Wandering jew is a perennial plant, meaning it lives for several years and grows back from its roots each year. It’s part of the mint family and can reach up to eight feet tall. This plant has small, soft leaves that are green in color with white or purple veins. It has tiny bell flowers look, and they’re actually hermaphrodites. It means they produce both male and female flowers on the same plant.
But do you know that wandering jew can be propagated? This article will teach you how to propagate wandering jew and more about this plant!
Understanding the Plant: Types, and Growing Conditions
Like any other plants, wandering jew also have various types. It includes the following.
- Tradescantia fluminensis
- Tradescantia zebrina
- Tradescantia pallida
- Tradescantia blossfeldiana
- Tradescantia sillamontana
- Tradescantia spathacea
- Tradescantia virginiana
- Tradescantia longipes
But regardless of the type, all these have the same growing conditions that need to be pacified.
- They thrive in bright and indirect light and do well in full sun without harm. They just don’t like low light, or else the markings on the leaves will fade.
- Only water wandering jew around its roots and not on the crown because it can cause rot.
- It thrives in slightly moist soil and is not too drenched.
- You can use an all-purpose, water-soluble fertilizer once a month during its growing season.
3 Ways how to propagate wandering jew
Here are various ways how to propagate wandering jew. Feel free to settle on the method you feel is more convenient for you.
1. How to propagate wandering jew through the division of rhizomes?
A single spidewort is enough to propagate wandering jew. In this method, you don’t need to cut stems and wait for them to root. So, here are the steps to follow!
- Loosen up the roots and soil of wandering jew. Remember to carefully ease it and not force it to get the entire plant. You can use butter knives to loosen the soil and roots.
- Remove the soil and spiderwort roots that you got from the pot.
- Divide the spiderwort with your hands and ensure you’re ready for its mess.
- Next is to clean or trim every division you get. Remove dry and discolored foliage as well as unnecessary flowers.
- Put your divisions in different containers. When their nodes meet the soil, they expect to develop roots soon.
2. How to propagate wandering jew through cuttings?
Propagating wandering jew through cuttings is almost the same when propagating other plants on the soil. Here are a few steps to follow.
- Check your parent plant and pick stems that are in good condition.
- Look for the stem with shoots that are not mushy.
- Sanitize your knife before cutting.
- Cut 4 to 6 inches of stem, with at least two nodes.
- Remove the leaves on the bottom of the stem as a preparation for planting.
- Leave 2 to 3 leaves on the upper part of the stem.
- Prepare your plastic pots with moistened perlite, moss, and soil propagation medium.
- Place your stem cutting in the soil at least 1 inch deep.
- Press the soil around the planted stem for it to stand on its own.
3. How to propagate wandering jew through layering?
The last method is propagating wandering jew through air layering. Here are the steps to follow.
- Choose a stem section that has at least two nodes.
- Get your rehydrated moss and wrap the nodes with it.
- Snuggly secure your nodes and moss by wrapping them with plastic.
- After a couple of weeks, you’ll see developing roots from the nodes. But don’t rush on cutting it.
- You must wait for 1 to 2 months to have more established roots.
- Once you have established roots, unwrap the plastic and remove the moss.
- Using a sanitized pruning sear, cut the shoot below its root ball.
- Put in a new pot.
How to care for propagated wandering jew?
Watering
It needs to be watered about once every two weeks in spring and fall and once every week during the summer. If you don’t get enough water, these plants will show signs of stress. They’ll lose leaves and have brown spots on the leaves.
To help keep your wandering jew plant in tip-top shape, here are some tips.
- Keep the soil moist but not wet. You can utilize a spray bottle to mist the top of the soil surface, which will help keep it evenly moist without any dry spots.
- Don’t let your wandering jew sit in water. This can cause root rot or algae blooms, and both are fatal.
Lighting
The wandering jew plant needs bright light, but not direct sunlight. They also need plenty of warmth in the winter, so it’s best to keep them outdoors if you’re living in an area that gets cold during the winter.
If you desire to keep your wandering jew indoors year-round, ensure they get plenty of indirect sunlight. If you don’t have this kind of natural light available for them, consider supplementing with artificial lighting.
Fertilizing
Wandering jew plants are not as picky as they seem. They don’t require a lot of fertilizer, and they can even be fertilized with nitrogen-based fertilizer if that’s all that you have.
If you want to give your wandering jew plant a boost in the spring, you can apply a nitrogen-based fertilizer around the time of transplanting your plant and again in mid-spring.
Pests and Diseases
Wandering jews are susceptible to many pests, including aphids, mealybugs, scale insects, spider mites, whiteflies, and thrips.
Some pest control methods include spraying with insecticidal soap or neem oil, applying horticultural oil, and ensuring the soil drains well by composted potting soil instead of regular garden soil.
Another common problem affecting wandering jews is fungal infections. A disease called white mold can cause leaves to turn yellow or brown and distort their shape. The best way to treat this condition is by removing infected leaves from the plant and treating its soil with fungicide powder or liquid.
Propagate this beautiful wandering jew today!
As you can see, there are different ways how to propagate wandering jew. Some are beginner-friendly, such as the stem cuttings, while some are for advanced gardeners, like the air layering method. But the good thing here is you can already see the possible method that could work for you.
So make sure to save this post and share it with your family or friends who want to explore propagating wandering jew. Propagating is fun, and it’s time to add wandering jew to your list today!