I'm thinking about setting up a large vase with a beta fish. We had one with a peace plant, the fish lived a nice long (for a beta) life (3 years).

I know the peace plant does well with the roots in water full time, as it is still growing in the vase and the vase is full of roots.

Are there other options for plants that would live long term with their roots in water? The only thing I have found consistently mentioned (for growing with roots in water full time) when searching is Pothos, but I don't think those would look that great in this setup.

I read that schefflera (mini umbrella) plant can be grown with it's roots in water full time, but I am not confident I believe it based on the sources I read that from. Does anyone know if a schefflera will really do well living with it's roots in water?

Any other suggestions of house plant that would do well in this situation?

Thanks
Jamie

Thanks
Jamie

Jamie, I'd suggest you pls. give more than once a month water to your Wandering Jew plant, I'm surprised it doesn't collapse on you. They can be pretty thirsty plants, that seems like VERY little water, & they are not succulents.

Hi Go Blue,

I'm newish to Scheffleras but found a nice variegated one in my bldg & took a cutting. I rooted it in water & have since moved it to Hydro (it's about a month now); it's here in the office w/ me for the 2nd week now, no windows just flourescent light. So far, looks great, including new growth so we shall see.

I've seen Anthuriums grow in a vase of water w/ the beta fish but I don't believe that would be good for a beginner.

The poor wandering jew & my spider plants were things I planted as annuals 2 years ago and got thrown in pots for the neck of it before frost. i.e. They have been treated fairly poorly.

They are in a soil mix worse than MiracleDie. Peat, Compost and fine Vermiculite. It's like a giant sponge, a 14" pot weights like 50# after it drains.

My spider plants are in the same sad mix. It is a testimonial to the hardiness of plants that these things survived. I didn't have a drain tray on the spider plant until last night, so it went over a month without water.. It shows...

I've been meaning to repot them and take better care of them. I have a couple other plants in the house... I could probably fill 5 of these tables with plants right now. Most of my plants and Bonsai are beautiful and very well cared for.

I got a couple nice hanging plants tonight. I'll shoot some photos and post them.

And I'm going to go water my poor wandering jew.

Jamie

p.s. I watered it.

Your Purple Heart is nice and full. Did it flower this summer?

Your Croton, on the table, is nice, too..so full. Make sure it gets light and humidity this winter.
BTW, what is the plant, 'on the table, with purple leaves, to the left of the Croton? Toni

I think I have been calling the purple heart a wandering jew, thinking it was just a different type of wandering jew.

I think the plant next to the croton is really a wandering jew. Here it is:

These are the Hoya I got at walmart, they are labeled "Rubra", I'm not sure if that is correct though.

Thanks
Jamie

Yes, both Hoyas are Rubras. Very very nice.
In one of your threads, you asked which hanging plants would do well in a south window..both Hoyas would do fine, especially in winter. I don't know how much sun your windows get in summer, but for now, Hoyas will do fine.

Common names can be confusing. For instance, I didn't know Purple Hearts' common name is used for more than one plant. Ex, Setcreasea and Tradescantia.

You got some really nice plants there, Toni

Pls. try not to add to the confusion on Hoya names, even if just accidentally. Those Hoyas are both H. carnosa Krimson Princess. That 'Rubra' name is one of those garbage names Exotic Angel insists on using to confuse things.

Yes, to the dark purple, fuzzy Wandering Jew plant, it is called Setcresea. At the lower left of its pic is what will be (or was) a flower. No wonder it's still alive after so little water (it's more succulent than the regular one you have also pictured).

I too would groom ALL the plants, that is remove all dead/decaying matter, not just for looks, but becuase it invites decay & bugs. (Personally, I'd spend some time developing better habits on this, before buying even more plants.)

So are both of these types of wander jew plants?

What else should I do to these besides pulling out what is dead / decaying?

Thanks
Jamie

Actually Rubra means red. Given enough sunlight, red hues should appear. Toni

Yes, I know Rubra means red. It refers to the red STEMS this plant sometimes has. But in Hoya circles it's leaves & then bloom for certain that IDs the leaves, not stem color. I had missed the red stems, yes, I've seen that tagged Hoya 'Rubra' by EA, maybe even H rubra picta, I've seen too at local box stores.

I DO know what you mean as at different times I too, have tried to grow that Hoya.

No Toni, you're confusing different Hoyas w/ each other Rubra will only have red stems. It is NOT one of the whose leaves will redden or pink up. That would be several others including my beloved Krimson Queen (var. on outer leaf edge). These are the pinkish tinged leaves that whiten as they age. or its 'superb' form, extra succulent & some leaves almost pink/red purple/black. Sometimes even the extra handsome half & half leaves where they divide at the central vein 1/2 green & 1/2 white, very cool.

Hi Jamie,

If you do searches for Tradescantia, you'll discover a group of plants, a number of which are referred to as Wandering Jew (larger family, I believe of Commelinacae). Setcresea, Callisia, the related Rhoeo & more.

In general, you might want to browse a basic plant book or two as to what constitutes general care of plants, beside picking off the dead leaves (just browse, don't need to buy).

What kind of mix (soil), how old the mix is, light conditions, appropriate fertilizers, insect control, etc. You can browse here about general plant care.

Or you could browse Hoya Forum as well. There's lots more to be considered & to answer your other thread, Hoyas aren't necessarily fast-growing plants.

I think I gave the impression that I didn't know how to grow much anything. I never though of my spider plants and wandering jew plants as anything other than annuals that I happened to throw in a pot and they happened to live.

I mix my own soils and have been transitioning over to them as fast as I can, but have already wiped out over 20 bags of turface this fall. I am using primarily turface now. Turface is just so superior to anything else out there that I have grown in and easy to work with. I don't even have to screen it for most things, many fines wash through when you have good drainage.

I saved the spider plant:

From Drop Box

A couple other things I am growing in the house:

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

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From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Jamie

Good Job

Mike

Thanks, I hope to get my Serissa Bonsai to push out more blooms now that I have it under that massive bank of lights. I currently have 18 four foot bulbs running of the higher out-putting 32W T-8 bulbs.

My big jade is doing pretty well. Your right, it did stay a bit wet with the turface and I have had to give it more time to dry out in between waterings. I cut back on waterings and it seems to be doing pretty well now and pushing out new growth. So I think it is going to do okay on the turface. If it wasn't so large and difficult to deal with, I would add in some perlite or grit. I replanted some smaller Jades into turface and they have been doing extremely well. I think my big jade would have been better if I had done straight turface, I mixed in about 10% compost and I think that is making it a bit heavy.

Yes that is my little baby lemon. The other lemon we were discussing in the citrus forum is my parents. My lemon is just a few months old. It's a few feet away from my south window at the moment, due to cleaning, but it's spot is right in front of the south window. If it doesn't do well there, then I think it will fit under one of the lighting banks in the basement. I also have a lime and orange tree that are a bit smaller than the lemon. I'm going to tell my parents that they need to start over with a new lemon if they want one. I plan to move my citrus into a turface mix, they are currently in a cactus soil mix, which from a prior conversation, I think is going to end up becoming too compacted over time, but seems to be doing well at the moment.

I am sure I have over 100 containerized plants in the house right now. Outside I have a couple hundred plants in pots. Most of which have to go into the garage for overwintering to protect them. That includes about a dozen mature bonsai, over a dozen japanese maples and many other trees, hosta, and perennials.

I do a pretty darn good job of staying on top of them all, and very very rarely have anything that dies on me. A few of my lower value plants get a bit neglected from time to time. Some of it was due to lower light in the house. That is the reason I just setup the huge bank of lights in the basement to compensate for that. It is pretty darn bright down there now and I think I am going to do well with growing under those lights.

I'm glad I cleaned up the spider plant per Karens suggestion, it does look pretty nice now. I might move it to a hanging basket.

Thanks

Jamie

My baby Lemon: