.

To make your string of pearls fuller, cut a few threads and place them on top of the soil in bare spots to give your string of pearls a fuller appearance. To encourage the growth of aerial roots, peg them down with a few pegs and add more dirt. Provide your plant with the right proportion of light, water, and fertilizer for a gorgeous full pot.

Compared to other Senecio plants, your string of pearls is believed to develop more slowly and require more maintenance. For your plant to thrive, you must ensure it receives adequate nutrients, light, and moisture throughout the year.

Why Is My Pearl String So Thin?

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I’ll provide you with crucial pointers on why your string of pearls is thin and how to reverse the situation and enlarge and brighten your string of pearls.

Sunburn

It’s more probable that your plant will be sunburned if the tip of your string of pearls is crusty and thin. Your succulent may be receiving harsh direct sunlight from you. This is especially true if you leave your plant in an area where it will be exposed to the sweltering afternoon sun. Your string of pearls may get sunburned in the afternoon, especially in the summer, if your windows are facing east or south.

How Does The Sun Harm Pearl String?

The trailing stems and the pearls are harmed by excessive direct sunlight. Therefore, the pearls on the sun-damaged stems won’t receive any nutrients or water. Imagine a community with just one bridge. The entire hamlet won’t have a way to acquire what they need from outside if that bridge disappears. The same is true for your pearl necklace with sun damage.

The outcome is limited growth, and some pearls will pass away, appearing thin or sparse.

Underwatering

You may have noticed that your string of pearls doesn’t have very specific watering needs. Simply keep your plant’s soil damp (but never soggy) during the summer and spring, when growth is at its peak. Your string of pearls will react by shedding foliage if the soil is fully dried for an extended period. Some leaves will eventually wilt, dry out, and fall off.

What Happens When There’s Underwatering?

The roughly spherical, pear-shaped leaves frequently begin to flatten out as the first sign of underwatering. The leaves will shrink, burn out, and turn brown if the dry condition persists. You may have waited too long if the pearls and stalks have gone brown or purple. Ultimately, the whole plant will fade and die. If you slowly water your underwater strand of pearls, it can recover in a few days.

Before watering again, ensure that the two to three inches of soil have completely dried off. Waiting until the stems and pearls are burnt, or brown is not a good idea.

Overwatering

The string of pearls likes its water conditions to be on the dry side because it is an arid climate plant. Giving your string of pearls too much water will kill them more quickly than giving them too little.

The main cause of a string of pearls dying is overwatering. You don’t want that, though. The process starts with decreasing leaves, progresses to withering, and ends with the death of the entire plant.

Wait until the topsoil (2–3″) has completely dried. Water the plants thoroughly only once liquid begins to flow from the drainage holes at the bottom. Give your plant about 10 minutes to absorb additional water, then drain any extra.

How To Detect Overwatering?

Overwatering will cause the soil to become drenched and soaked. N bugs, illnesses, and root rot will inevitably be drawn to wet soil. Your plant will appear floppy and weak at the crown, losing stems and leaves.

Brown pearl tips, yellowing, and leaf falling are other signs of an overwatered string of pearls.

How to Make String of Pearls Fuller?

You know that a full, luxuriant string of pearls is the best way to make a place more lively. The delicate way the stems pour over your hung basket or container makes it beautiful. It might also be demoralizing to notice bald or sparse regions on the pearl string’s crown. You aim to add more stalks and pearls to the crown to fill those spaces. How so?

Just lay down a few dangling stems on top of the ground. The barren areas of the soil are what you would like the stems to encircle or coil-over.

Other Things To Do To Make Pearls Fuller?

You can also cut a couple of pearl strands and place the stem cuttings on the weaker crown sections. Because it is so similar to propagation, this method is more efficient. Pruners, a trowel, and pins of good quality are required.

Pin the stalks to the ground with a few pins. Both wooden pegs and horticulture pins are acceptable. This will guarantee that such cut or laid strings of pearls will come into contact with the ground, allowing them to begin growing new roots and collecting water and nutrients.

To encourage growth from aerial roots, add more soil.

How Do I Prepare A New String?

Consider adding extra soil after you have pinned or set the strands on the crown. The trailer stem trimmings should be lightly covered by this. Make sure the dirt is raised to the pearls.

The additional dirt will have two effects. First, the freshly planted strands will quickly form new roots and readily bury themselves in the ground. Second, a thin layer of soil will promote the development of aerial roots, allowing for an earlier onset of water and nutrient uptake.

What Kind Of Soil Is Ideal For The Task?

You can use the most fruitful and efficient potting mixture. However, I’ve discovered that a 2:1 combination of potting mix and perlite works well. The alternative is a cactus mix. In the same proportion of two-part cactus mix to 1 part perlite, add some perlite as well. To prevent unwelcome visitors in the form of fungus infections, ensure that the soil is only slightly damp and not overly wet or soggy.

Additionally, if you want to release apical dominance, you might wish to cut along the trailers. When you cut the apex region (points of your strands), your pearl string will go into survival mode. The strings will be instructed to produce more branches and pearls on the stalks in this manner, giving the appearance of being fuller.

Do String of Pearls Needs Fertilizer?

If you fertilize your string of pearls sufficiently, it will expand rapidly in the spring and summer (and proper light). Increase your fertilizing for more enduring growth. When the plant grows quickly, you should feed it once every two weeks. To give it more fullness, that is what you desire. Use a common liquid or water-soluble indoor plant fertilizer for optimal results.

A balanced ratio of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus should be present. Apply your fertilizer after diluting it to half its original strength. However, avoid overfertilizing your string of pearls because this can cause the leaves and stems from burning and eventually destroy your plant.

Your string of pearls should only be fertilized once every six to eight weeks during its dormant season (winter).

Should I Use Indirect Sunlight?

Unfortunately, given that they are a species of the arid region, you would anticipate your string of pearls to flourish in direct sunlight. But that’s not a wise move. Your pearl string will be happiest when it is partially in the sun (during calm morning hours) and partially in the shade.

Your plant actually needs 6 to 8 hours a day of bright, indirect sunshine. For indoor growth in the morning hours, place your string of pearls close to an east-facing window.

Make sure it is in a place that receives indirect, diffused light or partial shade later, once the afternoon sun is intense. This intense, indirect light is essential for your string of pearls to photosynthesize and enlarge.

Watering is the main challenge you’ll likely have when looking after your string of pearls.

What Does It Require To Survive?

When to water your strand of pearls can be determined using two tested methods:

Water at the point where the pearl first starts to flatten. Avoid waiting until they start to fade, wrinkle, or turn brown.
Examine the soil’s top 2-3 inches. It’s time to use the watering can if the soil is entirely dry. Wait a few days and then recheck if it isn’t.
As a general guideline, water your strand of pearls until the liquid begins to drip from the pot’s bottom. After letting it stand in the way for roughly ten minutes, empty the saucer.
Make sure the temperature is appropriate.

Early spring to late summer, warmer temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit (21 and 26 degrees Celsius) are excellent for a string of pearls. Ensure the temperature stays between 55 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit (13 and 16 degrees Celsius) in the winter.

If you subject them to excessive amounts of hot, direct sunshine, they will get sunburns. Remember that a string of pearls is a delicate plant, so stay away from chilly drafts.

And How Much Sun Is Too Much?

Indirect and direct sunshine for six to eight hours per day is what string of pearls plants require to thrive. During the more pleasant morning hours, it is better to keep them in direct sunshine; however, during the more intense afternoon hours, transferring them to a location that receives diffused, indirect light or partial shade is preferable.

What Are The Common Problems With String of pearls?

Eight typical issues might arise when cultivating a String of Pearls: an excessively large pot, a plant planted too deeply, excessive or inadequate watering, incorrect potting soil, an excess or deficiency of sunlight, and bug or pest infestation.

If this were to occur to you, you wouldn’t need to save your String of Pearls plant. But even then, don’t give up hope because it might lead to something positive. The cuttings I had rescued were repotted in a handful of these containers and in various pots.