Overwatered String Of Hearts – Troubleshooting your sick SOH plant

Identifying an overwatered string of hearts (scientific name: Ceropegia) is simple when you know what symptoms to look for. Identifying and confirming your string of hearts is suffering from water stress is important. Because then you can then take the appropriate actions to revive it back to health.

When a string of hearts is overwatered it shows a particular set of symptoms:

• the leaves will begin to wilt and can turn yellow,
• random red black or brown blisters appearing on the leaves, or
• foul odors emanating from the base of the stem or soil.

Welcome to the Garden Bench Top where today we are going to help you troubleshoot your sickly string of hearts plant.

We’ll begin by walking you through the typical symptoms an overwatered string of hearts exhibits. We’ll then talk about options for salvaging your beautiful plant. Finally, we’ll discuss how to prevent your string of hearts from ever becoming overwatered again.

How to Tell if Your String of Hearts is Overwatered?

Okay, first things first. Let’s work out if your string of hearts is suffering from water stress due to being overwatered.

String of Hearts Leaves Wilting and Yellowing – A cry for help!

When a plant is upset or suffering, the leaves will be one of the first signs that your plant is struggling. It is their way of communicating with you, showing you that action is needed – and quick!

In the case of overwatering, your string of hearts will first try to grab your attention with wilting leaves. This generally looks like your plant is drooping and a little lackluster. You can see this in action in the picture from a Reddit reader below.

If you don’t act quickly, the next symptom they will display is yellowing leaves.

When you see yellow leaves on your string of hearts, it is usually the result of a deficiency in nutrients (specifically iron). These deficiencies are caused by continued watering, which washes away the nutrients in the soil before the plant has an opportunity to absorb them.

Again, if left too long, the wilted and yellow leaves will begin to drop from the plant. This is essentially the last cry for help from your string of hearts, which is screaming for your attention.

We provide guidance on a fool-proof method of watering your string of hearts later in this article, so keep reading.

String of Hearts Edema – Internal Issues

Another symptom that can form on the leaves of your string of hearts is Oedema.

It appears on the string of heart’s leaves as small red or brown splotches. These are the cells in the leaves swelling and exploding due to excessive watering and humidity, which is impeding the plants’ ability to transpire (the process of water evaporating from the leaves).

This is essentially another symptom that can result from supplying your string of hearts with too much water. When this is combined with too high humid environment, it can cause your plant internal issues that will often result in advanced edema and its demise.