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greentoe357

Tradescantia Spathacea propagation

greentoe357
9 years ago

This plant has grown well for me, and under my lights it became this gorgeous half-translucent iridescent shimmering pink color rather than the darker purples and greens you normally see. (And the pot! I am very proud of my pot selection here! Perfect color conversation between the pot and the plant.)

The plant sort of wants to jump out of the pot though. The lower leaves have dried and I've taken them off. I actually do not mind that the stems are leaning like that (adds character to the plant, I think), but I do have a problem with legginess. Does it look to you like it's time to snip 2 or 3 of those tips and restart them? My goal is to have one pot that looks bushier than this.

It can be propagated from tip cuttings, and there are root nubs on those leafless stems, so it should be easy. I wonder though if new stems will grow from the sides of the cut stumps, sort of like what Dracaenas do. If so, I'd snip the stems (low, just above the lowest or second lowest node, right?) and plant into the same pot to have it look fuller. If nothing will come out of those stumps (and not from the roots either), then I should probably pot all 4 tips into a new pot and throw away the old roots?

How would you go about all this?

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