Hi Karen!

thanks for the input! I did take the rocks out when I transferred 👍🏼 The photos above are what it is currently in. I set it on the window sill and I am now leaving it alone!!

I originally changed pots because it was growing rapidly and I thought it would look nice in the hanging planter I got. I did not do enough research about pearls taking better to small pots... bad move on my end. Hoping I caught it early enough that it can bounce back!

This plant looks good in hanging pot. Mine grew to over 4' in couple of seasons. So planting it in hanging pot was not problem. Problem was how you planted it. Using containers without drainage holes creates many (if not most) problems. Rocks at the bottom create false belief that drainage is good. Excess water collects in between them, and eventually (when reaching soil) start being re-absorbed back into soil. You didn't say what kind of soil yo used, and it isn't easy to judge it from your photos. It may be too water retaining and that would add to the problem. One of the fastest way of damaging succulents is letting them sit in wet soil for too long. Plants ..."taking better to small pots"... is also misunderstood, maybe even misleading to some extent. Smaller pot = less soil. If that soil is water-retaining, it has chance to dry up faster. So at least for a while, all will look ok. It isn't size of pot, but type of potting medium used. You could pot same sized plant into a bushel, as long as drainage is good. It would look funny, but most likely not kill the plant...

Thank you! So the hanging pot actually did have a large drainage hole! I added rocks and cactus mix as just an extra drainage boost because the pot was about 3x larger than the one it was in originally. I just think there was still too much soil and it all could t dry out fast enough to keep the plant happy. Also I didn’t mean all plants take better to small pots, just this plant in particular because it has a small root system and is prone to root rot! i agree they look sooo neat in a hanging pot!!! Hopefully some day I can do that with this one again...

You are correct that big pot was a problem - but only because of water-retaining soil used. That is why it took too long to dry out. I do not use soil, bu it is very good idea to amend it to make it well draining. Adding some inorganic materials helps drainage. Sifted/rinsed perlite or pumice, grit, scoria and more are all good amendments. Unfortunately, bagged Cactus & Succulent soil is still not well draining; look at ingredient list if you still have it. That is why ppl using it add perlite or pumice, half or even more. Make sure there is no more than 50% of soil - less is better. Just about all of my succulents are in a mix without soil and have been for years. I keep them outdoors during warm enough weather (here it is usually end of May until late Nov; possibly later if warm enough). They get rained on and dry up without problems.

Wow! This was extremely helpful! Thank you so much!! I had no idea that this was the case with cactus mix.. very misleading! it Makes sense because when I dumped out the soil, it seemed so compact, and wet. I will leave it in there right now, but for the future, this is great to know! I live in Oregon and the weather has been nice, so I might just put it outside... thank you again!!

Make sure you acclimatize any plant to outside - light is much stronger than indoors. You don't want to fry them. So start with dappled shade, moving into stronger light gradually. It is best to leave plant outdoors rather than bringing it in and out. So, if nighttime temps are reasonable, put it outside and leave there. It is important for succulents to be potted in well draining mix. If your mix was damp and compacted, I would get rid of it and use new mix with lots of inorganics in it. If it doesn't drain well, you may have problems if it rains. I don't know what is weather like in Oregon, so consider your conditions.

Is that nice hanging pot big enough for you to put your plastic pot in? I put many of my plants that are in a plastic nursery pot into a prettier pot. Then take the plastic pot out of the decorative pot to water.

Hopefully that makes sense... I have grown a string of pearls before (husband killed it during our move last year) and I think it still looks well enough to recover given the right conditions.

Caitlin

Anna said that hanging pot had drainage hole...see her previous post (6 up...)

Yes. All I was saying is that if she is planning on leaving the plant in the nursery pot she just put it back in to then she can place that nursery pot into the decorative one so that it still looks like its in a nice planter pot :).

The fact that you've kept it doing well for months, speaks well of your skill with this plant. Mine always fall apart within two weeks. Never again

rina,

do you think I should re-pot again with different soil? Or leave it for now? I re-potted it with cactus soil again... now I am nervous the same thing will happen.

also, so you can get an idea, this was the planter I put it in. much Larger and thicker than the one prior and the one now

Caitlin,

I wish it was large enough :( I just posted a photo of it above. Much larger than the one it’s in unfortunately.

Caitlin

Looks like I misunderstood you :) Yes, plastic could be put in. Hanging pot is quite deep, inner pot would have to be propped up.

Anna

It seems to be quite deep, otherwise diameter looks ok to me. What are the measurements? Handling plant too many times may not be best, but you need to decide if the soil is too water-retaining and may cause more problems than re-potting of plant again.