Tangled Heart hanging plant - How to grow,care and propagate in 2023

The tangled hearts plant is the most appealing hanging plant to grow on the balcony. They look like little hearts drooping from a pink vine. The tangled heart is green in color with visible purple lines across the leaves.

Tangled heart - how to grow ,care and propagate

Native To

The botanical name of Tangled hearts is Plectranthus prostratus. A tangled heart is also called as Pillow plant or Swedish ivy. They are native to Africa. It is a small succulent creeper plant that produces small beautiful flowers rarely.

I bought this tangled heart plant from a local shop nearby. I was ambiguous to pick this plant as it was in a bad state and was the last piece available. I made up my mind and picked this one up. And now it surprisingly growing well and rewarded me with two baby plants (propagated from the same plant)

Tangled heart plant,grow care,propagating

Growing and Caring Tangled Heart Plant

The tangled heart is effortless to grow and care for. They look cheerful with their vines reaching the floor. If you find the plant to be leggy ensure to trim or prune the ends intermittently.

Where to grow your Tangled Heart Plant

As tangled heart plants have a shallow root system, they can be grown anywhere from large pots to cups and mugs.

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Watering Conditions of Tangled Heart

They are succulent varieties and have shallow roots. Water them three to four times a week.

Sprinkle or mist them with water once in a while, this would give a fresh look to the plant. Misting them also helps in removing the dust absorbed by the plant and avoiding burning their leaves. Well-drained soil is preferred.

Potting mix for Pillow plant

These succulents grow well in normal soil or succulent soil mix. Avoid the usage of cocopeat in the soil. Cocopeat generally keeps the soil moist for a long time. And I wouldn't advise adding cocopeat to any succulent or cactus varieties.

Sunlight Conditions of Tangled Heart

Though they belong to the succulent variety, it is better to place them in indirect sunlight or shady places.

I observed that plants that are placed in direct sunlight for nearly 4 to 5 hours show a purple hue beneath the leaves and on the veins of the plant.

The tangled heart which is placed under shade is plumper and lush green in color. Tangled heart survives or does well in bright sunlight and indirect sunlight, the only difference being the appearance of the plant.

Also, you might be interested in checking out 29 varieties of trailing plants for your indoor space.

Propagating Tangled Heart

Propagating a Tangled heart is as easy as growing purslane.

Take 3 to 4 cuttings of 4 to 5 inches.
Remove the bottom-most leaves and make sure there are at least two nodes.
Place the cuttings directly into the soil. Dig into the soil using your fingers or a stick to create a space to plant your cuttings. I generally use the back of a toothbrush to dig in a hole.
Rooting hormone is not required.
Water thoroughly and the cuttings will grow in a few days

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I had taken a few cuttings from the mother plant (pic: shown above) and propagated them into a plastic container like the below image. Check out how to make this plastic planter here.

When to prune your pillow plant?

The plant becomes leggy and starts losing all its leaves and only the stem remains. Do not get worried over this situation.

I face this problem every year, the plant's leaves do wear off normally like any other plant and there is no reason to panic. Just trim your plant and propagate them to a new pot.

Alas, you just multiplied your plant.

I have over 10 to 12 containers only with pillow plants growing in them. And I am totally in love with these carefree plants.

What went wrong with your pillow plant?

Yellowing, dropping, and shedding of leaves is a common symptoms of overwatering. Keep an eye on watering needs. These plants don't mind even if you miss your watering schedule for a day or two. Pillow plants are very forgiving.
The lack of color might be due to direct sunlight. I have seen my plant receiving scorching sun has faded and the other part of the plant where it receives indirect sunlight remains green.
No major pest problems are known to attack this plant. It's always better to keep infected plants away from healthy plants.

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Is your tangled heart leggy?

I have noticed most of the plants grow leggy after a few months of vicious growth. The trick to keep your plants green and lush is to remove the older vines and repropagate the plant with vines.

The mother plant which I bought almost 2 years back looks like this now. This is a natural process, do not get worried. just trim out the new vines and repot the plant again. You can see new growth in a few days.

Price Details

I bought this plant for around Rs 70 from a local nursery. It might vary depending on the availability of the plant and the location.

Another easy plant you could grow in your apartments

The plant is growing well by the window side. I bet you would never regret growing this plant and you can multiply your entire space with tangled hearts with just one mother plant.

You might be interested to know easy ways to decor pots into planters.