The beautiful name of this perennial plant is formed on behalf of the gardener of King Charles I, the botanist and collector of the rarities of John Tradescant. The plant differs unpretentiousness and grows well both in warm and cold rooms, well tolerates the absence of daylight and patiently pertains to changes in watering time. It is for these qualities that the women of Tradescantia are so fond of women who do not have the opportunity to "feed" home plants strictly according to the schedule.
A little about Tradescantia
Originally from South America.
There are up to 100 species of Tradescantia.
Stems are straight creeping or creeping.
The shape of the leaves is from oval to lanceolate.
The color of the leaves varies depending on the type of Tradescantia. The most common: monochromatic green, color with strips of white, yellow. Leaves with shades of red, pink and purple are rare.
Flowers of small size, collected in inflorescences. Color of flowers: from white to violet. The flower lives exactly one day, then dies and is immediately replaced by a new bud. Due to the sufficient fluffiness of the inflorescences, the buds change imperceptibly.
The most popular types of indoor flowers of Tradescantia
One of the most popular - Tradescantia white-flowered, or Tradescantia white .
Stem is thin creeping, leaves are oblong, pointed, with a length of up to 6 cm and a width of about 2 cm. The color of the leaves is silvery, the surface is shiny.
The variety of Tradescantia white albovittata has white stripes on the leaves.
Tradescantia white tricolor has leaves colored in green, white and pinkish (or lilac) color.
The variety aurea is distinguished by green strips on yellow leaves.
Tradescantia aureovittata is painted in golden strips.
All these varieties bloom in small white flowers with either serous or axillary inflorescences.
Tradescantia zebrina is one of the most popular species of striped Tradescantia.
Shoots of this species are dangling. The leaves have an elongated shape, up to 5 cm wide, and up to 10 cm long.
Distinctive feature: the color of the leaves. The green outer part of the sheet is decorated with two wide silvery stripes along the sheet, and the reverse side of the sheet is colored purple.
Tradescantia zebrin blooms in small red or purple flowers.
Anderson's Tradescantia
The height of the plant is from 30 to 80 cm. The leaves have a purple-green color, the shape is lanceolate.
Flowering begins in June and ends only in September. The shape and color of flowers differs depending on the variety:
The JG Weguelin variety is characterized by large, bright blue flowers;- Anderson Tradition of the variety Iris has flowers with a dense blue color;
- Purewell Giant-carminous-red;
- Leonora - purple-blue;
- Osprey - white.
Because of the sufficient unpretentiousness of plants, Tradescantia is advised to beginning gardeners.
Growing Tradescantia
To the soil, Tradescantia is not demanding, but it likes it when it is often sprayed in hot weather. Also in the spring-summer period it is good for phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, which allow preserving the bright color of the leaves.
Watering should be abundant in the spring-summer period, but the water in the pot should not stagnate, otherwise the roots will begin to rot. Water should be watered when the top layer of the soil dries. Long-term desiccation of soil Tradescantia will withstand, but can greatly weaken.
Important! In the pan of the pot should never be water, it must be drained!
For lighting, Tradescantia does not make significant demands. The only thing the plant does not tolerate is bright, direct sunlight.
The temperature of the air in the room is also quite unpretentious, can withstand a temperature drop of up to 10 ° C.
Transdescription is best done in the spring. At the same time, it is common to cut long shoots. Young plants need a transplant every year, adults - every 2-3 years.
Diseases of Tradescantia
If the stems have few leaves - increase the nutrition of the plant and watering. If the plant is adult, then on the longest stems there will be few leaves even with good watering and nutrition. Therefore, such stems are pruned.
If the leaves become one-color and lose color, then they have little light.
Due to a lack of moisture, the leaves of Tradescantia can become sluggish and go yellow spots.
In the room with the dried air the tips of the leaves will begin to dry. Also, when the soil and air are dried, a spider mite can start. In this case, the plant is treated with a soap solution in warm water.
If the leaves pale, dry and fall off, but the conditions for caring for the plant are good, the cause may be in a scabbard or a false fence. If this pest sucks the juice from the plants, the leaves and trunks show plaques of gray or brown color. Shield is not enough to clean with soap only, so you need to use insecticides additionally.