I'm not sure what baby tears are. Is it a vining fig?

Baby Tears (Helxine soleiroli) is a moss-like creeper with minute, delicate foliage. You may be able to locate it at florist shops and I have seen it at nurseries. I would suggest trying it as a pot plant first to see if you can get it to grow. Although all the books may say that it is easy, I have never had any luck growing it. The plant must have contact with the soil to spread. It prefers a cool spot which is in partial shade. Very fussy as to water requirements. Maybe others have used it with success as a topiary plant. I have not been able to and just tossed out another plant of Baby Tears that died.

I have had a lot of luck growing baby tears indoors. i also saw it growing in an outdoor pot (very shaded) at a hotel in Ontario, California (near LA. So it must tolerate the high temperatures there. I have also had a great deal of luck with getting it to spread - i have taken small 3 inch containers from the garden center and cut the baby tears into 4 pieces in 4 new 3 inch pots. Give the new pots some morning sun and they will fill in completely in 3 or 4 weeks. Note - I am not sure, but there may be more than one form of Baby Tears kinda like Stonecrop. Most places it is grown as a house plant.

I too am looking for baby tears. I have not been able to locate a distributor that carrys it. HELP

I have been *tryng* to grow baby tears but alas, I can't get it to thrive...

I also have 'angel's tears' otherwise known as mind your own business which is also a bit fussy for me...likes to grow outdoors but absolutely languishes in my house!

I just *love* the growing habits of these plants though...

Unfortunately 'Baby's Tears' is one of those common names that crops up with several plants (another is Irish Moss) and whilst searching for Helxine/Soleirolia Soleirolii I found an aquatic of the same name.

Having said that it's Helxine you're after and it can be found being sold as a houseplant even though it thrives outdoors (drought and cold may appear to kill it but it survives under the soil). Other names include MYOB (Mind Your Own Business), Maltese Curse, Irish Moss, Mother Of Millions and a host of similar monikers.

The 'topiary' aspect is a bit of a cheat involving mounding up the soil at the top of a pot. Helxine colonises like crazy so with damp conditions it will cover whatever shape the mound is in. Even on a flat surface the centre of the patch tends to mound up, so any purposely created shape is amplified. Not really topiary and I can't imagine free standing shapes, but fun nevertheless.

(I'm using Helxine as a Japanese Moss substitute in the garden but watchout it spreads slowly but surely.)

The last time I saw Baby Tears was at Target department store.
It was inside the store not in the garden area. Ask there for it and many other plants nurseries may not have.

http://www.accentsforhomeandgarden.com/item2534.ctlg
here you all go they have great plants and fast service here

Hi, Baby Tears is quite avail in PNW. Unfortunately I don't have any problem growing it. Or should I say, have any problem with it growing. It does seem to die back during a cold winter but comes back full force in the spring. If you do find it be careful where you plant it. It will invade your lawn. I thought my rock border would contain it but it spread quickly and furiously. It's pretty though. I take 'plugs' with my bulb tool and plop them into pots for friends. Jim

If Helxine is proving to be difficult then Sagina subulata (Irish Moss) might be a substitute where the planting gets around a half day or more of sun. Otherwise it goes straggly.

Although I've seen Helxine galloping under staging in garden centres and glasshouses, in my garden it politely sits in a patch of gravel, enjoying the leaf litter and morning sun along with the overflow from the rain barrel. I suspect it of being a waterholic.

I just purchased a hanging Baby Tears at my local Home Depot.

I have had great sucess with baby tears (helxine soleirolii). It thrives in our cool No. Cal coastal climate, but only in the shade. Even here it burns in the sun. I just picked up a variegated one from Western Hills Nursery in Occidental CA. Really pretty pinkish hue to it. but I can't find it anywhere on the web. Must indeed be an unusual variety.

I found baby tears at my local amish farm, here in Maryland.

Please, help!!!!!
I want to be rid of baby tears because they spread everywhere and kill my flowers. What you can recommend?

I will take some of the Baby tears...I hve been looking for them to make topiary or hanging basket. I have assorted
succulents peperomia and jades if you like or I can pay the postage. thanks...Sue

Could somebody please help me with this impossible plant! =(

I have been trying to grow Baby's Tears (Soleirolia soleirolii) on and off for many years now. I have tried growing it from cuttings, I have tried buying a thriving pot of it from a nursery, I have tried growing it in full sun, muted sun, partial sun, full shade, I've tried indoors, outdoors, in doorways, I've tried everything from submerging it, to well watered, to lightly watered, to no water at all, and everything between, and for the life of me I can not seem to keep this plant alive for more than a week or two no matter what I try!!

I'm in Australia, the temperatures here range from a little below 0C/33F in the coldest part of a winter night, to about 45C/113F at the peak of a hot summer. Average temp year round would be between 10C/50F to 20C/58F. I have plenty of locations available for every possible degree of sunlight, indoor or outdoor.

If anybody can tell me what the optimal conditions for keeping one of these alive, or what I can do to minimize my chances of killing my next attempt, I would be very grateful!

Thanks in advance!

Here is a link that might be useful: Vaelor's Keep

Please continue to disregard my above request for help. I found the info I was looking for at Dave's Garden and now my Baby's Tears is alive again. Thanks anyhow.

Anyone wnat some come my way. It is an invasive weed as far as I am concerned. It was in some of the pots I brought home from a local nursery and now it is everywhere!!! Does anyone know if it will survive off the ground? I am looking for a plant to make a four foot topiary angel with.

Arcy, I would love some. If you're still around, let me know. Thanks! Maybe I have something you would like.

If anyone has some soleirolii, I want to buy some plants, please sell me some or tell me where to buy it.

Thanks

I have grown baby tears in both TN and AK. In TN I used kept it indoors due to the heat. In AK it did well outside for the summer, then I overwintered it inside (had it in pots). It does require alot of water and I keep it in the shade. I bought my first one at a nursery, but they stopped carrying it and found it at another one but it was not the same. Mine has little tiny flat little almost heart shaped leaves and a pinkish stem. Others I found were fatter leaves - more like a succulent. Found my original one here at Home Depot - never expected to find it here!

I found the local nurseries carry it as well as Walmart in either 6 packs or flats. It's very prolific. However, I have an area that might be easier to plant seeds and I'm having a hard time locating them also. Any ideas?

I have been told that Baby Tears is such a prolific grower that you have to make sure it doesn't get to your lawn or you might have to lay new turf. So why can't I get it to even stay alive in pots or between paving stones? I have a ball of Helxina in a small pot on a window ledge which is rapidly turning brown and shriveling up, even though it is in moist soil.