A quintessential group of creeping vine-like plants that are easy to grow in the indoors. They come in a large variety of leaf colors.
Pronunciation
(tray-dess-CAN-tee-ah)
Plant Type
All Plants, Indoor Foliage
Hardiness Zone
Tropical
Sunlight
Will tolerate low light conditions but foliage colors are best in bright to moderate light.
Moisture
evenly moist
Growing Media
average
Temperature
average house
Flowers
small white to purple flowers found on the tips of the branches
Leaves
Color varies from green, variegated, purple, mixed colors, most form vines
Stems
trailing, rooting at joints
Dimensions
The ultimate size is hard to determine, because they get scraggly and are usually cut back. Easily fills up a 12 inch hanging basket cascading over 2 feet.
Maintenance
The stems may become progressively bare from the base. At this point it is best to cut them back. Allow the mother plant to regrow or root the stems to produce new plants.
Propagation
easy from tip cuttings
Native Site
rain forests of Mexico and South America
Cultivar Origin
The genus is named after John Tradescant and his son. They were King Charles I of England gardeners. Traveled all over the world collecting plants.
Author's Notes
Most anyone that has grown indoor plants has had one of these in their collection.
Notes & Reference
#02-Exotic Plant Manual (Alfred Byrd Graf),
#17-The World of House Plants (Elvin McDonald), #158-Plantepedia (Maggie Stuckey)