Crassula Perforata ‘variegata’, belonging to the Crassula genus and also known as string of buttons, is a visually appealing shrub succulent.
This shrub when looked at from a distance the tiny spiral foliage looks like small buttons and thus it is also called a string of buttons.
This string of buttons has its origin in South Africa just like most of the succulents.
The plant is mainly purchased because of its aesthetic value as it will make a great decorative item. For people who have a busy schedule, this string of button shrub will be a good purchase as it is easy to take care of.
Further, into the article, you will get all information required before purchasing the string of buttons succulent.
How to identify the string of buttons shrub?
The Crassula string of buttons is an almost 45 cm tall shrub succulent. Overlapped on each other, the foliage & the stems give the plant a stacked crassula-like appearance.
The main identifying feature of this string of buttons plant is the spirally growing triangular-shaped leaves which are greyish-green in color with pinkish edges.
The green buttons flowers are of a yellowish hue during the spring season, thereby boosting up its visual appeal to a greater extent.
Want to make your favorite room more beautiful? The string of buttons will surely help you with it!
Caring for the shrub
Are you worried about how to care for string of buttons? Well, let me tell you that just like any other succulents, the button succulent does not require much attention and it is easy to take care of it.
But there are certain points which are required to be taken into action for better growth of your string of buttons.
Let us quickly go through all the requirements that are essential for the string of buttons care.
Requirement of sunlight & watering
The watering formula for the houseplant is quite a mild one. The shrub should be watered when the dirt dries up only. For weekly care, watering once in 7 days is enough.
You must remember one thing while watering your succulent. Always water it at the base, that is, on the soil, and never should you try watering it from the top. This increases the chances of the rotting of the leaves when you water it from the top.
The succulent grows well in bright to mild sunlight. 6 hours of daily sunlight will do well for the plant.
Mainly, the string of buttons requires plenty of filtered sunlight for its happy growth.
For people residing in places with poor sunlight, they are advised to invest in grow lights for better growth of the succulent.
Temperature & Humidity
The shrub has no specific weather requirements though, but for ensuring healthier and faster growth of your little shrub we need to change the caring methods according to the climate conditions.
For people living in humid locations, the plant can be placed both indoors and outdoors just make sure that the shrub is acclimated before its foliage scorches because of the sun rays.
The string plant should be watered when the soil is bone dry.
The string of buttons winter requirement is slightly different from other seasons. Here, we need to water the plant in a scheduled manner – only once every 2 to 3 weeks. This is so because the soil dries up quickly in winter.
Talking about its frost tolerance, the shrub can tolerate a mild drop in temperature. But make sure that the plant does not get hardy if it so happens then make sure to place it at a warmer location.
Soil Preparation
The string of buttons grows in rocky, barren, and cliff areas of South Africa. Hence, it requires a porous and sandy type of soil for its better growth.
We can either make a purchase for such soil or prepare a soil mixture on our own.
The soil mixture does not replace the actual soil but the mixture contains enough ingredients to fulfill the basic growth requirements of the succulent.
The soil mixture is prepared by mixing up 1 part each of the partially composted pine fines, Perlite, and crushed granite.
Fertilizers
Fertilizing the string of Buttons isn’t that crucial. Give your houseplant the required supplements they need which will guarantee appropriate development and empower sprouts.
For crassula perforata care, additional supplements can be a great help as these can supplement their requirements during the blossoming season.
It is advised to treat your plant with a good quality supplement during the dynamic developing season or summer and spring months.
Utilize just at a quarter or half-quality, at regular intervals. Try not to treat toward the finish of the fall season and during winter months.
The best compost for crassula string of buttons plant care is by utilizing a fair mix of manure which is planned for desert plants like succulents.
Transplanting the string of buttons
Wondering how to perfectly plant your string of buttons? Wonder no more the following points will guide you well with its plantation.
Planting
Crassula perforata isn’t a cold tough indoor plant, so on the off chance that you live in a zone that gets colder than 20° F (- 6.7° C), it’s ideal to plant this delicious in a holder that can be brought inside.
Nevertheless, it does well in full to the fractional sun.
Plant the shrub in a region which gets 6 hours of daily sunlight. In the case of planting inside, place in a room that gets a great deal of daylight, for example, almost a southern-confronting window (in case you’re in the Northern Hemisphere).
It is desirable to develop your string of buttons indoors if you anticipate freezing over the winter. To be sure, the smallest ice would murder it.
A string of buttons can just endure outside in winter in locales closer to the equator. In the case of planting outside, lean toward full sun introduction.
Re-potting
You may wish to re-potting your string of buttons soon after having bought it if you’ve bought it when not in blossom.
But the pots for this plant are normally intended for at any rate an additional two years of administration before becoming excessively little for the plant.
A yearly re-potting is very necessary for your crassula. Make sure it is in a tight fit and in a soil that has blends of coarse sand on one section each.
Reproducing the String of buttons
Having known about the growth & caring, you must be now thinking about how to propagate string of buttons? The simplest and speediest approach to engender these plants is through stem cuttings.
They can be propagated from leaves too. However, the process is trickier and less efficient than utilizing stem cuttings.
If you need to attempt to check leaf spread out, try to utilize the whole leaf which circumvents the stem, including the base to guarantee achievement.
Slide the whole leaf down the stem to eliminate the whole leaf and lay level on the dirt. Spreading from leaves with this kind of plant takes somewhat more time and persistence. I have a lot higher achievement rate with stem cuttings so I generally choose this strategy.
Proliferating from Stem Cuttings
Choose a healthy plant to get the cuttings from, a plant that has not dried out.
Acquire a stem cutting and let it dry for a day or somewhere in the vicinity. Since the stems are flimsy they shouldn’t take that long to dry.
Now, you need to dip the cut end in establishing hormones.
It is recommended to avoid such progression, yet a few people lean toward utilizing hormones to accelerate the growth cycle.
When the cut has recuperated and dried, stick the cuttings in a well depleting preparing blend.
Avoid direct daylight and water the dirt like clockwork or when it feels dry. After around 14 days or thereabouts, you will see new roots developing.
After around 4 weeks to about a month, you will be able to witness new developments from the cuttings.
Once completely established, cut back on the moistening and change to normal watering about once every week or less. Increment the measure of daylight as the plant develops.
Flowering of the Crassula
Want to have some knowledge regarding the string of buttons succulent flowering? The following information will help you with that!
A string of buttons produces groups of white and yellow blossoms. It is consistently a treat for me at whatever point one of my delicious plant sprouts.
Remember that not all plants are prepared to blossom, and some may not sprout by any means. A ton of it relies upon ecological components outside our ability to control.
Here are a few hints on the most proficient method to urge Crassula Perforata to sprout.
Shrub Maturity
Ensure the string of buttons is sufficiently experienced. At the point when a plant sprouts it implies it is prepared to repeat.
If the plant is excessively youthful, it is not prepared to imitate and subsequently won’t blossom.
Give the plant some time, normally if the plant is more than 3 years of age and past, it is sufficiently adult to sprout.
A lot of Light
Ensure the string of buttons is getting satisfactory daylight consistently and are kept in a splendid area, in any event, during colder winter months.
Temperatures
To support blooming, give legitimate temperatures. They need an unmistakable distinction is night and day temperatures just as summer and winter months.
Succulents favor cooler outside evening time temperatures of 50-55⁰F (10-13⁰C) or indoor night temperatures of in any event 60-65⁰F(15-18⁰C).
Particularly when kept in a controlled climate, succulents lean toward a checked contrast between their night & day temperatures.
Overwintering
Overwintering is additionally significant on the off chance that you need to see your succulent blooming.
This can be accomplished by keeping them cool and moderately dry in the winter months, particularly desert prickly plants.
Keep them cool during winter a very long time with temperatures simply above freezing, between 35-44⁰F (1.5-7⁰C).
Whenever kept inside during winter, have them in a non-warmed room if conceivable or keep the temperatures low to give them the virus winter period that they need.
Varieties of Crassula plant
Some strikingly beautiful crassula types are listed down and going through their details will make you desire for one of them surely. So, let us begin now.
1. Crassula Baby’s necklace
Has a place with the Crassula sort of succulents, the Crassula Baby Necklace is one of the most striking yet lovable succulents.
This little, sweet delicious bears puffy and plum leaves. Since it looks more like entwined dabs on the infant’s accessory, this plant looks incredibly delightful.
2. Crassula ‘Tom Thumb’
This small succulent also called string of buttons tom’s thumb includes magnificent “filler” and “spiller” in delicious plans.
It can likewise be added to living delicious wreaths! ‘Dwarf’ develops rapidly, with its splendid green, triangle-formed leaves stacking on the head of one another. The leaf edges turn red under pressure.
3. Crassula Commutata
A small stacked Crassula. This bantam succulent originates in Namibia and South Africa and is very much adjusted to hot, dry rough slants.
Its thick, three-sided leaves remain under 0.4″ long yet store enough water to enable the plant to bear broadened dry season.
4. String-of-buttons (Crassula Perforata ‘variegata’)
A variegated type of the ‘String of Buttons,’ Crassula Perforata variegata’s leaves is velvety yellow with green striping down the midline of each leaf.
When properly sun-focused on, the edges of each leaf of the pink buttons plant will flush another layer of differentiation to this beguiling assortment of the primary color.
As each of the stems arrives at its developed length of 10-12 inches, it will start to delicately wrap, making this delicious an amazing ‘spiller’ expansion to any game plan or mild stone nursery.
5. Crassula Conjuncta
It is succulent with fleshy, three-sided green leaves with red edges and a vertical development propensity.
These Crassula are exceptionally fanning animal categories and counterbalanced effectively, making it the ideal plant for hanging containers or along the edges of rock gardens, where they will promptly frame thick bunches of stems.
Issues that You might get with Crassula’s
Withered Leaves
Underwatering is the fundamental reason behind the withering of leaves for the crassula perforata string of buttons plant. The leaves look wilted, wrinkled, and evaporated.
The leaves will feel failure and level. This is an indication that the plant is coming up short on water. This issue is fixed by watering the succulent. After watering, the leaves should liven up quickly inside one day or two.
Earthy colored Leaves
Burn from the sun is the most well-known reason for earthy-colored leaves. This string of buttons plant can endure full sun, yet extraordinary blistering climate conditions or outrageous heatwaves can cause sun harm.
If the issue is brief, the sun won’t inside harm the plant.
Outrageous warmth can sear the plant to death. On the off chance that you find the plant getting burned from the sun, move the plant to a partial shade area under taller plants, dividers, or overhangs.
Moving the plant from a sunnier spot to a shadier territory, do the movement gradually. You would prefer not to stun the plant. Give an acclimation time from the more extraordinary warmth.
Continuous developments are in every case in a way that is better than extraordinary movement for any series of Buttons.
Soft Brown Leaves
Overwatering is the primary motivation behind why the string of buttons has soft earthy colored leaves. All things considered, the plant will look not beneficial and with delicate and soft leaves and show up clear.
On the off chance that you see signs that you are overwatering the string of buttons, permit the plant to dry out and recoup from an excessive amount of water. You can begin watering after the plant has dry out totally.
At the point when you find that the dirt isn’t drying, you should change the dirt to a well depleting one. When you see root decay, you can rescue the plant by removing the dead parts.
Rescue whatever looks green and achievable to proliferate and repot. It isn’t a plant sickness.
Crassula string of buttons stem drying up
Underwatered succulents are much simpler to spare than overwatered ones.
Delicious plants are made to get by for extensive stretches without water, so regardless of whether your plant’s leaves are looking dry, level, and crimped, you’ll most likely have the option to spare it.
Water your indoor plant with a watering can profoundly when you notice any dry, crimped leaves. You should prop up until the water runs out of the waste gaps to guarantee your delicious gets a sufficient splash.
Ensure that the dirt dries out before you water your delicious once more.
After a couple of profound splashes, your plant should begin looking stout and sound once more. However, if watering it the standard way doesn’t work, it’s an ideal opportunity to draw out the enormous water firearms and attempt water treatment.
String of buttons stem turning woody with dead leaves
Your string of button stem will turn woody will old age and there is nothing to worry about it. But if your button plant has dead leaves growing on the stem, then you need to pluck those leaves off.
It might scare you a lot to find the string of buttons stems turning brown, but your shrub can still be saved from dying as long as the root rot is not major.
If it is so, then take the unaffected portion of your shrub and reroot string of buttons.
Read more about the common succulent problems.
Toxic Nature of Buttons plant
Wondering whether your ornamental value is dangerous or are the string of buttons toxic in any way? Well, I hope the following information clears all your doubts regarding it.
Is Crassula Perforata string of buttons poisounious to cats or dogs?
Well clearly, the plant is in no way toxic towards humans even in the slightest.
ASPCA has clearly stated that the string of buttons is not toxic towards any kind of pets.
Difference between string of buttons and baby’s necklace
Crassula Rupestris, or the Rosary Plant or Baby’s necklace, is a bigger plant than the string of buttons comparable stacked however with fleshier leaves those are more lanceolate instead of entirely three-sided and is regularly two-conditioned.
Additionally, this plant will in general have a greener, fleshier, more extensive stem than Crassula Perforata does. This is a profoundly expanding animal types, as are a large portion of its crossovers and cultivars.
The blossoms of Crassula Rupestris are presumably the fundamental distinctive component, being pink and globoid and very fancy, instead of the straight, weedy blossoms of Crassula Perforata.
Ring plant Vs string of buttons
The Crassula perforata looks very almost like the Crassula Socialis, also known as the ring plant. The two of them mainly differ in aspect to their leaves and flowers.
Ring plant has round-shaped fleshy centrally reddish colored leaves while a string of buttons has triangular-shaped fleshy pinkish edges leaves.
The ring plant has whitish flowers while the string of buttons has yellowish-white leaves.
Curtains down
The string of buttons has huge ornamental value and just like any other succulent also helps in purifying the atmosphere and boosting up work efficiency.
You might be wondering how to get a string of buttons to fill out your interior decor? Well, you are at the right place, since the majority of the purchases are made based upon their aesthetic value.
For beginners, this shrub will be quite easy to maintain.
Placement of the shrub can be made near the windowpane as an indoor plant, we can also keep it as an outdoor plant but this shrub is mostly preferred as an indoor plant.
If you don’t want to just plainly place this beauty along with a windowpane then you might even keep by hanging. Once purchased the string of buttons is all yours and hence you can decorate your favorite spots with this shrub however you want.