---
title: "Tradescantia Zebrina The leaves on the ends are healthy, but where…"
description: "Tradescantia Zebrina The leaves on the ends are healthy, but where the soil is, the leaves are crispy and dead. I’m confused because I give it enough sunlight,…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lZ7uAE3pQ86jnFGxrCwLrg/653fc333211b92480d0b3c43"
community: "Anything about plants"
author: "Lily"
published: "2023-10-30T14:52:35.015Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/4Qrse3kyD9kcXy4Ott_VtigIiUxZ8nCFeWh_E2zCg4o/fee9f23c14a845bd9f0f43b661eef170.webp?size=large"
---

[Community](https://getplanta.com/community.md) / [Anything about plants](https://getplanta.com/community/lZ7uAE3pQ86jnFGxrCwLrg.md)

# Tradescantia Zebrina The leaves on the ends are healthy, but where…

_Posted by Lily on 2023-10-30_

Tradescantia Zebrina

The leaves on the ends are healthy, but where the soil is, the leaves are crispy and dead. I’m confused because I give it enough sunlight, I water it when the app tells me to or if it’s still damp I wait a couple days, I give it a house plant nutrient spray every couple days.

Can someone help please?

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/4Qrse3kyD9kcXy4Ott_VtigIiUxZ8nCFeWh_E2zCg4o/fee9f23c14a845bd9f0f43b661eef170.webp?size=large)

## 6 comments

### Tellie commented on 2023-10-30

Those are dead or old leaves.  
The plant cycles through leaves and then sucks the nutrients back in from old ones to help make new ones. It’s normal. The plant is doing just fine.

#### Lily replied on 2023-10-30

Oh! Thank you, should I remove the old leaves or keep them on there?

#### Tellie replied on 2023-10-30

You can remove them. Eventually they will fall off on top of the soil. I prune mine every so often. My lilac when I removed them it grew new there.

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/Z2B7kTs6ufIy2O5NurADba3zGv2JQOTvYvXGk_Uw430/bec63a5f1c06459ca82ae443d7b1478a.webp?size=large)

#### Lily replied on 2023-10-30

Thank you, that’s a beautiful plant.

### Sunny commented on 2023-10-30

A missed watering can cause leaves to drop at the base as well. My Callisia repens, cousin to the tradescantia, are sensitive to underwatering. They drop the oldest leaves first in mass quantities. Unfortunately, they don’t regrow at the bald spots unless I trim the plant back to balding areas.

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wefqOljjhEOiS9LRzOB1-QhxkVJiB4A5DGumXhnNrhs/17f924d80b0243c2b58c1ae69470d314.webp?size=large)

#### Sunny replied on 2023-10-30

Ends of my Callisia Repens Gold

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/wefqOljjhEOiS9LRzOB1-QhxkVJiB4A5DGumXhnNrhs/327d159714c34e189218cc48800b435e.webp?size=large)

---

_Source: the Planta community (https://getplanta.com). Reading is open to everyone. To post, comment and like, get the Planta app: https://getplanta.com/download_