*first timer with a tradescantia* *also beginner level with propagating* So she didn’t look that great when I got her a few weeks ago. Definitely feeling better with a repot and fertilized. But, she lost a lot of leaves in the process but getting new growth. My question is, since the stems are so bare towards the bases, should I just propagate above that and start over? Should I leave her be for now since she’s just freshly recovered? She just looks so skimpy 😅
Start by reducing the pot size. The current one is too deep with the top of the soil too low in the pot. Air circulation is less when the soil is too low in the pot. It will take longer to dry out and could lead to root rot. It’s pale for that variety of tradescantia. Get it a grow light if there is no filtered bright sunlight to place it in, south or west windows. You can propagate to remove most of a bare stem. Try propagating in the same pot. I’ve done it several times to fill in a pot. Try it with one or too stems as practice. Leave 2 leaf nodes above the soil and cut off the rest of the stem. Poke a pencil or chopstick into the soil deep enough to hold the cutting while leaving the top leaves out. Remove all leaves below the soil to prevent rot. Water and fertilize as usual. No need to keep the soil extra moist. Watering will eventually fill in the holes around the plant. My photos show two varieties of tradescantia that I propagated by poking holes in the pot and inserting cuttings to fill out the pots. 🪴🍀
Wonderful thank you! Yes she needs more light Im thinking i need a grow light, i have too many trees around proper sunlight has been a struggle. I’ll take any recommendations on where to start for a good one! And I’ll repot into something smaller, she was very droopy when i first got her and i tried to set her a little deep just to help support the stems a bit. I even ended up putting a small trellis in there, i just know theres stems can be so fragile, I wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do but I did ha. When she started looking healthier I took the trellis out, didn’t think about the air flow affecting moisture. Definitely will repot tomorrow.
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I also pin mine when they get a big leggy, the bare stems can be pinned/secured to the top of the soil and should root 😊 they tend to crawl and root well, i believe they do that in their natural environment 😊 also second what sunny says 😀
1 likeThank you! I will try that too!
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