Tradescantia Tricolor

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Origin

Tradescantia fluminensis, or Tradescantia Tricolor, is an eye-catching herbaceous perennial recognized for its colorful foliage. They're native to parts of the tropical and subtropical Americas, such as Mexico, as well as the Caribbean.

The name 'Tradescantia' is in honor of the 17th-century botanist John Tradescant, and actually refers to a genus of around 75 species.

'Tricolor' refers to the fact that this plant shows multiple colors on its leaves, including green, purplish-pink and cream.

Care

Want more pink / purple leaves? Make sure that it gets enough light and keep removing any green leaves.

Tradescantia plants are fast growers - if you don't want to allow green leaves to take over your plant then be sure to remove them as soon as you see them, as these will grow faster than variegated leaves.

They're best suited to temperatures between 65 - 75 ° F (or 18 - 24 ° C). If exposed to colder temperatures than this, their leaves can start to suffer. On the other hand, they can tolerate hotter temperatures, but they won't be as happy!

Other

If it gets enough light, this plant can also produce flowers in shades of purple, pink or white. These flowers have no fragrance and bloom perpetually.

Tradescantia Tricolor has a tendency to wander, and due to its quick growth, it can become leggy if not pruned. To maintain a full, bushy appearance you should pinch off the stems every now and then.

These plants can be short-lived, but luckily it's quite easy to propagate them via cuttings!

How to propogate your Tradescantia Tricolor

All you need to do in order to get yourself a brand-new Tradescantia Tricolor is to take a cutting from a healthy parent plant.

The cutting should be at least 1 inch (roughly 3 cm) long with at least one leaf attached to it.

You can then place the cutting either directly into potting soil or into water. By keeping it in water, you'll more easily be able to keep track of whether it is rooting successfully. New roots should start to appear within a week or so.

Allow these roots to become long and strong - this may take a bit of time - but once it's ready you can then repot them into soil. Then you have a new baby Tradescantia!