Wandering Dude - Tradescantia zebrina ‘Silver Plus’
Quick Facts
Tradescantia Background
The Tradescantia Genus is named after John Tradescant and his son of the same name who were botanists and gardeners to Charles the 1st of England. The genus name zebrina refers to the zebra stripped foliage appearance. As for its common name the nodes on the stem tend to be about 1 inch apart hence the name inch plant and it loves to crawl and trail thus the name wandering dude. Tradescantia zebrina is a great plant for an aspiring Greenthumbs as it is a very tough/hardy and easy to care for plant.
Environmental Requirments
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Water
They prefer a regular watering schedule and like to have a dry down between each watering but be careful not to let it dry down too much as it can start to crisp and drop its lower leaves. On the other hand, If kept too moist it can succumb to root rot or even stem rot. Try to reduce water in fall and winter when its growth slows down.
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Light
Silver Plus Tradescantia prefers a bright indirect light as it has variegation and needs brighter light in order to keep its coloring. But if too bright of light is provided it will not only possibly cause leaf burn but also wash out the coloring to give it a dull color rather than the silvery iridescent color that it is known for. Low lighting can also cause the growth to be leggy and the stems to be weak and easily break.
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Humidity
These plants do prefer to be exposed to a higher humidity but as long as you are watering correctly humidity shouldn’t be an issue. If you have a humidifier in your house already they might enjoy that area more than others or if you have enough light in our bathroom that would be a good spot too. In the drier months, the leaf tips may brown and would benefit from a bit of humidity but it’s not required.
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Temperature
It can be grown all year round indoors either by a window or with a grow light. It can also be grown outdoors in certain zones but must be dug up and brought inside for the winter because it can not handle frost.
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Toxicity
This plant and many others in the family can be mildly toxic to humans, cats, and dogs due to the sap that comes from the broken stems. The sap can cause dermatitis aka a skin irritation. Personally, I have sensitive skin and have touched the sap with no problem before but everyone is different and it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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Soil
Prefers loamy to Sandy soil but can grow well in potting soil and other media as long as it has good drainage.
How to Id Wandering Dude
Tradescantia zebrina Morphology
Foliage Morphology
Form: Simple
A singular leaf blade that is never divided into smaller leaflet units
Color: Variegated with Green, Gray/silver iridescent, Purple, and Lavender
The leaf coloration is very showy with the iridescent silver coloration mixed with the purple hues
Silver, Green, Lavender colors are stretched longitudinally on the foliage
Underside of leaves are usually a reddish - purple hue
When exposed to sunlight the silver coloration appears to be iridescent and sparkle
Shape: Narrowly Ovate to Lanceolate tip
Lanceolate (Long, Wider in the middle, and sharp at the top)
Narrowly Ovate (A leaf that is wider at the base than at the midpoint, and tapers towards the apex)
Apicies: Actue
Sharp point, Apex of a leaf where both sides meet to make an angle that is less than 90 degrees
Base: Rounded
Curved at the bottle with two sides that meet to form an angle more than 90 degrees
Margin: Entire
Smooth, not serrated or dented in any way
Venation: Parallel
Veins run parallel to eachother and meet at the tip and the base
Stems are decumbent
When a plant lies on the group with its extremity pointing upwards
Texture: Glossy with some hairs present but not quite tomentose
Arrangement: Alternate
Leaf Length: 1-3 inches
Leaf Attachement: Sessile (Having no stalk or petiole and attaching or growing directly from the stem)
Closed leaf sheath meaning the leaf sheath is held tightly to the stem or that their edges connect forming a complete tube around the stem
Inflorescense Morphology
Flower Color: Lavender to Purple and sometimes White
3 Petals with yellow anthers in the middle
Can bloom throughout the year but rarely bloom indoors
The tiny flowers arise from the leaf axils
Ovary Position: Superior or Hypogynous
When the plant parts are attached below the ovary
Ovary (The enlarged basil portion of the pistil where the ovules are produced)
Is a perfect Flower (The flower has both Stamens and Carpels making it bisexual)
Corolla/Petal Shape: Rotate and Stellate
Rotate - Wheel like flower with petals that are not fused together
Stellate - Star shaped flower with tepals
Tepals - When sepals and petals are so indistinguishable that they you refer to the both of them as tepals
Flower Symmetry: Actinomorphic/radical
Has radical symmetry and can be divided on any longitudinal plane into symmetrical halves
Photo courtesy of Sheldon Navie from weedsofAustralia.org
Growth Habit/Form
Tradescantias like to trail, creep, and hang mostly which makes them fantastic for ground covers around other plants and trees or as spillers in hanging baskets or decorative containers. The fact that they root at every node makes them fast growing that can take over quickly. But their trailing stems can become leggy especially when provided with low light.
Flowering
Tradescantia zebrina can Bloom all year round but barely flowers when indoors. You can try different things to help it flower but usually in non native climates they will not flower. Keeping it in the bright indirect light it prefers can encourage flowers to appear. Keeping your plant consistently moist is important as well as a mild application of fertilizer every month or so can also help to push flowers.
Photo courtesy of Dick Culbert from North Carolina Extension
Pest and Disease Issues
Aphids
Spider Mites
Mealy Bugs
Scale
Thrips
Whitefly
Root Rot
Stem Rot
Pruning and Maintenance
Tradsescantias can usually handle heavy pruning. Pinching stems off the plant actually encourages bushier healthier growth. As your tradescantia gets bigger and the foliage on top starts to grown over the foliage on the underneath, the underneath foliage can start to break off, crisp up, or generally die off because its not recieving the light and airflow that the top foliage it getting. This is a good time to prune because if left to its own devices it will self prune and start to fall off from the underneath on its own.
Sometimes they can also just become unruly, large, and heavy which can cause the pot to tip over if kept on a shelf or possibly make your hanging basket lean so pruning can be detrimental. When they are this large and heavy the weight of the plant itself can cause the weak stems to break off so don’t be surprised if this happens. This plant roots very easily in water or in soil and also breaks very easily at each node making it easily propagatable. But if the plant has dried down to the point of foliage dying off in large amounts you can trim the plant back to the base and most of the time it will rejuvenate itself if its not too far gone.
Water Propagation
Take Cuttings
Take Cuttings of the vines from your established Tradescantia that are about 7 inches or longer, it is recommended to take your cutting right above the previous node in order to leave some stem
Cutting too close to the nodule can damage it or just not leave enough room for it to grow
Though some may think taking cuttings from your plant is harming it or stunting the growth, removing growth will actually encourage new growth and allow for more light penetration making the existing stems stronger
Cutting off the stems allows the plant to redirect the energy it was using to grow those stems into growing other existing stems or new stems longer and lusher
You can take a cutting from this plant any time of the year
Remove Foliage and Place in Water
Remove about 1 to 2 inches of the leaves on the bottom of the stems to show a bare stem and leave the rest of the foliage
Removing leaves from the bottom of the stem allows the plant to redirect the energy it uses to sustain those into making roots at each internode
Now you can take that cutting and place it in a glass jar or bowl with fresh water
Let It Root
Tradescantia can root very quickly and easily but because of their weaker fleshier stem they also can rot in the water
To avoid rotting replace the water in the jar with clean water every couple days or so
Keeping the water clean ensures there is not rot, mold, or water borne pathogen that can affect their growth
Plant Your Rooted Cutting
Once you have roots you can take the stems out of the jar and I personally recommend washing the stems off as sometimes they can be quite slimy from sitting in the water that long
Once your stems are all washed off you can plant them in a pot with some potting soil and place them in a nice sunny spot and watch them take off
Soil Propagation
Take Cuttings
Take Cuttings of the vines from your established Tradescantia that are about 7 inches or longer, it is recommended to take your cutting right above the previous node in order to leave some stem
Cutting too close to the nodule can damage it or just not leave enough room for it to grow
Though some may think taking cuttings from your plant is harming it or stunting the growth, removing growth will actually encourage new growth and allow for more light penetration making the existing stems stronger
Cutting off the stems allows the plant to redirect the energy it was using to grow those stems into growing other existing stems or new stems longer and lusher
You can take a cutting from this plant any time of the year
Remove Foliage and Plant
Remove about 1 to 2 inches of the leaves on the bottom of the stems to show a bare stem and leave the rest of the foliage
Removing leaves from the bottom of the stem allows the plant to redirect the energy it uses to sustain those into making roots at each internode
Now you can take that cutting and place it in a glass jar or bowl with fresh water