This String of Nickels is a succulent plant that is popular for its beauty. It has the same shape as a nickel coin. If you are not from the US then Let me tell you Nickle is a Five cent coin here in the USA. It has tiny little leaves that trails from the hanging basket.
These round leaves have light or pale green , gray, brown, silver color. It also has little white flowers with seeds, beautifully grown with the foliage. String of nickels is a unique plant that is why it is very difficult to find and not available in many of the nurseries. If you want I have given Links below.
So where to buy string of nickels plant? I have given links below you can check. Its not available in so I find it only in Etsy so you can go there and buy it.
String of nickels for Sale :
Michael Wolf, Penig, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Table of Contents
This is an attractive succulent so if you get one it’s perfect as a hanging plant for balcony and tall pots. It is also denoted as a string of coins because of its long stem having so many leaves.
Background information
String of Nickels belong to Apocynaceae Family and Its Scientific name is Dischidia nummularia , It is used as a Houseplant and miniature plant for Botanical garden, generally they were found hanging in the trunk of trees.
There are a lot of countries where this planet was discovered including India, Australia , Indonesia , China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Myanmar. Sometimes it looks like lens of goggles, But yes because of its unique shape, It was sold much more.
Do you Know the family it was a member have 79+ species which are categorized as climbing, tropical grown , vining and perennial succulent. One Other name of Dischidia Nummularia is Button Orchid because this one was grown as an epiphytic climbing plant which generally are those who climb on trucks or in branches.
Where to Grow String of Nickels : Inside Home, Outside In the Garden, In the Balcony in a hanging pot, trellis so on.
Guide for String of Nickels Care
To Properly grow these Plants You need to understand many important things that are necessary for a string of nickels or Dischidia nummularia. I have mentioned every care tip you need for successfully growing this plant. This information is needed as it has long trails that can reach to ground from the pot and how do you make sure they don’t get any disease or infection. Let read one by one care guide:
Light
String of Nickels can tolerate low light , but mostly grown in bright indirect light , You can also use curtains on the south facing window so they get filtered light. Morning sunlight could be fine with them but I prefer only 2 hour light that is direct from the sun. Always make sure not to forget your plant that is placed in full sun that might affect its foliage tips.
Morning sunlight is not that harsh so placing them for 2-3 hours will not affect your plant but gives more energy and strength to your succulent.
If you have Trees in your garden , You can try setting your Dischidia on the Hanging Pot that will hang on the branches of the tree. The Good thing is it will get filtered light that is healthy and with that the pot can get dry and doesn’t rot easily , generally in hanging pot water leaks out properly which makes them diseased free.
It will get night humidity and air circulation and outdoors they will get water from rain quite often , they love being moist.
Humidity
Our Dischidia loves low to moderate humidity. What can be done is Spray some water on warm days if grown indoors. If you are growing it outdoors , I suggest don’t spraying any water, as outside they get lots of humidity at night and with rain they get water easily. So drought conditions are very less in plants growing outdoors.
Temperature
String of Nickels can grow in warm climates and don’t like high frost environments. The ideal temperature for these succulents is about 40 to 80 F that is 4.44 to 26.66 C. Make sure never grow them below 10 F or -12 C. In Freezing Winters you can use frost blanket or put them inside of your house.
Fertilizer
Generally fertilizer doesn’t require a string of nickels but yes for better growth you can give them plant food. When you need to pour this plant food in its growing season which is spring and summer, Don’t fertilize in winters as they go into a dormant(sleep) period. Plants will benefit from this as some of the nutrition requirement is fulfilled with that plant food.
I use this plant food in my all succulents :
Water
This succulent wants soil to be moist all the time but they also prefer water to dry a bit after watering but make sure it gets water like you can spray some so it gets moist. Drought condition may result in leaves getting pale.
Potting mix like Coco coir can smooth drain water so you need to give extra attention to watering and It can also work in other potting mixes. But always be consistent in watering and make sure soil gets dry so it doesn’t get an issue of overwatering. I have seen people overwater plants and then it started to get disease so water care is necessary to understand well.
Checking soil about 1-2 inch using your finger can tell if the plant needs water , if the soil is completely dry give it water immediately. Also the whole top surface of the pot should be watered as the plant will completely fill the pot with roots so it needs water.
Also check Potholes so the draining shouldn’t become an issue. Otherwise it is a big mess if the holes are closed.
Soil
These plants grow and climb in the trunk of trees. This succulent needs good soil that is well drained so it doesn’t get any drainage issues. You can grow a string of nickels in an orchid potting mix and there are many other options.
I was growing them in Coco coir by grow Organiks – Check Price in
It is excellent when it comes to draining and also it cuts the use of fertilizer by 30% as this has been used to grow seeds, succulent can get easy air circulation.
This one holds water and keeps the plant moist so roots get sufficient water for the needs and you can put the succulent in partial shade or morning sun. It works well and prevents water requirements but always checks the soil for water shortage.
String of Nickels Toxic
There is no information on the plant whether its poisonous or not. Once their is a study material available I will post it here ASAP.
Pests and diseases
It can be possible that it could get mealy bug infestation. These are tiny insects that feed on plants , it eats the liquid inside plants. This can lead to yellowing of leaves or they might drop.
Armored scale, aphids, Spider mites are some pests that can be attracted by a string of nickels. You can use pesticide for that. For fungus infection you can use fungicide.
I use trifecta all in one pesticide, fungicide, miticide.
If you want to buy it here is the link.
Photo by David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
String of Nickels Plant Propagation
Propagation in String of Nickels is easy and beginners can also try it. The Basic way of doing this is by using a stem cutting. You need a 5-6 inch stem before that you should have a sterilized cutting tool so even if it has some bacteria it gets cleaned. Now Cut the stem and leave that for 48 hours to dry , It should dried out water so we can get a fresh cutting.
For Rooting
First Remove the 2 inch base leaves and now you can put the stem cutting in Orchid Sphagnum Moss that is good to develop roots in the nickel plant. Here is the link if you wanna buy. Place them in a shade area where it only gets light indirectly.
In some days, You will see stem cuttings starting to show some root growth. Now it’s time for them to transfer them to bigger sized pots. Take care of watering then it will become a healthy plant.
String of nickels seeds
Second Method is obviously by seeds. Mature plants can bloom flowers that convert into seeds. Most of the time seeds appear to drop on the soil , so you can place a cloth on the top of the soil so you can collect. This only happens when the plant gets mature. Then You can sow the seeds directly on the soil , it will grow.
String of Nickels Pruning
For pruning you can start by checking if there’s any diseased , pale , drought leaves or stem. If found cut them down using pruning shears and always clean them before use. Cutting some of the long stems can boost the growth of other long stems. I generally trim the string of nickels. That time I also checked for a healthy stem for propagation. Also How the shape should be and if it’s too much of stems then you can also go for hard pruning.
String of Nickels Variegated
These are one such plant that can be grown easily and with those beautiful coin shaped leaves that trails to the bottom. Its Variegated variety has round leaves which looks soft and puffed , comes with white marks. Its very hard to find any seller for this one but you can always try the original variety.
String of Nickels dying
If your string of nickels dies then check if it is not watered , you can check if leaves are not shriveled, If yes then try to increase the water. also don’t overwater it. I always check the soil before watering. It should also dry out a little bit, then water it. Too much water and less water can create problems in plants. Check my water tips Above.
Conclusion
These are some of unique and beautiful looking succulent plant. These can be used to get a vide of trailing stems , They look good at hanging in the pot, and how lovely the stems go down to earth. If you wanna go for unique plant , this is also one such plant.
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