I'd love to have a string of pearls and a Swedish ivy, but I have things like African violets, a double red hibiscus, marble queen pothos, etc. Couldn't find a way to email you.

Hi Paul, yours is such a nice looking plant. Do you mist the strands? From your picture, I see you are keeping it indoor. Nope, never have misted the strands -- not even during the winter months when my humidity reaches a "high" of 33% (and that's with TWO humidifiers running). Yes, it is kept indoors year round -- I live in an apt so hanging it outside has never been an option. I think I have just the right (plastic) pot for it that is wide (10cm) but shallow. Coralred, if you do choose to go that route, then I should probably mention the following: 1) I did drill/melt a series of drainage holes in the bottom of the container. 2) Under the pot, there is another container, a "saucer" if you will, of roughly the same dimensions -- perhaps a tad larger -- to catch any water that drains through the holes in the pot. The pot does not touch the bottom of the 'saucer' but rather has about 1-2cm of clearance. A wick was inserted through a hole at one end of the pot, laid across the bottom of the pot in an "S" shape, and emerged from the other end of the pot. Both ends of the wick dangled into the 'saucer'/cache basin. After two years, it would not surprise me to find that the wick had disintegrated and the roots of the plant had entered the saucer/basin. (However, I have not had any desire to disturb the plant to check. I have this happen with other plants though, so ........)

Okay, I'll admit up front that I have no specialized knowledge (other than first hand experience) about this thing called "string of pearls" disease... but I do have some time to kill so let me ruminate and ramble on this topic. First of all, this whole condition in ill-defined... "string-of-pearls" is obviously just a reference to a single symptom and not even a complete description of a condition let alone naming a disease. There is no clue as to cause and effect.... at least the alternate terminology "protein poisoning" leads one to certain assumptions about the likely causes. I've seen mention elsewhere on the Internet trying to link the outward appearance of the dying worm to being bloated (gas) in obvious reference to the "pearls" however to my eye it looks like the "string" is the deformed part of the worm and it would suggest perhaps parts of the worm is being dissolved. And then there's these occasional references to cold... I'm not sure how temperature plays into this but the one time I experience worms with the condition it was pretty warm (60-70F) in the basement. Right now my worm bins are out in the unheated garage in the dead of winter and I'm measuring bedding temperatures below 40F and no problems... they also have literally mountains of food to munch on (and surprisingly are working on those piles, albeit slowly). As a sideline: I have two bins of Africans, which are reputed to die at anything under 50F... they too are out in the cold garage and though these guys are not eating hardly compared to the Euros and Red Wigglers, they are nevertheless alive and appear in good shape and leave me no doubt they will survive this winter without issue. My conclusion is that cold has no bearing on the condition called "string-of-pearls". Some things I know from other activities/hobbies I've been involved with in the past: too much simple sugars will often lead to fermentation build-up of alcohols and phenols, while excess protein can degrade to build-up ammonia concentrations. Also there are food stuff which contain proteolytic enzymes, such as papain (in papaya) and bromelain (in pineapple) that will slowly dissolve protein molecules... worms are almost entirely made up of protein... think about it. I will go back to my original observation that the weird part is the "strings" and not the "pearls". Based upon this my thinking is that something is dissolving the worms rather than the worms are blowing-up. Thus I might suggest that worms always be fed in one section of the bin and not scattered all over the surface... also I would suggest large amounts of high-protein be limited or mixed with more "carbs" and finally I'd try to keep the concentration of simple sugars to quantities that fermentation yeast/bacteria can process at a rate the worms can consume without flooding their bedding. As a wrap up to my ramblings here: Do I know what this "string-of-pearls" disease is? No... but I don't believe anyone else on the Internet knows for sure either. Thus everyone is entitled to their guesses. And now you have mine.

The soil shrank because it is full of peat that became hydrophobic. It is very difficult to rewet again, and you most likely overwatered it. So from one extreme to another. It has been underwatered, overwatered and maybe even burned if exposed to too much sunlight suddenly. Unfortunately, it really doesn't make much difference what store you buy the plant from - they all most likely keep plants in soil it came in from the grower. Even if they repot plants, they use similar potting media. I wonder about that hanging pot - usually, they have some drainage hole but it is raised. That creates shallow 'moat' that will keep excess soil, probably mucky if overwatered. Or there is no drainage, or there is a saucer attached that also slows down drainage. So all these combined will create bad conditions for plants. Plant should be taken out, all old soil should be taken off the roots. You may have to rinse/blast it off with a hose. If any strings have roots, they should be planted in well draining mix. Any dead roots and parts of plant/stems should be cut off - they won't come back to life. Healthy pieces could be stuck in a well draining mix. They could also be laid over the mix, making sure part of stem is touching the mix - put a small rock on it or pin it down so it stays in contact. they will eventually root. Do not use very deep pot, it holds too much soil/mix and if it is water retaining, makes things bad again. Hanging pots are best for these plants, but make sure there is good drainage. I use many of those pots, but drill extra holes all over the bottom - it will drain and drip water, so either keep somewhere where it doesn't matter, or use some kind of tray to catch it. You could also take it to the sink, water, let all excess water to drain for a while and then put in its place. If using Cactus&Succulent soil, get a bag of perlite. Sift or rinse it, and mix at least 50/50 with C&S soil. And please, fill up the pot - as it is, I can't see any soil there...Mix should come up no lower than 1" or less from the top of container.