My friend gave me this clipping of a “Purple Heart” I nam...
My friend gave me this clipping of a “Purple Heart” I named her Eva. I’m a new plant mom. She is my 5th plant baby! Any tips would be much appreciated! I have yet to transfer her into a new pot because I don’t know if she’s rooted yet.
2” pot with drainage
Last watered 3 months ago
4
Best Answer
These guys root VERY fast, so if it's been more than a few days I guarantee she already has roots!
I'm a big fan/collector of tradescantia, so I'll try not to geek out too hard 😜 Purple Heart is the common name for Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea' (there are about a dozen different varieties of Tradescantia pallida, this one being the most common and widely available). They're a fantastic beginner plant—easy to care for, very easy to propagate, and *almost* impossible to kill. I say almost because there IS one surefire way to kill them, and that's overwatering. Like @Rustikglitter said, they like their soil to completely dry out between waterings. They're basically a succulent—they're drought tolerant and can go quite a long time without water. When in doubt, it's always better to underwater than overwater. Underwatering is an easy fix, whereas overwatering...not so much. When you do eventually repot, I'd suggest using succulent/cacti soil with extra perlite mixed in (the white styrofoam balls you see in potting soil). 3 parts soil, 1 part perlite is perfect. And make sure the new pot isn't too big, which can lead to overwatering and root rot. The general guideline is that the new pot shouldn't be more than 2-3 inches bigger than the previous pot.
Light...Purple Heart prefer a spot with DIRECT sunlight. I know a lot of care guides say indirect light, but they're wrong 😂 Direct sunlight is what brings out their beautiful deep purple coloring. If they don't get enough light, they'll lose the purple and start reverting to green. So if you want deep purple leaves, place it somewhere that gets at least 3-4 hours of direct sun.
I was going to delve into how to propagate your Purple Heart via cuttings, but I'm sleepy and have already droned on long enough lol. So we'll save that for another day ☺️ My last piece of advice is try to avoid getting the leaves too wet—or more specifically, avoid letting water sit on the leaves for too long, which can cause spots of leaf rot.
Sorry for the lengthy reply! I guess I ended up geeking out pretty hard after all 😂🤓
I'm a big fan/collector of tradescantia, so I'll try not to geek out too hard 😜 Purple Heart is the common name for Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea' (there are about a dozen different varieties of Tradescantia pallida, this one being the most common and widely available). They're a fantastic beginner plant—easy to care for, very easy to propagate, and *almost* impossible to kill. I say almost because there IS one surefire way to kill them, and that's overwatering. Like @Rustikglitter said, they like their soil to completely dry out between waterings. They're basically a succulent—they're drought tolerant and can go quite a long time without water. When in doubt, it's always better to underwater than overwater. Underwatering is an easy fix, whereas overwatering...not so much. When you do eventually repot, I'd suggest using succulent/cacti soil with extra perlite mixed in (the white styrofoam balls you see in potting soil). 3 parts soil, 1 part perlite is perfect. And make sure the new pot isn't too big, which can lead to overwatering and root rot. The general guideline is that the new pot shouldn't be more than 2-3 inches bigger than the previous pot.
Light...Purple Heart prefer a spot with DIRECT sunlight. I know a lot of care guides say indirect light, but they're wrong 😂 Direct sunlight is what brings out their beautiful deep purple coloring. If they don't get enough light, they'll lose the purple and start reverting to green. So if you want deep purple leaves, place it somewhere that gets at least 3-4 hours of direct sun.
I was going to delve into how to propagate your Purple Heart via cuttings, but I'm sleepy and have already droned on long enough lol. So we'll save that for another day ☺️ My last piece of advice is try to avoid getting the leaves too wet—or more specifically, avoid letting water sit on the leaves for too long, which can cause spots of leaf rot.
Sorry for the lengthy reply! I guess I ended up geeking out pretty hard after all 😂🤓
Great advice!!! @stephonicle what a great collection you have!!! I can't wait till I get mine grown up and looking amazing like yours!!! I'm a relatively new plant mom and I'm starting with ALLOT of babies!!! I've so got the plant buying addiction... think I'm going to stop and enjoy what I've got for awhile though...
Thank you ladies! 💜💜
