Tradescantia is a very decorative plant. In this guide I will demonstrate how to propagate tradescantia in water, so easy…
Tradescantia (known as spiderwort) is a tropical perennial herbaceous plant with prostrate, succulent foliage.
Its leaves are very decorative, oval, shiny, with several varieties with different variegated stripes.
Its color ranges from deep purple to pink and also green and white. The flowers are small and pink and insignificant from an ornamental point of view.
Given its compact appearance, small size and adaptation to the shade, tradescantia is an excellent option for ground cover in shady and half-shaded situations, where lawns hardly thrive, such as under the canopy of trees.
Its planting in pots and hanging baskets is also very popular, highlighting its beautiful hanging foliage.
It is in this way that we know it best, as a beautiful potted plant that we grow at home.
It is a typically tropical plant, it does not tolerate cold and frost, but it adapts very well to greenhouses or to be grown as a houseplant.
It propagates easily by cuttings and that’s what I’m going to show you now without further ado.
You will be amazed at how easy it is to propagate tradescantia in water.
We will need a mature parent plant that allows us to take cuttings, scissors and a jar or glass.
In this article
Prepare the jar with water
Fill the jar with water.
Take the tradescantia cuttings
I cut segments from the tradescantia branches at a point just below a leaf node.
They don’t need to be very long branches, the more compact they are, the better. It is enough that they have 2 or 3 leaf nodes.
I remove the bottom leaves, leaving only the leaf cluster at the top.
Put the cuttings in water
I place the cuttings in the jar so that the leaves are out of the water and the stems are submerged as shown in the image.
And wait…
Then I place the jar in a warm and bright place, but without direct sunlight.
I usually place the jar inside an opaque pot to keep the water out of the light. This prevents the water from developing algae and turning green.
Exactly one month has passed since I made the tradescantia cuttings and put them in water.
I didn’t really do anything but wait. The wonder of doing this propagation in water and not in the soil is that we can follow the evolution of the roots, which gives extra pleasure in the process.
Tradescantia propagation, the results
And here is the result, we can clearly see the roots that grew in the leaf nodes. Isn’t Nature wonderful!?
So, with this size we can already plant in a pot.
Planting new propagated spiderwort
Very easy, the normal procedure. I fill small pots with some generic potting compost, put each plant into its pot and top up with more compost.
Finally, I water and place them once again in a bright place without direct sun. Keep well watered until they show signs of vigorous growth.
From there I can fertilize and replant elsewhere.
I hope this has been an enlightening guide to the process of propagating tradescantia in water. Already tried? Write to me, share your experience with me and how do you use these plants in your designs.
