Tradescantia zebrina care: light, water and a fuller plant
Tradescantia zebrina grows well in bright, filtered light, in a well-drained mix watered once the top has dried. Too little light takes the silver and purple out of the leaves and leaves the stems bare, so regular pruning keeps it full. This page covers placement, watering, a bushier plant, varieties, cuttings and pets.
- Bright, filtered light keeps the stripes; low light fades them and bares the stems.
- Let the top of the mix dry between waterings, and water less in winter.
- Pinch and prune often; every piece you cut roots in water or moist compost.
What a Tradescantia zebrina is
Tradescantia zebrina is a trailing perennial in the spiderwort family, native from Mexico to Colombia, NC State says. Its other names include silver inch plant, zebra plant and wandering dude, and older labels call it Zebrina pendula. The leaves carry two broad silvery stripes above and are deep purple beneath, and Wisconsin Horticulture says the fine hairs on their edges make them sparkle in bright light.
The stems are succulent, root at every node that touches soil and break easily at the nodes, Wisconsin says. That explains the care below: the plant spreads along the ground where it grows wild, it tolerates a missed watering, and every broken piece is a cutting. Missouri calls it easy to grow, and easy house plants that forgive neglect covers more like it; the plant care guide has every other species on the site.
Tradescantia varieties, from zebrina to purple heart
Within zebrina, the cultivars change the stripes. Wisconsin describes Burgundy with dark burgundy-purple and grey stripes, Leprechaun greenish-grey with purple stripes, and Quadricolor striped cream, pink, purple and green.
Two other species are sold alongside it. Tradescantia fluminensis, which Missouri Botanical Garden says owns the name inch plant, has plain green leaves with purple undersides, and the ASPCA lists it as toxic to cats. Tradescantia pallida, purple heart, has dark purple leaves on both sides, and NC State says it shows its best purple in full sun and turns greener in shade.
| Variety | What the leaf looks like | Light it needs | Suits a pocket? |
|---|
| Tradescantia zebrina | Two silver stripes above, purple beneath | Bright, filtered | Yes |
| Tradescantia zebrina ‘Burgundy’ | Dark burgundy-purple with grey stripes | Bright, filtered | Yes |
| Tradescantia zebrina ‘Quadricolor’ | Cream, pink, purple and green stripes | Bright, filtered | Yes |
| Tradescantia fluminensis (inch plant) | Green, fleshy, purple beneath | Full sun to part shade | Yes |
| Tradescantia pallida (purple heart) | Dark purple on both sides, hairy | Full sun for the colour | Only in a sunny spot |
Does a tradescantia like sun or shade?
Bright, filtered light. Missouri Botanical Garden says it does best in filtered sun and will take direct sun with some afternoon protection, and Wisconsin grows it in bright light indoors. NC State and Wisconsin agree that full sun gives the strongest colour in a cool climate but washes it out in a warm one, so a bright window out of hot midday sun is the spot.
Low light is what spoils it. Wisconsin says the stems lose their lower leaves and the leaves lose much of their colour, and growth turns straggly, so it is not a plant for a dark corner; plants for a low light room covers the ones that are.
Keep it warm: NC State gives 18 to 24°C as the range it thrives in.
How to water a tradescantia
Water when the top of the mix has dried, not on a set day. NC State and Wisconsin both let the soil dry out between waterings, while Missouri Botanical Garden keeps it consistently moist but well drained while it grows. All three water less in winter, from autumn to late winter in Missouri’s words.
Water the soil, not the plant. NC State says leaf spot and other fungal diseases follow wet leaves and crowding, and NC State and Missouri both say root and stem rot come from soil kept too wet. What yellow leaves are telling you sorts out the other causes of dying leaves.
Compost and repotting a tradescantia
Missouri Botanical Garden uses a peaty, soil-based potting mix, and NC State says it takes most soils as long as they drain well.
It stays low, which suits a small pot: NC State gives 15 to 23 cm tall and 30 to 60 cm wide, and RHS about 15 cm tall.
How to make a tradescantia bushy
Prune it, often. Wisconsin says it tolerates heavy pruning and that pinching promotes denser foliage, NC State that it can be cut back hard every spring, and Missouri pinches stems as needed. NC State adds that trimming keeps it contained and makes the foliage denser.
Then replant what you cut. The trimmed tips root readily, Wisconsin says, so pushing a few back into the same pot is the quickest way to fill a thin plant. And fix the light, since Wisconsin ties straggly, bare stems to low light.
Is tradescantia an indoor or outdoor plant?
Both, depending on the winter. NC State rates it for USDA zones 9 to 11, where it is used as groundcover, and Missouri for zones 8 to 12; elsewhere it is a houseplant or a summer annual. Missouri takes plants outside in summer. Outdoors it roots at the nodes and spreads along the ground, which Missouri says makes the related inch plant somewhat invasive, so keep it in a pot.
Is tradescantia toxic to cats and dogs?
Yes, mildly. NC State rates the poison severity as low, lists mouth and stomach irritation if pets or people eat it, and says the sap causes skin irritation and redness, naming cats and dogs among those affected. The ASPCA has no zebrina entry, but its cat list names the inch plant, Tradescantia fluminensis, as toxic.
Wear gloves to prune it, since Wisconsin and Missouri both say the sap can irritate skin. Hung high, the trailing stems stay out of a pet’s reach. For a trailing plant the ASPCA lists as non-toxic, the spider plant takes a similar bright spot.
A tradescantia on the wall
Missouri Botanical Garden grows it in hanging baskets, where the stems cascade down, and a wall pocket does the same at eye level, where the silver stripes and purple undersides both show. Hanging plants that last indoors covers where a trailing plant keeps its leaves, and living wall systems, compared the other ways to put plants on a wall.
A pocket stands proud of the wall with air on every side, so the substrate dries from more directions than a pot on a shelf does, which suits a plant that wants the top to dry between waterings. The Medium pocket holds 1.8 litres of substrate, about what a 15 cm pot takes. Keep it where it gets bright, filtered light, since a dim wall fades the stripes.
The board hangs by a slot near its top on one wall hook, so the wall side is one screw, one plug and one drilled hole. Treat the filled weight like a heavy framed picture: plasterboard takes an expanding plug, brick a standard one, and a tiled wall needs a tile bit before the masonry bit. The mounting guide goes through it step by step.
- Fill the pocket a third full with a well-drained, peaty potting mix.
- Plant a rooted plant, or several rooted cuttings together, slightly forward.
- Firm gently and lay the stems over the edge; they break easily at the nodes.
- Water the soil, not the leaves, then let the top dry before the next watering.
Tradescantia problems and how to fix them
| What you see | Why | The fix |
|---|
| Stripes fading, leaves turning plain green | Too little light | Move it into bright, filtered light. |
| Long stems bare at the base | Low light and age | Cut the stems back, replant the tips and move it brighter. |
| Colours washed out on a sunny sill | Too much hot sun | Move it back from the window into filtered light. |
| Soft, rotting stems at the base | Root and stem rot from wet soil | Remove rotted stems, let the mix dry and water less. |
| Brown spots on the leaves | Fungal leaf spot from wet leaves or crowding | Water the soil only and thin out crowded stems. |
| White cotton, webbing or sticky leaves | Mealybugs, spider mites, aphids, scale or whiteflies | Rinse the leaves and keep the plant apart from others. |
How to propagate a tradescantia
Wisconsin says it is very easy to start from cuttings, which root readily in water or moist potting soil without rooting hormone, and it also layers, since roots form wherever a node touches moist soil. Mealybugs are among the pests NC State and Missouri name; how to get rid of mealybugs covers the white cotton in the leaf joints.
- Cut a stem tip just below a node, wearing gloves.
- Strip the leaves from the lowest node.
- Stand it in water, or push it straight into moist potting mix.
- Once it has rooted, plant several cuttings together for a full pot.
- To layer, pin a stem onto the mix of a second pot so a node touches it, then cut it free once rooted.
Does a tradescantia flower?
Rarely indoors. NC State and Wisconsin describe tiny three-petalled lavender to white flowers with yellow anthers, and Missouri says they seldom appear on indoor plants.
Why is it called an inch plant?
Missouri Botanical Garden says the leaf nodes are purportedly an inch apart. It adds that the name usually belongs to Tradescantia fluminensis.
Who is tradescantia named after?
John Tradescant and his son of the same name, Missouri Botanical Garden says, botanists and successive gardeners to Charles I of England. Zebrina means zebra-striped.
Is a tradescantia a succulent?
Its stems are. NC State and Wisconsin both describe them as succulent, which is why it tolerates the top of the mix drying out.
Does a tradescantia need humidity?
No special humidity. NC State says it tolerates average home humidity as well as high humidity.
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