Family: Apocynaceae
Common Name: Rosary Vine, Chain of Hearts, Collar of Hearts, and Hearts Entangled
Botanical Name: Ceropgeia woodii
Ceropegia woodii lures you in for a closer look because it makes you feel as though you are sitting next to a beautiful waterfall. The lush, heart-shaped leaves cascade to the floor in quivering, long threads, adding a sense of fluid movement to your room. The Rosary Vine indoor plant produces delicate, trumpet-shaped flowers that form three-inch-long needle-shaped seed pods and long vines. These beautiful plants are particularly attractive because they have simple needs. The greatest difficulty lies with the ease with which the long vines will tangle. Therefore, refrain from moving this plant too often, and instead, attach these vines to trellises or other supports (they need your help because they lack grasping tendrils to climb on their own). If the vines are growing too long for your liking, you can cut them back and propagate the cuttings in water. The bulbous tubers can also be planted directly in soil to create new plants!
Light
Ceropegia woodii love bright, indirect light. They’ll become fuller and grow faster if they get at least six hours of light per day. Never place them in direct sunlight, and avoid putting them in low-light areas (if you can’t read a book there, it’s too dark!). Be sure that the top of the plant is receiving light as well as the foliage because without light the top will start to thin out.
Water
Rosary vines like to dry out between watering in order to avoid root rot. Ceropegia woodii require more water when they’re actively growing and when they are in a brightly lit area of your home. This indoor plant’s growth dramatically slows down in the winter, so cut back on watering during the colder months.
Soil
Ceropegia woodii require that their potting soil should contain more drainage materials (compared to soils for most indoor plants), such as wood chips, perlite, coarse sand, or pumice, to allow the water to drain quickly. Most bagged soil-less potting soil made for indoor plants will work fine but remember that you must let the soil dry out completely before watering it again. You can add cactus potting soil mix to your potting soil to help the water drain if you feel the roots are staying wet for too long! A great time to do this is when you need to re-pot them into a larger pot.
Temperature
Rosary vines are somewhat cold tolerant. They can handle temperatures as low as 40℉, but we recommend not letting the temperature fall below 55℉ for this and all of your indoor plants. When temperatures rise over 85℉, the indoor vines might need to be watered more often. The hotter it gets the more water indoor plant will need!
Humidity
Average household humidity is fine for ceropegia, but like most other tropical plants, they’ll perform better with humidity levels at about sixty percent. Learn how to increase the humidity for your Chain of Hearts and other indoor plants!
Fertilizer
Feel free to fertilize your Chain of Hearts when it’s actively growing. You can use a wide range of fertilizers, like fish or seaweed emulsion, compost-like worm castings, or a complete liquid fertilizer. We recommend diluting all liquid fertilizers to ½ strength. If you’re using worm castings as a top dressing, then dilute your liquid fertilizers to ¼ strength.
Growth Rate
Chain of Hearts is a fast-growing indoor vine once established and happy in its environment! Ceropegia spp. can reach over 10+ long and grow up to 1'+ per year under the right conditions.
Pet Friend or Foe
Chain of Hearts is non-toxic to pets. Friend!
Pro Tips
- Sometimes the tops of these plants become a little sparse or bald. You can add more tubers to help fill in the holes.
- Place the plants wherever the top portion of the pot is receiving light. Don’t hang them so high that the top portion isn’t getting light.
- Admire the sweet little flowers that emerge throughout the year!
- If you are lucky, you might encounter the needle-like seed pods that form after the flower goes to seed!
