Tradescantia, commonly known as the Wandering Dude or Inch Plant, is a popular houseplant celebrated for its vigorous growth and colorful, trailing foliage. However, this rapid growth habit means that regular maintenance is necessary to keep the plant looking full and vibrant. Pruning is a simple and effective technique that directly influences the plant’s structure, ensuring it remains healthy and aesthetically pleasing over time.
Goals of Pruning
The primary reason for pruning Tradescantia is to counteract “legginess,” which occurs when stems stretch out with long, bare sections between the leaves. This sparse appearance happens because the plant focuses energy on lengthening the main stem rather than producing side shoots. Removing the growing tips interrupts the flow of auxin, a growth hormone responsible for maintaining apical dominance.
Interrupting this dominance redirects the plant’s energy to dormant growth points, or nodes, lower down on the stem. This stimulation causes the plant to branch out, resulting in a denser, bushier structure. Routine trimming also controls the overall size and shape of the plant, preventing it from becoming unruly or overgrown. Furthermore, it allows for the removal of damaged or discolored foliage, ensuring the plant’s resources are dedicated to healthy, new growth.
Preparation and Timing
The optimal time to prune a Tradescantia heavily is during its active growing season, typically from early spring through the summer months. During this period, the plant has the energy and metabolic rate necessary to quickly heal from cuts and produce new growth. While light maintenance trimming can be performed year-round, major cuts should be reserved for the warmer seasons to prevent stress.
Before beginning, gather a pair of sharp, clean scissors or small pruning shears. Sharp tools ensure a swift, clean cut that minimizes damage to the plant tissue. Sterilize your tools before and after use by wiping the blades with isopropyl alcohol. This prevents the potential spread of pathogens from other plants to your Tradescantia.
Making the Cuts
To achieve a fuller plant, target the individual stems that have grown long and sparse. The location of your cut is the most important detail, as new growth emerges from the closest node below the cut. A node is the small, swollen bump on the stem where a leaf or pair of leaves is attached.
Always make your cut just above a leaf node, leaving the node intact on the plant. Cutting immediately above this point signals the plant to activate the dormant buds at that node, causing two or more new stems to branch out. This mechanism transforms a long, single vine into a full, multi-stemmed section.
For a severely leggy plant, cut back significantly, removing up to 50% of the total foliage to force rejuvenation. Focus on the longest, most visibly sparse stems, bringing them back to a point where the foliage is still dense. Removing the bare sections forces the plant to concentrate its efforts on filling out the existing pot space.
Using Cuttings
The stems removed during pruning are highly viable cuttings that can be easily rooted to create new plants or repopulate the mother pot. Tradescantia is one of the easiest houseplants to propagate, using both water and soil methods. To prepare the cuttings, remove the leaves from the bottom two or three nodes so the stem is bare at the base.
For water propagation, place the bare end of the cutting into a glass of clean water, ensuring at least one node is submerged. Roots typically emerge within a week or two, and the cutting is ready for soil once the roots are about an inch long. Alternatively, plant the cuttings directly into moist potting mix, burying the bottom two nodes in the soil.
To maximize the fullness of your original plant, take the newly rooted cuttings and replant them directly back into the mother pot. Cluster several cuttings around the edges or sparse areas of the existing plant. This cycle of pruning and replanting continuously refreshes the plant, ensuring the top remains dense and the overall appearance is lush.