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String Of Hearts Leaves Turning Yellow [5 Main Causes]

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String of hearts succulents certainly differ in appearance compared to most succulents but they do share some similar issues such as leaves turning yellow.

With that being said, there are some situations where this can be normal but there are also times where your care for this plant isn’t on point.

So if you notice your string of hearts leaves are yellowing then it is time to take a look at what could be causing it and go from there.

Why your String of hearts turn yellow

To start off there are a variety of ways you can get yellow leaves on this succulent and some ways include but are not limited to temperature change, overwatering, underwatering, new growth, lack of light and more.

So lets take a look at some of these things and what they mean for you and your String of Hearts plant.

Temperature is too low

String of hearts succulents are not very cold hardy and don’t like to be outside in temperatures lower than the 40’s.

Extreme temperature will cause yellowing of the leaves which is a sign that your string of hearts is dying since it can’t handle really cold weather.

So if the winter is approaching and you still have this plant outdoors then consider bringing your string of hearts indoors before the frost kicks in.

Or just get a quality mini greenhouse if you don’t have space or want to grow indoors.

You’ve been overwatering

Another way your string of hearts succulent leaves will start becoming yellow can be from overwatering this plant.

This is because overwatering leads to root rot and then the roots cannot supply proper amounts of water to the leaves, making them dehydrated although there was plenty of water given.

If you ever have to deal with a dying String of Hearts plant, then overwatering and root rot are what you should suspect first by the way.

The best way to water string of hearts is to soak and dry just like most other succulents like to be watered.

So you want to water fully, or soak this plant and wait until the soil dries out completely before giving another drink.

This will be your best bet at preventing overwatering and thus not getting yellow leaves from this problem.

Underwatered string of hearts

On the other side of the spectrum, you can most certainly be underwatering your string of hearts succulent which will cause dried out, crinkling yellow leaves.

This is of course due to dehydration similar to how overwatering can do damage to this plant, just in a different way.

Just don’t neglect watering once in a while, as in every other week at least depending on how the soil is doing.

Natural growth

Another way your string of hearts succulent can start getting yellow leaves is simply due to a lot of growth with this plant.

This plant can only handle so many leaves and eventually you will see leaves turning yellow even though you have been doing everything right.

This is completely normal and not something to worry about.

However you can always prune away these leaves to get rid of that odd appearance and encourage new growth in the spot where you pruned.

Just try to prune all the way to the bottom of the stems and be cautious of watering in that area since rot can kick in pretty quick if done wrong.

Not enough light for this plant

Lastly, if your string of hearts plant doesn’t get the required light for proper growth, then you can expect the leaves to start stretching, turning yellow and so on.

This plant requires at least 4 hours of light per day which can be a mix of full and partial sunlight whether indoors or outdoors.

Since the light requirement is actually pretty low you shouldn’t need a grow light for this plant as getting light from windows or just outdoors will suffice.

But if you feel the need to get a grow light, like if your lighting conditions aren’t optimal then you can get a quality grow light here.

Other than that just make sure this plant gets at least a few hours of light daily and you shouldn’t notice any yellow leaves, or at least this won’t be the issue.

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