Plant Diary Entry 01 - Tradescantia Cuttings

During a visit to the gorgeous plant store Wildernis in Amsterdam, I bought a small tradescantia zebrina (also called wandering jew). I was really drawn towards the beautiful colors of the leaves. The purple underneath is so vibrant. The top of the leaves have these lovely, shiny silver lines. The colors will fade to a less vibrant green if the plant does not get enough light. So if you happen to get one, make sure to put it in a spot with bright indirect light. In general it is a strong plant and accidentally over or under watering won't cause too many problems - unless you do it too frequently of course.

I quickly discovered the tradescantia family has a lot of very pretty types and I especially fell in love with the tradescantia fluminensis/variegata variations. All the different names can get confusing, I still get it wrong. But I'll do my best to leave a list of the types shown in the photos. I'm no expert by all means, so I apologize if I made a mistake somewhere.

It sounded quite tempting to go and buy all the types and variations that I liked, but I didn't quite have the space for so many large plants. Therefor I decided to try something I hadn't tried before: ordering cuttings online. After a bit of searching I found a European Etsy seller that offered different types of tradescantia cuttings. I was very happy to have found a seller that didn't live too far away, especially since I knew the cuttings would be on its way to me without having any access to light or water on their way to me. Earlier this week, a week after it got shipped, a whole bunch of cuttings arrived. I received around 8 different variations in a really good condition! Most of them have been put straight into soil in order to perk back up and to adjust to their new spot, while the smaller ones are in my new propagation station.

This station (available at Hart en Ziel) was a birthday gift from dear friends and I was so happy I was able to use it right away! I didn't want to get the smaller cuttings into soil right away. This way, they get the time to grow (more) roots before getting their own pot. The fun part is that I get to see the roots slowly growing.

While typing this post I already noticed a difference from when I took the photos. Most cuttings in the soil seem to be standing firmer. I might have to groom the cuttings a little when they're all settled in their new environment and I'll do my best to keep you updated. But by the looks of it, things are going really well and I'm so excited to have these new plants in my home!

To finish this post, here's the list of all the cuttings in the photos. I didn't photograph all the cuttings I received yet and I'll make sure to mention them later so you get to know these too.

• Tradescantia Zebrina
• Tradescantia Fluminensis "quicksilver"
• Tradescantia Fluminensis "variegata"
• Tradescantia Fluminensis tricolor
• Tradescantia Fluminensis (green leaves)
• Tradescantia Zebrina Purpusii
• Crassula Ovata Gollum, which is a succulent, but it was in my propagation station too