Hi Jeff, I planted “Maidens Blush” into a summer bedding pot last year, I’ve just noticed new shoots emerging (pink and green).Amazing,it survived our winter outdoors!
Yeah that's pretty impressive Paul - it must have been protected in some way. I've heard of several of these 'non-hardy' Tradescantia types surviving frosts in Greece and other med countries but they're usually very mature plants which only get the odd frost - not month after month like we get. In the UK eventually the weather gets to them - otherwise you'd be seeing them all over the place, which isn't the case.
Thanks Lisa! 😃 Since I made that video just over a week ago, the fully green one has put on about 10cm growth! I also tried taking cuttings of all the different variegations, and the only one that didn't survive was, not surprisingly, the fully cream ones.
This is so interesting. I watched you Nanouk browning video a couple of weeks ago and took your advice as I have Nanouk sweetness which looks very similar. I put it on the window sill with a draught in the heatwave (in the evenings) after trimming off the brown edges and it’s leaves have doubled in size and it looks amazing. I also have a tri colour and I’m going to chop and prop and experiment also after watching this one. Many thanks for sharing your experience with it. X
Yeah mine's now doing something similar. I'll do an update at some point, but so far the leaves are much bigger with less browning. Alas, I'm still getting some - it's practically impossible to keep a greenhouse as moisture free as a house. Glad to hear yours are improving too.😃
It depends which hybrid you have - if it's it's one of the Maiden's Blush or Blushing Bride hybrids, then it will develop pink variegations again next spring time. If it's one of the tricolor hybrids, then once it's green it'll stay green for ever.
Really helpful thankyou. I did take cuttings of both the green and variagated leaves a while back but while the green ones rooted easily the pink ones would not develop roots. Can't understand why.
Glad it was helpful, Rachael. The pink ones lack chlorophyl so they aren't able to survive on their on their own. No chlorophyl - no photosynthesis - no life!🤷♂️ It's a shame because they'd make a cool plant.
no one ever talks about this reverting, ever! Newer cultivar plants I knew it was possible but I had no idea this did. I have had the plant for a good two years now. Just starting reverting the last few months. I have been cutting the all green off of mine (I think it makes a nice plant separately), but are you recommending to start cutting the pink variegated leaves and making an all new pot instead? Also, do you think fertilizing is helping it to stay variegated or making the reverting worse? Thanks so much!
I'm just reporting on what's happened to mine - as you can see in the video. I prefer the variegated leaves to those without any pigment - so I also pinch out those out too. You can take any of the leaves for propagation material - whichever ones you prefer - although I've found the 'zero-pigment' leaves always perish. I'm not trying to get you to watch my whole back catalogue of videos (honestly!) but in this very recent one I show what happened when I propagated each of the various leaf types: ua-cam.com/video/wdrbnRw_G0o/v-deo.html In terms of what makes them revert I really don't know for sure, other than practically every plant I've come across with variegations (unless they're a species) are ultimately unstable when it comes to keeping the variegated leaves. The leaves with more chlorophyll naturally take over as they produce the most food for the plant. Just my take on it though - I'm happy to be corrected at any point.
@@Grow_Up_Man55 I’ve already binge watched all of them! 😊 I saw. I agree I prefer the variegated, that is why I bought the plant! For some reason I just never knew it would revert! Thank you!
Great video! I received a cutting of a tradescantia tricolor, but unfortunately it's a green one... Any idea how I can stimulate it to grow the variagated leaves? Or is this a lost cause that's gonna be a green (and still beautiful) plant forever?
Once it's reverted - there's no going back unfortunately! You can hope for a random sport but it's very unlikely to happen. I'd order a new one and keep pinching off any reverted leaves.
Mine aren't losing variegation, but are getting more variegated actually. But the variegation is cream - does it slowly turn pink over time? How is yours so pink, rather than cream?
This plant is more correctly known as Tradescantia mundula 'Lisa'. The variegations are extremely variable and depend on lighting and temperature. You will need to remove any fully green leaves or they'll take over the plant. I've found that warmer temperatures result in more pink leaves.
Hello, I love your instructional video. Very helpful. However, I have a try-color Bolivian jew that I purchased online as a baby plant. It is growing and doing better since learning that it can't survive too much watering. Since I got it and transplanted to a larger pot, the leaves have the pink/green coloring, but they are a very pale and dull leaves and don't seem to want to brighten to the nice bright pink coloring with shiny green and healthy leaves. What am I doing wrong? They are near a bright window and maybe get 1-2 hrs. of warm morning sun and then shade the rest of the day.
Glad you've enjoyed it, Joanne. First of all, I've never grown that one so can't speak from experience. However, your plant comes from the species Callisia repens, and if you want to know about care requirements of any hybrid - always look to the natural habitat of the species. Callisia repens grows in shady areas - too much light will make the leaves blush. They also like to root as they travel (like many Trads) - so if in a small pot that doesn't allow that - it will always struggle eventually. Part 2 of my latest video (going live this week) goes over how to identify various Tradescantia which might help in future. And if you can plant it in a wide, shallow pot, that might help with the health of each stem. Good luck and let me know how you get on.
Love your videos on tricolour Jeff! I have one that I got from the store a few months now and I’ve tried a bunch of spots in the home and settled on west facing window. It gets good bright sunlight but lately the pink/cream leaves and even the white parts on the variegated leaves are turning yellowish green 😢 I’m wondering if it’s the tap water I use to water my plants as even my spider plant is starting to have a similar yellow hue. Any advice?
Hi Dee! It's so hard to diagnose these issues as practically every cultural problem results in yellowing leaves. It could be too much direct sun through glass, too much or too little water or as you say, the minerals in tap water causing these effects. Perhaps take a few cuttings which should only take a few days for them to root then do some experiments with positioning, watering and type of water you're using. It's a pain but could be fun too, depending on your perspective! Sorry, that probably isn't much help...🤷♂️
@@Grow_Up_Man55 thanks Jeff! Appreciate the response. I’ll go back to experimenting and hopefully something works. I’m a plant newbie myself and it’s been fascinating seeing what works and what doesn’t for my plants so far. Tradescantia tricolour is by far the most intriguing one for sure!
@Dee C To be honest I find most of the problems I have with tricolor disappear once the days lengthen and the temps warm up again. They're just not fans of winter in the UK! Good luck!
I don’t know why but for me my tradescantia Sabrina always loses her color, it gets pale and sad 😩 I keep all my tradescantias in my west side window and all except my Sabrina grow beautiful and with nice colors
Faded leaves is usually a sign of low light and my Trad. zebrina does exactly the same thing in a north window. Although most Tradescantia enjoy similar conditions, Trad. Zebrina does seem to need more light than the others. It's worth a try. Good luck!
I’ve noticed that the underside of my tricolour fluminensis leaves were purple but the newer growth isn’t as purple, some undersides have no purple at all. Do you know why that happens? It’s kept around 3foot from a south facing window. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.
There are quite a number of Tradescantia fluminensis hybrids. Are you talking about the tricolor minima - like the one in the video? If so then that's its thing - it produces several different variegations on new growths. You need to pinch off the ones you don't want, as it'll continually try to produce evermore green leaves - as they're the feeding leaves. Having said that, mine tends to throw up lots of the pink/cream ones with no chlorophyll in them but I haven't managed to explain why that might be yet! If I were you I'd take some cuttings from the leaf types you like - for insurance purposes. You might find, like I did, that they produce more vigorous plants. Just simply snip them off and stick them straight into another pot.
Probably nothing - the variegation is unstable and as I pointed out in the video - it tries to revert back to fully green. just keep pulling off the bad bits but take some cuttings as insurance. Good luck!
Hi Jeff, you mentioned that the pure green and pure pink leaves likes to "take over", does that mean it's sort of like a balancing game, where if you keep the majority of the leaves variegated, they will maintain the variagation? So ideally we want to nip the pure-coloured ones once we see them?
Spot on. You need to pinch off the 'undesirable' leaves otherwise you'll end up with a totally green plant. I have several that I've allowed to do that. I like them. But I also have some that I've kept variegated for a few years now.
@@Grow_Up_Man55 Awesome thank you! Just went outside and pinched a bunch of purely white leaves, my plant is really white and I think it won't survive much longer if I let it keep going. I snipped some variegated 'assurances' too. Glad I watched your video in time as it's my first tradescantia tricolour!
I have one tradescantia, nanook, and she is so leggy for some reason...I've seen i a garden center in Scarborough some nanook, you couldn't even see the stem, they were so compact. So my question is how I am making mine the same? She gets a lot of light so I don't know what to do with her🙄
Nanouk refers to plants that have had a growth inhibitor - so initially they remain quite compact. As this wears off the plants get leggy. Tradescantia in general do get leggy over time anyway - and there's nothing you can do to stop that. However, you can continually renew the shoots by pinching out the grow tip and either replanting them in the same pot or starting them off in a new pot.
@@Grow_Up_Man55 brilliant, take the compliment 🤣 i didn't though, again🙄, about the growth inhibitor. And saying that I just remembered that I have spray mine with gibberellic acid 🥴 and I was wondering why she is so leggy. I am a blonde undercover 🤭
Without asking you a whole heap of questions it's impossible for me to say for sure - there are just so many factors involved. However, in many cases, the reason why they lose leaves close towards the stem is because they're not being grown the way they would naturally grow in the wild. This video explains it in detail: ua-cam.com/video/M5ZNYSpzUTQ/v-deo.html
@@Grow_Up_Man55 Thanks. I actually had it since December 2019, but there is no pink growth this year. Did not know you are supposed to cut off green stems.
@@raimundas2636 You don't 'have' to prune it back - you just can. I have a specimen of Tradescantia Maiden's Blush that hasn't produced any pink growth this year right next to another of the exact same hybrid that has done. Same temps, same humidity, same light. I'm at a loss as to why?!
Hmm. All dry and brown does sound like it's beyond saving. If you've any good growth still alive I suggest you get it trimmed off and planted up in another pot as soon as possible.
@@Grow_Up_Man55 Yes. I can see that there is some new growth underneath. I will try giving it a major haircut before repotting it again. It was doing beautifully last summer indoors. Now, it’s looking rather pitiful.
I can't actually find Tradescantia Pink princess in my list of registered cultivars, unless it's very new. I think frequently some sellers change the name slightly to make it more desirable! However, looking at photos of the ones I can find for sale, it looks like the exact same plant to me and I would treat it as such.
The all-green pot still looks beautiful! Love the glossy sheen
Very old one this. But yeah I love the glossy look. Only seems to come at certain times of the year.
Hi Jeff, I planted “Maidens Blush” into a summer bedding pot last year, I’ve just noticed new shoots emerging (pink and green).Amazing,it survived our winter outdoors!
Yeah that's pretty impressive Paul - it must have been protected in some way. I've heard of several of these 'non-hardy' Tradescantia types surviving frosts in Greece and other med countries but they're usually very mature plants which only get the odd frost - not month after month like we get. In the UK eventually the weather gets to them - otherwise you'd be seeing them all over the place, which isn't the case.
The full green is so beautiful
Yes it's very shiny and glossy!
The green one does look beautiful and very healthy! Great video, thanks!
Thanks Lisa! 😃 Since I made that video just over a week ago, the fully green one has put on about 10cm growth! I also tried taking cuttings of all the different variegations, and the only one that didn't survive was, not surprisingly, the fully cream ones.
This is so interesting. I watched you Nanouk browning video a couple of weeks ago and took your advice as I have Nanouk sweetness which looks very similar. I put it on the window sill with a draught in the heatwave (in the evenings) after trimming off the brown edges and it’s leaves have doubled in size and it looks amazing. I also have a tri colour and I’m going to chop and prop and experiment also after watching this one. Many thanks for sharing your experience with it. X
Yeah mine's now doing something similar. I'll do an update at some point, but so far the leaves are much bigger with less browning. Alas, I'm still getting some - it's practically impossible to keep a greenhouse as moisture free as a house. Glad to hear yours are improving too.😃
Great video, very helpful. I just purchased one of these and am trying my hand at it thanks for all the tips 👍🏼
Thanks Yasmin - glad to help. Be sure to take loads of cuttings.😃
thanks for the info. I was very worried because my tree turned green🥺. when buying very pretty variegated
It depends which hybrid you have - if it's it's one of the Maiden's Blush or Blushing Bride hybrids, then it will develop pink variegations again next spring time. If it's one of the tricolor hybrids, then once it's green it'll stay green for ever.
@@Grow_Up_Man55 👍
Thanks
Really helpful thankyou. I did take cuttings of both the green and variagated leaves a while back but while the green ones rooted easily the pink ones would not develop roots. Can't understand why.
Glad it was helpful, Rachael. The pink ones lack chlorophyl so they aren't able to survive on their on their own. No chlorophyl - no photosynthesis - no life!🤷♂️ It's a shame because they'd make a cool plant.
Very useful!
Glad you think so!
no one ever talks about this reverting, ever! Newer cultivar plants I knew it was possible but I had no idea this did. I have had the plant for a good two years now. Just starting reverting the last few months. I have been cutting the all green off of mine (I think it makes a nice plant separately), but are you recommending to start cutting the pink variegated leaves and making an all new pot instead? Also, do you think fertilizing is helping it to stay variegated or making the reverting worse? Thanks so much!
I'm just reporting on what's happened to mine - as you can see in the video. I prefer the variegated leaves to those without any pigment - so I also pinch out those out too. You can take any of the leaves for propagation material - whichever ones you prefer - although I've found the 'zero-pigment' leaves always perish. I'm not trying to get you to watch my whole back catalogue of videos (honestly!) but in this very recent one I show what happened when I propagated each of the various leaf types: ua-cam.com/video/wdrbnRw_G0o/v-deo.html In terms of what makes them revert I really don't know for sure, other than practically every plant I've come across with variegations (unless they're a species) are ultimately unstable when it comes to keeping the variegated leaves. The leaves with more chlorophyll naturally take over as they produce the most food for the plant. Just my take on it though - I'm happy to be corrected at any point.
@@Grow_Up_Man55 I’ve already binge watched all of them! 😊 I saw. I agree I prefer the variegated, that is why I bought the plant! For some reason I just never knew it would revert! Thank you!
You’re a tradescantia genius for sure!
We all love a compliment but I'm pretty sure I can't live up to this one! Very welcome though.😃🥰
Great video! I received a cutting of a tradescantia tricolor, but unfortunately it's a green one... Any idea how I can stimulate it to grow the variagated leaves? Or is this a lost cause that's gonna be a green (and still beautiful) plant forever?
Once it's reverted - there's no going back unfortunately! You can hope for a random sport but it's very unlikely to happen. I'd order a new one and keep pinching off any reverted leaves.
@@Grow_Up_Man55 ah that's really sad :( thanks for replying!
Mine aren't losing variegation, but are getting more variegated actually. But the variegation is cream - does it slowly turn pink over time? How is yours so pink, rather than cream?
This plant is more correctly known as Tradescantia mundula 'Lisa'. The variegations are extremely variable and depend on lighting and temperature. You will need to remove any fully green leaves or they'll take over the plant. I've found that warmer temperatures result in more pink leaves.
Hello, I love your instructional video. Very helpful. However, I have a try-color Bolivian jew that I purchased online as a baby plant. It is growing and doing better since learning that it can't survive too much watering. Since I got it and transplanted to a larger pot, the leaves have the pink/green coloring, but they are a very pale and dull leaves and don't seem to want to brighten to the nice bright pink coloring with shiny green and healthy leaves. What am I doing wrong? They are near a bright window and maybe get 1-2 hrs. of warm morning sun and then shade the rest of the day.
Glad you've enjoyed it, Joanne. First of all, I've never grown that one so can't speak from experience. However, your plant comes from the species Callisia repens, and if you want to know about care requirements of any hybrid - always look to the natural habitat of the species. Callisia repens grows in shady areas - too much light will make the leaves blush. They also like to root as they travel (like many Trads) - so if in a small pot that doesn't allow that - it will always struggle eventually. Part 2 of my latest video (going live this week) goes over how to identify various Tradescantia which might help in future. And if you can plant it in a wide, shallow pot, that might help with the health of each stem. Good luck and let me know how you get on.
Put an iron nail inside the soil and then water over it. This totally transformed my plant.
Love your videos on tricolour Jeff! I have one that I got from the store a few months now and I’ve tried a bunch of spots in the home and settled on west facing window. It gets good bright sunlight but lately the pink/cream leaves and even the white parts on the variegated leaves are turning yellowish green 😢 I’m wondering if it’s the tap water I use to water my plants as even my spider plant is starting to have a similar yellow hue. Any advice?
Hi Dee! It's so hard to diagnose these issues as practically every cultural problem results in yellowing leaves. It could be too much direct sun through glass, too much or too little water or as you say, the minerals in tap water causing these effects. Perhaps take a few cuttings which should only take a few days for them to root then do some experiments with positioning, watering and type of water you're using. It's a pain but could be fun too, depending on your perspective! Sorry, that probably isn't much help...🤷♂️
@@Grow_Up_Man55 thanks Jeff! Appreciate the response. I’ll go back to experimenting and hopefully something works. I’m a plant newbie myself and it’s been fascinating seeing what works and what doesn’t for my plants so far. Tradescantia tricolour is by far the most intriguing one for sure!
@Dee C To be honest I find most of the problems I have with tricolor disappear once the days lengthen and the temps warm up again. They're just not fans of winter in the UK! Good luck!
I don’t know why but for me my tradescantia Sabrina always loses her color, it gets pale and sad 😩 I keep all my tradescantias in my west side window and all except my Sabrina grow beautiful and with nice colors
Faded leaves is usually a sign of low light and my Trad. zebrina does exactly the same thing in a north window. Although most Tradescantia enjoy similar conditions, Trad. Zebrina does seem to need more light than the others. It's worth a try. Good luck!
I’ve noticed that the underside of my tricolour fluminensis leaves were purple but the newer growth isn’t as purple, some undersides have no purple at all. Do you know why that happens? It’s kept around 3foot from a south facing window. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.
There are quite a number of Tradescantia fluminensis hybrids. Are you talking about the tricolor minima - like the one in the video? If so then that's its thing - it produces several different variegations on new growths. You need to pinch off the ones you don't want, as it'll continually try to produce evermore green leaves - as they're the feeding leaves. Having said that, mine tends to throw up lots of the pink/cream ones with no chlorophyll in them but I haven't managed to explain why that might be yet! If I were you I'd take some cuttings from the leaf types you like - for insurance purposes. You might find, like I did, that they produce more vigorous plants. Just simply snip them off and stick them straight into another pot.
The pink bits on my tradescantia tricolor is turning yellowish. I was wondering what im doing wrong.
Probably nothing - the variegation is unstable and as I pointed out in the video - it tries to revert back to fully green. just keep pulling off the bad bits but take some cuttings as insurance. Good luck!
Hi Jeff, you mentioned that the pure green and pure pink leaves likes to "take over", does that mean it's sort of like a balancing game, where if you keep the majority of the leaves variegated, they will maintain the variagation? So ideally we want to nip the pure-coloured ones once we see them?
Spot on. You need to pinch off the 'undesirable' leaves otherwise you'll end up with a totally green plant. I have several that I've allowed to do that. I like them. But I also have some that I've kept variegated for a few years now.
@@Grow_Up_Man55 Awesome thank you! Just went outside and pinched a bunch of purely white leaves, my plant is really white and I think it won't survive much longer if I let it keep going. I snipped some variegated 'assurances' too. Glad I watched your video in time as it's my first tradescantia tricolour!
@@jasminet3419 At least you'll soon have some rooted cuttings in case it doesn't make it. 😁
I have one tradescantia, nanook, and she is so leggy for some reason...I've seen i a garden center in Scarborough some nanook, you couldn't even see the stem, they were so compact. So my question is how I am making mine the same? She gets a lot of light so I don't know what to do with her🙄
Nanouk refers to plants that have had a growth inhibitor - so initially they remain quite compact. As this wears off the plants get leggy. Tradescantia in general do get leggy over time anyway - and there's nothing you can do to stop that. However, you can continually renew the shoots by pinching out the grow tip and either replanting them in the same pot or starting them off in a new pot.
@@Grow_Up_Man55 brilliant, take the compliment 🤣 i didn't though, again🙄, about the growth inhibitor. And saying that I just remembered that I have spray mine with gibberellic acid 🥴 and I was wondering why she is so leggy. I am a blonde undercover 🤭
@@SemihydroponicswithSma 🤣
@@SemihydroponicswithSma What is growth inhibitors
I love all of them
Yeah me too!
Why my tradescantia plants the leaves keeps drying up what wrong with it?
Without asking you a whole heap of questions it's impossible for me to say for sure - there are just so many factors involved. However, in many cases, the reason why they lose leaves close towards the stem is because they're not being grown the way they would naturally grow in the wild. This video explains it in detail: ua-cam.com/video/M5ZNYSpzUTQ/v-deo.html
Mine has gone completely green, is it possible for it to revert to pinkish?
I'm afraid not. You'll have to wait for the new growth next spring. On the plus side, you can keep hacking it back and it'll keep re-sprouting.
@@Grow_Up_Man55 Thanks. I actually had it since December 2019, but there is no pink growth this year. Did not know you are supposed to cut off green stems.
@@raimundas2636 You don't 'have' to prune it back - you just can. I have a specimen of Tradescantia Maiden's Blush that hasn't produced any pink growth this year right next to another of the exact same hybrid that has done. Same temps, same humidity, same light. I'm at a loss as to why?!
Mine is all dry and brown. I don’t know why. It makes me sad because I don’t know if I can save it. 🥺
Hmm. All dry and brown does sound like it's beyond saving. If you've any good growth still alive I suggest you get it trimmed off and planted up in another pot as soon as possible.
@@Grow_Up_Man55 Yes. I can see that there is some new growth underneath. I will try giving it a major haircut before repotting it again. It was doing beautifully last summer indoors. Now, it’s looking rather pitiful.
@@maylani3697 Don't just repot the whole plant though - take some cuttings as insurance.
Is this also called the pink princess plant?
I can't actually find Tradescantia Pink princess in my list of registered cultivars, unless it's very new. I think frequently some sellers change the name slightly to make it more desirable! However, looking at photos of the ones I can find for sale, it looks like the exact same plant to me and I would treat it as such.
Mine too!
I tell you why in the video and what to do.😃
I have to laugh because that plant is so popular
Laugh at what? The fact that people think the leaves will always be that colour?
No just that you have gorgeous plants of all kinds and ..🤦🏻
Yeah I see what you’re getting at Kathy. Tradescantia are hugely popular - at least, they appear to be on my channel!
the leaves are glossy
On the plain green one? Yeah I like it but many people don't!