How to revive a ceropegia
QI have an old and not very attractive ceropegia, also known as rosary vine. The stems are tangled, with dead or wishy-washy leaves. How can I restore this plant to its former glory?
ARosary vine is a good name for the trailing succulent Ceropegia linearis subsp. woodii, because when mature, the long, straight, dangling stems produce small rounded tubers along their length like the beads for counting prayers. Hearts-on-a-string is another name, reflecting the pretty leaves overlaid with silvery markings and purple beneath.
The rosary vine can grow successfully in low light but is apt to be spindly, with pale leaves and long gaps between one pair of leaves and the next. I’ve known stems trail to a magnificent 5ft (1.5m) or more, bearing small, lantern-shaped maroon flowers in summer.
This succulent is long-lived (I had one for 30 years), but after long spells in the same compost, plants do need some attention. They enjoy medium light with a few hours of direct light during the day. Plants should spend winter cool and mainly dry at a minimum temperature of 50°F (10°C) with occasional waterings. When in growth from spring to autumn, water when the top half of the compost has dried out and give the plants perhaps three liquid feeds during the growing season of low-nitrogen fertiliser, ideal for cacti and succulents.
Now is a good time to inspect your plant. You might find it has been overwatered, causing the surface tubers to rot. It could be suffering from low light or, as with my demonstration plant, it could be an attack of mealy bug. If the tubers are healthy, the leaves are reasonably close together and there are no signs of pests, your ceropegia might have lost its looks due to a winter rest and will perk up as it returns to growth.
Options for improvements include giving the plant a haircut to encourage new growth and repotting into a mix of three parts potting compost to two parts grit.